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PROPERTY OF THE ESTATE OF DR. GERALD F. ROSS
LINCOLN, Abraham (1809-1865). Autograph letter signed (“A. Lincoln”) as President, to Edwin Stanton, Washington, 22 December, 1862. Endorsed on verso by Stanton (“Edwin M. Stanton”), 23 December 1863.
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LINCOLN, Abraham (1809-1865). Autograph letter signed (“A. Lincoln”) as President, to Edwin Stanton, Washington, 22 December, 1862. Endorsed on verso by Stanton (“Edwin M. Stanton”), 23 December 1863.
One page, 223 x 125mm, on Executive Mansion stationery (slight toning at extreme margins).
Lincoln asks to see the evidence against Colonel Thomas H. Ford, accused of incompetence after abandoning Harper’s Ferry allowing the easy capture of the federal arsenal by Confederate forces in September 1862. Thomas H. Ford, Colonel of the 32nd Ohio, was stationed on the Maryland Heights above Harper’s Ferry during the Antietam Campaign. When a superior Confederate force under the command of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson threatened his position, he abandoned his post, allowing for the easy capture of the federal arsenal. Although he claimed he retreated under orders of Colonel Dixon Miles, an Army inquiry found him negligent and he resigned his commission on 8 November 1862. Desiring to understand the circumstances surrounding the event, Lincoln requested of Stanton, “I wish to examine the evidence in Col. Ford’s case, and will be obliged if you will send it, or a copy of it to me.” Stanton approved the request and ordered the Judge Advocate General to comply with the President’s request.
One page, 223 x 125mm, on Executive Mansion stationery (slight toning at extreme margins).
Lincoln asks to see the evidence against Colonel Thomas H. Ford, accused of incompetence after abandoning Harper’s Ferry allowing the easy capture of the federal arsenal by Confederate forces in September 1862. Thomas H. Ford, Colonel of the 32nd Ohio, was stationed on the Maryland Heights above Harper’s Ferry during the Antietam Campaign. When a superior Confederate force under the command of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson threatened his position, he abandoned his post, allowing for the easy capture of the federal arsenal. Although he claimed he retreated under orders of Colonel Dixon Miles, an Army inquiry found him negligent and he resigned his commission on 8 November 1862. Desiring to understand the circumstances surrounding the event, Lincoln requested of Stanton, “I wish to examine the evidence in Col. Ford’s case, and will be obliged if you will send it, or a copy of it to me.” Stanton approved the request and ordered the Judge Advocate General to comply with the President’s request.