BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN H. WINDER - CLIPPED SIGNATURE 02/10/1862 - HFSID 283555

JOHN WINDER
His signature as a Brigadier General, clipped from a Manuscript Letter, sent from Richmond in February 1862
Clipped Signature: "Jn. H. Winder/Brig. Genl.", 7¾x1¾. Richmond (Virginia), 1862 February 10. From the closing of a letter, with "Very respectfully" (unknown hand) written above his signature. Ink note added later (unknown hand): "Gen. Winder became infamous by means of his alleged cruelty to Union prisoners." John H. Winder (1800-1865), a West Point graduate, served the US Army with distinction during the Mexican War, receiving field promotions for his conduct in the battles on the approach to Mexico City. Siding with the Confederacy, General Winder was placed in command of Confederate prisons east of the Mississippi. His appointee, Captain Henry Wirz, commanding officer at Andersonville prison and the only Confederate military officer tried, convicted and hanged after the Civil War. Winder, Henry Wirz's superior, who had more responsibility for conditions within the prison than Wirz, died of a heart attack before the war ended, on February 7, 1865. Other Confederate leaders, and some later historians, have denied that Winder was deliberately cruel to Union prisoners, explaining that severe Confederate shortages of food and medicine render their proper care impossible. Winder spent a year as an instructor at West Point; among his students was future CSA President Jefferson Davis. Top edge trimmed unevenly. Soiled and toned. Lightly foxed.