MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM S. "OLD ROSY" ROSECRANS - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 01/09/1884 - HFSID 262779

GENERAL WILLIAM STARKE ROSECRANS
William Starke Rosecrans signed this manuscript letter to Judge Albion Winegar Tourgée in 1884, as a U. S. Congressman from California, about a request from Tourgée about the Army of the Cumberland's Roll of Honor. Tourgée, who was wounded twice in the American Civil War, later litigated for Homer Plessy in the landmark civil rights case Plessy v. Ferguson.
Manuscript letter signed "W.S. Rosecrans". 1 page, 4½x7¾, ruled paper, on House of Representatives stationery, mounted to a 8 ¼ x 10 ¾ sheet of black paper. Jan. 9, 1884. Addressed to Judge A. W. Tourgee, New York. In full: "My dear sir: I will endeavor to comply with your request with respect to the Roll of Honor which I undertook to institute in the Army of the Cumberland as soon as I can get copies of the orders, which are not to hand at present. Yours truly,". ALBION WINEGAR TOURGÉE (1838-1905) waswoundedtwice and captured as a prisoner of war during the American Civil War. A Radical Republican who opposed slavery, he later became Homer Plessy's lawyer in the landmark 1896 civil rights case Plessy v. Ferguson. WILLIAM STARKE ROSECRANS (1819-1898) graduated West Point in 1842 and entered the Army Corps of Engineers. He left the Army in 1854 and worked as a civil engineer and architect, but volunteered for duty when the Civil War broke out. Rosecrans was commissioned a Brigadier General in June 1861 and became Commander for Western Virginia. His first victory, at Rich Mountain in July 1861, helped create the state of West Virginia. Rosecrans' skills in fortifications, troop movement and supply lines led to success in 1862, but in September 1863 he met defeat at Chickamauga. Rosecrans, popular with troops and fondly called "Old Rosy", was relieved of command after Chickamauga, and he resigned from the Army in March 1867. His engineering expertise led to a post as Minister to Mexico. Rosecrans later served as U.S. Congressman from California (1881-1885). Letter is lightly toned and rippled. Stains in top left corner, which touch address but not signature. Light tears at right edge. Folded once vertically and twice horizontally and unfolded. Mounting paper has irregular edges. Otherwise in fine condition.