MAJOR GENERAL JESSE L. RENO - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 07/23/1861 - HFSID 265796

JESSE L. RENO. Rare Civil War-date Manuscript LS: "J.L. Reno" as Captain of Ordnance, Commanding, 1p, 7¾x9¾. Leavenworth Arsenal (Kansas), 1861 July 23. To Major R.S. Van Horn, Comdg Reserve Corps, Kansas City, Mo. In full: "I send enclosed an Invoice of Ordnance & Ordnance Stores [] the Qr Master by me [] at your address. The enclosed Receipt for [] sign and return as soon as possible." There is surface damage on the right portion of the letter obliterating approximately six words indicated by brackets above. Written shortly before Union Major General Jesse Lee Reno (1823-1862) was named Brigadier General of Volunteers by General Ambrose Burnside in the fall of 1861. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Reno was in charge of the Mount Vernon Arsenal in Mobile, Alabama. He managed to escape from the South and was given this post in Kansas. Previously, Reno, a 1846 West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican War, had served for several years as Ordnance Officer at the Frankford Arsenal northeast of Philadelphia. Assuming command of the 2nd Brigade in the fall of 1861, Reno saw action under Burnside in the North Carolina expedition and later led a corps at Second Bull Run. On September 17, 1862, Burnside's IX Corps rallied at Antietam Creek to the battle cry "Remember, Reno"; Reno had been killed at South Mountain three days earlier. Lightly creased with folds. Upper right corner torn away, removing "nal" of "Arsenal", just nicking the top of the final "1" of "1861". Tackhead-size hole at upper left blank edge, holes at lower right blank corner and at mid-right margin. Nicked at left and upper right blank edges.