MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM B. HAZEN Scares carte-de-visite of the Union General best known for defending 'Hell's Half Acre' Autograph Signed Photograph: " W. B. Hazen, Maj. Genl.". 2¼ x4. William Babcock Hazen (1830-1887), a West Point graduate (1855), was severely wounded in a battle with the Comanche in 1859, returning from a long convalescent just in time to become a brigade commander in the Union Army at Shiloh. His Ohio brigade fought heroically at Stone's River (December 31, 1862), with a defense of "Hell's Half Acre" which prevented a collapse of the Union line. (He was wounded again at this battle.) Brevetted a brigadier general in April 1863, he led a division under Sherman during the assault on Atlanta and the march to the sea. Stationed on the Plains after the war, he advocated fair treatment of Native Americans, giving sanctuary to a band of Kiowa pursued by Custer. Now a colonel in the regular army, Hazen was an observer with the Prussian Army in its 1870-1871 war with France. Hazen gave testimony against Secretary of War Belknap, making corruption allegations which hastened Belknap's resignation. read more...

FITZ JOHN PORTER Unique near-profile carte-de-visite of the Union General who fought at Antietam and Second Bull Run Autograph Photograph Signed: " F. J. Porter/Maj. Genl." backmark of R. W. Addis, Washington, DC on verso. 2½ x4. Admiral David Porter's cousin, Fitz John Porter (1822-1901) was a West Point graduate who also taught there. He was wounded in the Mexican War and served on the frontier. At the end of August 1862, Brigadier General Porter failed to cut Stonewall Jackson's and James Longstreet's forces and allowed the Confederates to emerge from Second Bull Run with a victory. General Pope blamed the Union Army's failure on Porter, charging him with willfully disobeying his orders. Porter was court-martialed, found guilty in January 1863 and forced out of the Army. After spending the next 23 years trying to clear his name, in 1886, by Act of Congress, his rank was restored and Porter was reinstated so that he could honorably retire. A board of investigation also decided that Porter had shown better judgment by ignoring Pope's orders. read more...

ALFRED T. TORBERT Exceedingly rare carte-de-visite photo of Torbert in uniform by Mathew Brady! Autograph Signed Photograph: "Yours  truly/A. T. A. Torbert, Brig. Genl: Vols." 2½x4 carte-de-viste with backstamp of Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, New York & Washington. Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert (1833-1880), an 1855 graduate of West Point, was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Confederate States Army on March 16, 1861, just before the start of the American Civil War, but the Delaware native declined the appointment and remained a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. By August 1862, he was a Brigade Commander of the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and Torbert was promoted to Brigadier General on November 29, 1862. On April 10, 1864, he was given command of the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. During Major General Philip Sheridan's Valley Campaigns (1864), Torbert commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Shenandoah. He later commanded the Army of the Shenandoah from April 22, 1865-June 27, 1865. read more...

NEIL ARMSTRONG Two years before his first spaceflight, and five years before he set the first human foot on the moon, Armstrong fills out a flight plan, preparing to pilot a NASA jet from Ohio to Texas. Document signed twice: "N. A. Armstrong", 1 page, 8x12¾. Port Columbus, Naval Air Station [Ohio], 1964 June 25. Department of Defense flight aircraft clearance form. Details filled in by another hand, including mileage, transponder code, and equipment, but Armstrong has penned this notation: "Request radar vector climb on course." Armstrong plans to pilot a T-33 ("Shooting Star") aircraft from Port Columbus to Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, by way of Dayton. The co-pilot is J. F. Stegall, another NASA employee. Civilian Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012) had entered the U.S. space program as a senior NASA research pilot in 1962. A fan of aviation from the age of nine, Armstrong had his pilot's license by the age of 16, and, after studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue for two years, went to Pensacola, Florida for Navy flight training. Serving in Korea at the age of 21, Armstrong flew 78 combat missions and won three Air Medals. read more...

GENERAL JOHN BUFORD The Union cavalry commander, whose decision to "hold the high ground" on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg may have saved the Union, prepares to inspect the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry in the first year of the war. Double-matted and framed with a biographic plaque to an overall size of 20½x22½. Buford died less than five months after Gettysburg. A very scarce war-dated document! Autograph Letter signed: "Jno Buford/Asst. Insp. Gen, USA", 1 page (lightly lined), 5x8. Louisville, Kentucky, 1861 December 14. To Colonel Edward C. Williams, 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, in full: "I am instructed by the Genl-in-Chief to inspect the troops of the Dept. of the Ohio. Please have your Regt. In line of battle by 1 o'clock P. M. on Monday. The inspection will be conducted as prescribed by the Army Regulation. The men equipped as for the field." Matted and framed with a portrait of Buford and a biographical plaque to an overall size of 20½x22½. John Buford (1826-1863) a West Pointer (1848), served on the Western read more...

JOSEPH STALIN, KLIMENT VOROSHILOV, and KIRILL MERETSKOV With war looming in 1938, Stalin signs a key document reorganizing a Red Army recently beset by his devastating purges! Extremely rare! Document signed (in Cyrillic alphabet): "S", "K. Voroshilov", "K. Meretskov", 3 pages, 7½x12. Moscow, 1938 July 14. Initialed by Stalin on p1, countersigned by Voroshilov and Meretskov (as Secretary) on p3. Headed: "Top Secret Copy No 1 Protocol No 12 of the meeting of the Chief Council of War of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army". In Cyrillic script, with accompanying English translation. Decisions of a meeting held that day, attended by Stalin, Voroshilov, [Foreign Minister Vyacheslav] Molotov, and by five high-ranking army generals: [Efim] Shchadenko, [Boris] Shaposhnikov, [Aleksandr] Loktionov, [Dimitrii] Pavlov, and [Kirill] Meretskov (who also signed the document as Secretary). The document provides detailed instructions for reorganizing Soviet military commands in the Kiev Special read more...

GEORGE WASHINGTON Washington handwrote and signed this document, showing that he paid £100 for his neighbor's wheat, only five months after being selected to be a delegate at the Continental Congress. This document has his full name of "George Washington" instead of his more common signature of "G. Washington", which makes it especially rare. Autograph document signed in text: "George Washington". 1 page, 7¼x4¼. [Fairfax County, Virginia, 1774 December 23]. In Full: "Then Received from George Washington the Currt Sum of One hundred pounds in part payment for Wheat sold him by" to which the seller has signed: "Thomas Triplett". Penned at top left (unknown hand, possibly Triplett's): "Receivd Decr 23d 1774". THOMAS TRIPLETT was a descendent of French Huguenots who came to America to escape religious persecution. Triplett grew wheat on his plantation in Fairfax County, not far from Washington's Mount Vernon plantation. read more...

FRANK JAMES From Gallatin, Missouri, while awaiting trial for murder and armed robbery, James handwrote this remarkable and very affectionate 20-page letter to his wife, even quoting Shakespeare. This rich content letter includes references to some of James' friends and former partners Ebenezer Magoffin, and Bill and Frank Gregg. Curiously, James signs with the alias he used as an outlaw, "Ben". Autograph Letter signed: "Your true husband/Ben", 20 pages, 5x8. Castle St James [Gallatin, Missouri], July, circa 1883. A loving letter from Frank James to his wife, on his affection for her and recent happenings. In full: "My dear wife: Do you know your letter of last Sunday was the most interesting communication I have had from you since you left me. I think you are awakening to the fact that I love you much more than a "little bit" as you express it. Let me whisper to you right now that I feel a hundred times better since you have written as you have. How kind and good you can be when you want to. I have felt very much like spanking you several times of late, when you would say for instance "I sometimes believe you do love me a little bit". read more...

JOHN HANCOCK, JOHN AVERY and MOSES GILL Massachusetts' Governor, Secretary of State and future Acting Governor sign a document appointing a Revolutionary War veteran as a Bristol County Justice of the Peace (1781). Partly Printed DS: "John Hancock" as Governor of Massachusetts, 1 page, 11¾x18¾. Boston, 1781 March 27. Countersigned: "John Avery Secy". Appointment of "Elisha May Esq. of Attleborough to be one of the Justices to keep the Peace in the County of Bristol…for the term of seven Years…And to keep and cause to be kept, the Laws and Ordinances made for the Quiet, Rule and Government of the People in the said County…and to chastise and punish all Persons offending against the Form of those Laws and Ordinances…and to cause to come before the said Elisha May Esq all those that shall break the Peace, or attempt any Thing against the same…." On verso is a Manuscript DS: "W. Spooner" read more...

WILLIAM F. CODY The famous Wild West showman pens a hopeful letter to his friend, stating "New England was never big for me. But wait till we start west. I predict a big season." The letter was written during the downfall of Cody's show empire due to outside expenses draining the immense profits from his show Autograph letter signed: "Col.", 1 page, 8½x11 framed to an overall size of 25½x18½. Buffalo Bill's Wild West combined with Pawnee Bill's Great Far East. May 29, 1911. Portsmouth, [New Hampshire]. In full: "Dear Mayor Glad Light, Your letter which found me is fine health. We had two bad towns last week. Fitchburg & Newburyport. No one ever done business in either. The week hurt us at least $2000 in Lowell-sent your bank 5100 today to take up one of my notes. Been getting good deposits from the mines. Been getting in shape [illegible] or any one. I believe I'll walk a sale of the [illegible]. Note if good are doing. [illegible]. While I telegraph you for now we are all OK here-now. And barring accident we will be OK. New England was never big for me. But wait till we start west. I predict a big season. read more...

BENITO JUAREZ The 26th President of Mexico and one of the more important of the nation signs an 1849 proclamation honoring those who fought for Mexico at the Battle of Molino del Rey in 1847, signed in iron gall ink Document Signed: "Benito Juarez" as Governor of Oaxaca, 1 page, 10½x17½. Place: Oaxaca, Mexico. Date: August 8, 1849. In Spanish, not translated. Proclamation honoring officers and men of the Mexican National Guard who fought bravely for their country at the Battle of Molino del Rey, September 8, 1847. Benito Juarez had been elected Governor of Oaxaca in 1847. After being exiled in 1848 after the Mexican War, Santa Anna returned as President in 1853 and sent Juarez into exile. In 1855, Juarez returned, joined Alvarez in a revolution against Santa Anna, who was overthrown and once again, sent into exile. As Alvarez's Minister of Justice, Juarez in 1855 wrote "Ley Juarez", the law abolishing special courts and reducing the power of the army and the church. In 1858, Juarez proclaimed himself de jure President of Mexico, obtaining U.S. read more...

ANDREW JACKSON and JOHN H. EATON The friends discuss their shared passion for race horses, and Eaton sends Jackson a gift of a pipe. When President Jackson appointed Eaton to his Cabinet, it triggered a major political scandal which changed the course of American history. Autograph Letter Signed: "A.J." on lower half of concluding page of 2½p Autograph Letter Signed (separate sheets) of John H. Eaton to Jackson, 8x9¾. Eaton's letter is written from Granville, North Carolina, 1826 September 12. Integral address leaf addressed by Eaton to General Jackson at "Hermitage, Davidson County, Tennessee" noting that it would be delivered by "Rev'd H.M. Cryer". In part: "The Sir Archie Horse sold to Mr. Cryer was bred by me-his Dam and grand Dam were very fine mares, of Roanoak's color-five feet three inches high ellegant (sic), compact and active...I am quite partial to old Archie, but think the Dam of Roanoak was certainly as fine or a finer Nag. In the Autumn of 1819 after covering some mares in the early part of the Spring, this Horse was trained & run at Warrenton. He was beaten by Mr. Drummonds Napoleon. read more...