Description:

Van Buren, Martin (1782-1862) Future Civil War General John H. King's first military appointment boldly signed by Martin Van Buren

Partly Engraved Document Signed "M. Van Buren" as President and "J.R. Poinsett" as Secretary of War, recorded and signed "R. Jones" as Adjutant General, 1 page, 13.75" x 17.5". Washington, January 1, 1838. On parchment, completed in manuscript. Scalloped War Office seal affixed at upper left with red wax. Military vignettes at top center and across bottom. Folds, one just nicking left edge of Poinsett's dark signature; Van Buren's dark signature away from fold. Fine condition.

Appointment of John H. King as "Second Lieutenant in the First Regiment of Infantry... to rank as such from the second day of December eighteen hundred and thirty seven."

Born in Michigan, John H. King was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1839, Captain in 1846, Major in the 15th Infantry, May 14, 1861, and Brigadier-General of Volunteers December 29, 1862. He was brevetted Colonel, September 20, 1863, for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of Chickamauga, Brigadier-General March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of Ruff's Station, Major-General, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service in the field during the war, and Major-General of Volunteers May 31, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the war.

General William T. Sherman, in a letter published in the Congressional Record, wrote, in part, "I was well acquainted with General John H. King, whose death was reported at Washington, D.C., April 7, 1888... The period of his service was his whole manhood, from 1837 to 1888, fifty-one years, covering the most important epoch of American history... His career, full of dates, resolves itself into three periods: before the civil war, during it, and after. In the first and last of these he was on the frontier, pushing back the Indians to make room for the enterprising emigrant; establishing military posts whence radiated the influence of order, system, and good government. When, in 1861, this whole country became convulsed by civil war... he stood fast... at Shiloh, Stone Mountain, Chickamauga, Resaca, New Hope, Kenesaw, and Neal Dow Station."

Joel R. Poinsett (1779-1851), the first U.S. Minister to Mexico (1825-1829), was Van Burens' Secretary of War from 1837-1841. An accomplished amateur botanist, Poinsett brought home a flower from Mexico that was renamed the poinsettia in his honor. Roger Jones (1789-1852), an officer in the Marine Corps and Brevet Major General in the Army, was the longest-serving Adjutant General of the U.S. Army in history, holding the position from 1825 to 1852.

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