Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 336 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1883

Civil War: Large Archive of Documents & Letters Relating to the Military Careers of Clark Staunton, 1st Lieutenant of the New York Cavalry Volunteers, and Captain Thomas S. Munhall, 11th Division Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. The archive begins with a wonderful Civil War soldier's ALS from Munhall, 3 pages, 8vo, November 7th, 1864. Headquarters B Company 11th Illinois Cavalry. To "Kind Friend." Just how this letter eluded the censors is hard to imagine, as it contains detailed military information.
"…Our Brigade (4 Regts) is now embarking on Steamboats for up the River, to be absent 15 days. The Cavalry at this place is kept very busy, patrolling the River. I would like very much to be along with them, but cannot, as I am detailed by Col Commanding Brigade as Adjutant Picket Officer. I am in charge of the Eastern Division, embracing a distance of 5 miles, which is the outer defense of the City. If the City was to be attacked, my line would receive the first assault and would be the first defended. It is the identical line held by General Pemberton, and where so many of our men fell while fighting for its possession. At the present time it is covered in places with pieces of shell grape & canister shot, and bullets of all description. To a spectator such sights might cause painful emotions to arise while wondering how men could live whil (sic) Deathly missiles fell so thick as they have on this line. But to one accustomed to witness such in reality; who has fought at the cannons mouth and stared Death, as it were, in the face a thousand times such emotions would not arise."
A "Special Picket Order" dated November 3, 1864, Vicksburg, Mississippi, concerns "…articles of plantation supplies, goods, etc. as being carried the through the lines by Colored women… Along with these items are a dozen or more Treasury, Quartermaster General, and related documents concerning the return of Quartermaster's stores and equipment after the war.
The archive continues with a series of documents relating to the career of Clark Staunton. At the outbreak of the War he enlisted as a Private in the Lincoln Cavalry, officially known as the 1st New York Cavalry. He became a Second Lieutenant in 1863. In December of 1864 Staunton became a First Lieutenant, and in May of 1865 he achieved the rank of Captain. Included in this lot are Staunton's discharge as a Private, December 31, 1863; his appointment as Second Lieutenant July 4, 1863; Stauton's appointment as First Lieutenant, December 7, 1864; his Muster-In Roll, December 27, 1864; Staunton's appointment as Captain, May 17, 1865 and his Discharge from the New York Lincoln Cavalry dated June 27, 1865. A letter from the Treasury Department dated April 15, 1892 indicates that Staunton was still trying to collect moneys owed to him from the Government 27 years after the War ended, despite the fact that he was appointed an examiner in the pension bureau in 1884. Along with the documents is a Soldier's Ticket from Elmira to Harrisburg dated 1863, an unsigned copy of his Last Will and Testament, and more.

Sold for
$260