Abraham Lincoln (1809 1865 Sixteenth President of the United States who led the Union through the Civil War assassinated. D.S. lp folio on vellum Washington Aug 14 1861, a commission appointing future Union Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman to the rank of lieutenant Colonel in the fifth Regiment of artillery". Boldly signed by Lincoln and his Secretary of War Simon Cameron Thomas W. 9 herman (1813 1879 was promoted to Brigadier General in August 1863 and served under Henry Halleck in the assault upon Corinth He later commanded the defenses of New Orleans and lost a leg at Port Hudson in 1863 Sherman was a most competent officer but his iron handed disciplinary mentality mad him unpopular with the volunteers in his ranks. Text is quite faded but completely legible, signatures are much darker and very distinct Light overall soiling otherwise very good