Description:

Lyon Nathaniel



Civil War General Nathaniel Lyon Congratulates Chicago Real Estate Lawyer on his Success

NATHANIEL LYON, Autograph Note Signed, n.d. [c. 1850-1860], to Samuel B. Chase. 1 p., 7" x 4.5"  Expected folds; mounted to paper frame.

 

Complete Transcript

Allow me to congratulate you upon the fortunate incidents of your life & your happy prospects & believe me

                                                                        yours Truly,

                                                                        N. Lyon

S. B. Chase / Chicago / Ill.

 

Historical Background

After his graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the summer of 1841, 2nd Lieutenant Nathaniel Lyon traveled to Florida, where he served with the 2nd U.S. Infantry in the ongoing Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and then in the Mexican War (1846-1848).  After the war ended, Lyon served in a series of frontier posts in California, Nebraska Territory, and Kansas Territory before the Civil War.

 

Lyon wrote this congratulatory note to Samuel B. Chase in Chicago sometime in the 1850s. Chase had moved from New Hampshire to Chicago in 1850, and in 1855, he married Emma Elizabeth Thompson. Although it is unclear, Lyon may have sent this note to congratulate Chase on his wedding.

 

At the beginning of the Civil War, Lyon was in St. Louis, where he took command of the federal arsenal and kept the weapons there from falling into Confederate hands by sending many of them to Illinois and arming Unionist militia. He pursued Missouri governor Claiborne F. Jackson and southern-sympathizing Missourians to Springfield, Missouri. On August 10, at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Lyon became the first general to die in the Civil War and an immediate martyr in the Union cause.

 

 

Nathaniel Lyon (1818-1861) was born in Connecticut and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1841. Upon graduation, Lyon received a commission as a second lieutenant and assignment to the 2nd U.S. Infantry in Florida. There, he served in the Second Seminole War. He also served with the 2nd Infantry in the Mexican War and in service in California and the West. Although staunchly antislavery, Lyon did not support the abolitionists. In early 1861, Lyon was placed in command of the federal arsenal at St. Louis, which he protected against southern sympathizers. Promoted to brigadier general in May 1861, he was given command of Union troops in Missouri as commander of the Department of the West. He occupied the state capital in Jefferson City in mid-June 1861, and moved southwest in pursuit of southern-sympathizing Missouri troops. Lyon encamped at Springfield, Missouri, in mid-July with 6,000 soldiers. On August 10, some 12,000 Confederate forces attacked Lyon’s forces. Lyon was killed leading a counter-attack, and the Union forces retreated. Lyon was the first Union general killed in the Civil War, and his actions are credited with saving Missouri for the Union, though the state remained a battleground throughout the war.

 

Samuel B. Chase (1823-1896) was born in New Hampshire and graduated from Dartmouth College. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in New Hampshire in 1843. In 1850, he moved to Chicago and joined James H. Rees in making abstracts to titles of real estate. His brother Horace G. Chase joined the firm in 1854 under the name Rees, Chase & Co. Shortly before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, his brother Charles C. Chase and George H. Bailey joined the firm under the name of Chase Brothers & Co.

 

 


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