Description:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
(1809-1865) Sixteenth President of the United States who led the Union through the Civil War and emancipated the slaves, assassinated. Fine association A.E.S, an endorsement penned on the verso of a letter sent to him by Kentucky Judge Henry Pirtle. Pirtle and the Lincoln family had an association that went back many decades: he personally knew two sons, Mordecai and Josiah, of Lincoln's grandfather, Abraham, who had relocated the family from Virginia to Kentucky in 1782. Here the elderly jurist asks a favor of the sitting president: "...My son, Alfred Pirlt, has been in the Federal service ever since the 18th Sept. 1861, when Buckner threatened Louisville. He went that day as a volunteer to meet the army of traitors...he set about assisting Col. Curran Pope in raising the Ky. regiment of infantry afterwards called the 15th...Governor Tod soon gave him a commission in the 10th Ohio...at the battle of Stone River...at the battle of Chicamauga, where his general was killed...he has great anxiety to be useful in putting down the rebellion...I ask you to give him the appointment of Assistant Adjutant General, with the rank of Major...he would rather be in the field...". On the verso of the letter, Lincoln obliges the old man, writing: "I would like for Judge Pirtle to be obliged in this case, if it can be consistently done. A. Lincoln Feb. 5, 1864". Fine condition. It appears that even Lincoln could not get Pirtle his promotion: the soldier achieved no higher rank than 2nd lieutenant and left the service six months later. He did become a noted historian, one of his books concerning the battle of Tippecanoe. After Lincoln's death, father Henry would be quoted in Herndon's biography describing Lincoln's uncles as "excellent" and "honorable" men.

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May 13, 2009 10:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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