MAJOR GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 10/18/1866 - HFSID 46929

OLIVER O. HOWARD
Oliver O. Howard signed this official copy of orders temporarily promoting an officer in 1866 as a Brevetted Major General in the United States Army. Accompanied by an unsigned newspaper article on Howard taking over command of the Army's Department of the East at Governor's Island in New York.
Manuscript letter signed "O. O. Howard" as Brevetted Major General in the United States Army. Pencil notations in top right corner of page 1 and on back leaf and red ink notations in unknown hand.2 pages, 7x9½, 1 sheet folded, front and verso. War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington D. C., Oct. 18, 1966. Official copy ofSpecial Orders No. 518 temporarily giving Captain H. M Whittelsey the rank of colonel in the Quartermasters Department as per the Act of July 4, 1864. Lightly toned, soiled and creased. Show-through from red ink notations touches manuscript handwriting on page 1, but not signature. Three file holes at top edge. Light tear in bottom right corner. Small piece missing from bottom right corner. Tape repairs on spine inside letter, with show-through on page 1 (does not touch handwriting or signature), discoloration on back leaf and separation at bottom edge. Folded twice and unfolded. Light tear at right edge along fold. Otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by: Unsigned and undated newspaper article on Howard taking command of the Military Department of the East at New York's Governor's Island. Lightly toned and creased. Irregular edges. Folded once and unfolded near bottom edge. Otherwise in fine condition. Howard (1830-1909, born in Leeds, Maine) lost his right arm at Fair Oaks during the American Civil War, engaged at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg and commanded the Army of the Tennessee in Sherman's march to the sea. By the end of the Civil War he was a Brigadier-General. General Howard founded Howard University in 1867 becoming its President in 1869. He served as first Commissioner of the Freedmans Bureau, a federal agency designed to assist Black Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom at the end of the Civil War. In 1874, Howard retired from both jobs. He later served as Superintendent at West Point (1881-1882).