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Lot 71
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Lincoln Promotes Antietam Veteran Later Captured by Mosby's Rangers During 1864 Action of Mount Zion Church
Lincoln Promotes Antietam Veteran Later Captured by Mosby's Rangers During 1864 Action of Mount Zion Church
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Description:

Abraham Lincoln
Washington, DC, March 10, 1863
Lincoln Promotes Antietam Veteran Later Captured by Mosby's Rangers During 1864 Action of Mount Zion Church
PPDS

A 1p Civil War-dated military appointment boldly signed by 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) with his full signature as "Abraham Lincoln" at lower right. Countersigned by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869) as "Edwin M. Stanton" near the center of the document. March 10, 1863. Washington, D.C. Partly printed and partly manuscript on vellum, with a patriotic vignette at top and a martial vignette at bottom. A blue embossed sawtooth seal is found at upper left, partly faded. Docketed in red colored pencil and ink at upper left. The document is framed without glass beneath a print of the Lincoln Memorial flanked by two bronze medals featuring Lincoln, including Salathiel Ellis's 1862 Inauguration Medal at right, average size 3" diameter. Expected paper folds including a horizontal fold bisecting five letters of Lincoln's signature. Slight toning, else near fine. The document was not examined outside of the frame, which lacks any glass. The sight size of the document is 13.25" x 17" while the overall frame size is 21.5" x 28" x 1."

In part:

"To all who shall see these presents greeting: Know Ye, That reposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity, and abilities of William H. Forbes I have nominated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers, with the rank of Captain in the service of the United States: to rank as such from the ninth day of November eighteen hundred and Sixty two…"

A Commissary of Subsistence, as the name suggests, was an officer tasked with securing foodstuffs and other necessities for their assigned field unit. By 1865, there were over 560 Commissaries of Subsistence of Volunteers operating in the Union Army, each reporting to the Commissary General of Subsistence, who in turn reported directly to the Secretary of War. "An army marches on its stomach" is an old military adage attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, emphasizing the importance of good and ready food in maintaining a force of fighting strength. Commissaries of Subsistence like Forbes ensured that an abundant supply of food reached troops no matter where they was stationed.

Forbes would have been overseeing massive quantities of Union Army rations consisting of pork or bacon, salt beef, cornmeal, flour, hardtack, rice, hominy, potatoes, peas, beans, coffee, tea, molasses, sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar, soap, and candles. Once the foodstuffs and other basic necessities were delivered, the Commissary of Subsistence was also responsible for preserving it from spoilage or infestation and preventing loss through theft or damage. The Commissary was also in charge of the tools associated with food distribution, such as scales, weights, and meat-cutting instruments.

William Hathaway Forbes (1840-1897) was the son of Massachusetts railroad executive John Murray Forbes. William was expelled from Harvard University in 1860 but secured his undergraduate degree there after returning in the early 1870s. Forbes's detailed Civil War service record can be found in Francis H. Brown, "Harvard University In The War Of 1861-1865: A Record Of Services Rendered In The Army And Navy Of The United States By The Graduates And Students Of Harvard College And The Professional Schools" (Boston: Cupples, Upham, and Company, 1886), pp. 164-165. (Please see photocopies provided for reference.)

Forbes served in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry of Volunteers from December 1861 to January 1863, attaining the ranks of Second Lieutenant and First Lieutenant. Initially assigned routine guard duty in Beaufort, South Carolina, he was later transferred to the Army of the Potomac and fought in the Battle of South Mountain (September 14, 1862) and the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862).

From January 1863 through May 1865, Forbes served in the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry of Volunteers, eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During this period, Forbes fought on the ground in Maryland and Virginia against John S. Mosby, the South's most flamboyant cavalry raider. Forbes was the commanding Union officer at the action at Mount Zion Church on July 6, 1864 near Aldie, Virginia, when the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry and some attached New York cavalrymen engaged in a skirmish against John S. Mosby's Rangers. In the ensuing fray, over a dozen Union cavalrymen were killed and 57 Union forces, including Forbes, were captured. Forbes was a Confederate prisoner of war in South Carolina and Georgia (at Lynchburg, Charleston, Columbia, and Macon) before being paroled six months later in December 1864. Exchanged late in the war, in April 1865, Forbes was finally mustered out in May 1865. In the "Official Army Register for 1866" prepared by the Adjutant General's Office, William H. Forbes was listed again as a Commissary of Subsistence by war's end.

After the Civil War, Forbes served as the President of the Bell Telephone Company from 1879 to 1887. He married Edith Emerson, daughter of Transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, in 1865.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: framed: 21.5" x 28" x 1"
  • Medium: PPDS

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April 23, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
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