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87

U. S. Grant

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
U. S. Grant

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Auction Date:2011 Feb 09 @ 19:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
War-dated endorsement, signed “U. S. Grant,” on the reverse of a one-page lightly-lined letter to General N. B. Baker from a Captain of the Iowa Infantry. Letter to Baker is for the recommendation of promotion for Sergeant Oliver F. Howard to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant of Company C., with the Captain adding, “I certify that the person above recommended does not use intoxicating liquors to such an extent as to interfere with his duties as an officer or set a bad example to those under his command.” The reverse bears several endorsements regarding the matter, with Grant’s endorsement, in a secretarial hand, dated March 23, 1863, reading, “Respectfully forwarded to His H. J. Kirkwood, Governor of the State of Iowa.” Scattered light toning and soiling, otherwise fine condition. Accompanied by an unsigned CDV of Grant.

Grant’s forwarding of Howard’s recommendation for promotion from 2nd Sergeant, an enlisted rank, to 2nd Lieutenant, an officer, is interesting since Clune here admits that Howard drank intoxicating liquors, but “does not use intoxicating liquors to such an extent as to interfere with his duties as an Officer or set a bad example to those under his command.” Ironically, this is what Lincoln perceived of Grant, and the idea that the Union general was a heavy drinker has permeated nation's collective consciousness. Many of those tales stemmed from battlefield politics and jealous generals who had no other way to discredit Grant and his successful military tactics. Historians maintain that despite the stories, innuendoes, and suppositions, there are no credible witnesses of any drunkenness on the part of Grant during the Civil War.
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