MAJOR GENERAL SAMUEL WYLIE CRAWFORD - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 01/14/1871 - HFSID 101514

SAMUEL WYLIE CRAWFORD
Civil War officer Samuel Wylie Crawford signed this manuscript letter in 1871 as a colonel commanding the 2nd Infantry in Huntsville, Alabama. It was enclosed with a casualty list for the U. S. Treasury.
Manuscript letter signed "S. W. Crawford" as a colonel commanding the 2nd Infantry. 1 page, 7½x9¾, ruled paper, docketed on verso. Written at "Headquarters 2nd Infantry", Huntsville, Alabama, Jan. 17, 1871.Addressed to 2nd Auditor, U. S. Treasury, Washington, D. C. In full: "Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith 'Bi-Monthly Return of Deceased Soldiers' of the 2nd Regiment of Infantry [not enclosed], for the months of November & December, 1870. I am, very respectfully, Your obedient Servant,". Crawford (1827-1892, born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania) was involved in the American Civil War right from the start; he was surgeon on duty during the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter in 1861, which marked the start of the war. Crawford was trained as a surgeon, not as a commander, Despite this, he was put in charge of several artillery guns at Fort Sumter and, after joining the infantry, of combat troops, with sometimes less-than-spectacular results. He fought at Cedar Mountain (1862); at Antietam (1862), where he was wounded while in temporary command of his division; led a charge at Gettysburg's Little Round Top (1863); and at the Battle of Five Forks (1865). Crawford retired from the Army in 1873 with the rank of brigadier general. Lightly toned and creased. Docket shows through and touches manuscript writing, but nor signature. Lightly discolored in lower left corner. Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.