BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS FAUNTLEROY - AUTOGRAPH CIRCA 1838 - HFSID 288529

THOMAS FAUNTLEROY
Signature as Commander of Fort King during the Second Seminole War
Signature: "Th. T. Fauntleroy/Maj. 2nd Regt. US/Dragoons/Comdg Fort King G. F.", 5x2½ paper affixed to 7x4½ sheet. Ink note (unknown hand): 1838. Thomas Turner Fauntleroy (1796-1883) was a US lieutenant in the War of 1812, a major during the Seminole War, and a colonel commanding General Winfield Scott's cavalry during the Mexican War. In addition to the long war with the Seminoles in Florida, Fauntleroy participated in campaigns against American Indian coalitions in the Great Plains and Southwest. He resigned his US commission when Virginia seceded, but declined to accept a position with the Confederate Army. Two of his sons did fight for the Confederacy, however. Fort Key, located at the present site of Ocala, Florida, on the edge of what was then the Seminole Indian reservation, was a key strategic point in the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), triggered by the Seminole's refusal of President Jackson's demand that they accept relocation west of the Mississippi. Dragoons were originally mounted infantry, traveling on horseback but fighting on foot, but the distinction between dragoons and cavalry blurred over time. The Second Regiment of Dragoons, raised in 1836, fought for the first time in the Second Seminole War, and later in Mexico. It was re-named the Second Cavalry in 1861. The unit has fought in all America's major wars since, and now, officially known as the 2nd Stryker Regiment but still called the 2nd Dragoons, it is deployed in Afghanistan. Trimmed irregularly at all edges. Horizontally slit passing through "Dragoons". Lightly toned and soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.