Description:

(UNION NAVY) DAVID D. PORTER ORDERS A SUBSCRIPTION TO HONOR JOSEPH BAILEY, HERO OF THE RED RIVER CAMPAIGN
A very interesting war-date broadside, 1p. 4to., Mound City, IL, May 30, 1864, ‘General Order No. 207', issued by U.S. Navy rear admiral DAVID D. PORTER (1813-1891) to his U.S. Mississippi Squadron from aboard his flagship USS BLACK HAWK. In full: ‘A subscription was started for the purpose of raising a fund sufficient to testify to Col. [Joseph] Bailey, of the 19th Army Corps, the high appreciation felt by the Mississippi Squadron of the service rendered by him in getting the Squadron, up Red River, over the falls. All persons having subscribed, or desirous to subscribe, will hand in through their Paymasters the amount subscribed, and all Paymasters are directed to send the amounts to Paymaster C. H. Kirkendall, of this vessel, who will receipt for the same'. The order shows folds overall, with a chip to the top edge and some blue ink stains to the verso, otherwise in very good condition. JOSEPH BAILEY (1825-1867) was a U.S. Army engineer serving under Gen. Nathaniel Banks during the Red River Campaign, an abortive joint operation between Army and Navy forces to capture Shreveport and cut off Confederate forces in Louisiana and Arkansas. After Banks' defeat at the Battle of Mansfield, his corps retreated to join Porter's Mississippi Squadron at Alexandria, where they were trapped by dangerously low water levels. Bailey proposed building a wing dam to raise the level of the river. When the water level was high enough, Bailey would blow up the dam, and the ensuing rush of water would carry the squadron over the falls. 10,000 troops labored for ten days to construct the dam, which was opened on May 10, 1864, and the combined Union force of 30,000 men rode safely over the falls, with the gunboat USS LEXINGTON leading the way. Bailey in turn received the Thanks of Congress, one of only fifteen army officers so honored during the war, and the only one not in command of an army or a corps.

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March 27, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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