CIVIL WAR GENERAL IOWA INFANTRY ANDERSONVILLE PRISON JUDGE CONTENT LETTER SIGNED

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CIVIL WAR GENERAL IOWA INFANTRY ANDERSONVILLE PRISON JUDGE CONTENT LETTER SIGNED:
$99.99

NORTON PARKER CHIPMAN

(1836 – 1924)

CIVIL WAR UNION BVT BRIGADIERGENERAL,

Wounded-in-Action (AlmostKilled) MAJOR, 2nd IOWA INFANTRY,

COLONEL, ADC, CHIEF ofSTAFF to MAJOR GENERAL CURTIS,

JUDGE ADVOCATE PROSECUTORin the WAR CRIMES TRIAL of CONFEDERATE ANDERSONVILLE PRISON COMMANDER HENRYWIRZ

RECONSTRUCTION CONGRESSMAN from the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA!

Chipman was almost mortallywounded and reported as dead at Fort Donelson in 1862, but he did, in fact,survive. As Judge Advocate, Chipman successfully prosecuted Captain Henry Wirz, the commander of theConfederacy’s infamous Andersonville prison camp in Georgia, where almost13,000 Union soldiers lost their lives. For his cruelties to prisoners of warand eleven murders, Wirz was hanged in 1865. Chipman published hisrecollections of the famous Andersonville Trial in his 1911 book, TheTragedy of Andersonville.

Here’s a RARE and GREAT CONTENT CIVIL WAR DATE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNEDby CHIPMAN to JAMES F. McCUTCHEN, CAPTAIN inthe 9th IOWA CAVALRY, 4pp., DATED AT CAIRO, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 6,1862.

Chipman mentions: Major General SamuelRyan Curtis; Maj. General Halleck; the Army of the South West; Vicksburg and the MississippiRiver being thrown open to the rebels up to the mouth of the Arkansas River (makingthe occupation of Little Rock very precarious); our communications & lineof supplies might be cut off; Wherever General Curtis goes slavery melts likehay before the fire; slavery is doomed; We have freed over 1,500 & thewhole slave population is totally demoralized; they refuse to work and assertthat the day of deliverance is at hand; We must crush slavery before we cancrush the rebellion; the rebs putting forth their strongest efforts following upthe momentum gained by the Richmond victory; etc., etc., etc…!!!!

NOTE: THE AUTOGRAPH COMES WITH ITS ORIGINALTRANSMITTAL COVER ENVELOPE ADDRESSED TO McCUTCHEN, BEARING A ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI CIRCULAR DATE STAMP POSTMARK AND 3 CENT GEORGE WASHINGTON US POSTAGESTAMP. A COMPLETE TYPEWRITTEN TRANSCRIPTOF THE LETTER IS ALSO INCLUDED!!

The document measures 8”x 10” and is in VERY FINE CONDITION.

A RARE and Excellent Piece of American Military Memorabiliato add to your ‘Generals in Blue’ Civil War Autograph, Manuscript & EphemeraCollection!

Biographical Sketch of

Gen. Norton P. Chipman

Norton Parker Chipman (March 7, 1834 –February 1, 1924) was an American Civil Wararmy general officer, military prosecutor, politician, author, and judge.

BiographyEarly Years

Born in Milford Center, Ohio,to Vermont-nativesNorman and Sarah Wilson (Parker) Chipman, Norton Chipman\'s family moved to Iowawhen he was young. He graduated from the Cincinnati Law Schoolin 1859, prior to the school\'s merger with the University of Cincinnati in itspresent form.

Military career

Having enlisted in the UnionArmy\'s Second Iowa Infantry during the Civil War, LieutenantColonel Chipman fought courageously in battle and was nearly mortally woundedand carried off the battlefield, leading his commanders to report him as deadat the Battle of Fort Donelson.Chipman did, in fact, survive and, upon recovery, was promoted to the rank ofcolonel in 1862. Chipman and fellow Ohioan UlyssesS. Grant fought together in the Battle of Fort Donelson,which became Grant\'s first major victory. Chipman was later appointed as amember of General HenryW. Halleck\'s and then SamuelR. Curtis\'s staff. He later became a member of the JudgeAdvocate General\'s staff.

Life in the District of Columbia

By 1864, he had moved to Washington, D.C., to work at the War Departmentunder Secretary Edwin M. Stanton.Chipman successfully prosecuted Captain HenryWirz, the commander of the Confederacy\'sinfamous Andersonville prisoncamp, where almost 13,000 Union soldiers lost their lives. For his cruelties toprisoners of war and eleven homicides, Wirz was hanged in 1865. Chipmanpublished his recollections of the famous Andersonville Trial in his 1911 book,The Tragedy of Andersonville.

After the Civil War, Chipman was appointed Secretary of theDistrict of Columbia by President UlyssesS. Grant, and was later elected to Congress as a delegatefrom the District of Columbia, serving two terms.

While adjutant general of the Grand Army of the Republic,he received a note from a friend in Cincinnati. The note suggested that theUnited States mimic the European custom of decorating graves of people who diedwhile serving in the military. Chipman loved the idea, and he decided the dayshould be late in the spring, in order to make sure mature flowers wereavailable. Because May 31 fell on a Sunday that year, he declared May 30, 1868,to be Decoration Day, a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers from theCivil War. The Associated Presspublished the order around the country. Decoration Day later became MemorialDay.

When Grant was elected president in 1868, Chipman was asked to be on thepresidential inaugural committee. At the time, Chipman was living on the cornerof First and B streetssoutheast. After Congress passed the District of ColumbiaOrganic Act of 1871, Chipman was appointed Secretary ofthe District of Columbia, effectively the second highest local official afterthe Governor of the District of Columbia. Chipman held this position for 50days, until Edward L. Stanton was appointed to replace him. At the time, Chipmanwas living at 1725 G Street NW, and he had recently founded the law firm ofChipman, Hosmer & Co., located at Sixth and F streets NW.

Chipman spoke at a Republican nominating convention on March 7, 1871,where he said, \"If there was anybody here who didn\'t want his childrenplaced in mixed schools he had better take them out of the District ofColumbia.\" The statement was drawn out of Chipman after persistentquestioning from someone in the crowd, and it caused quite a stir, consideringthat Republicans generally avoided committing on the subject of schoolintegration in order to not alienate moderate white Republicans. Due to hisfriendship with Grant, name recognition, longer residency in the District, andhis connection to the District\'s government, the convention decided to nominateChipman over Frederick Douglassto be the Republican nominee for the District of Columbia\'s first delegate toCongress. While campaigning, Republicans advocated for long-time Districtresident Chipman over Democratic candidate Richard T. Merrick, who they saidowned no property in the District. This argument backfired when it was revealedthat Chipman had sold his home and was living at a hotel, while Merrickactually did own real estate in the District. During the April generalelection, Chipman won, receiving 15,196 votes to Merrick\'s 11,104. Republicanswon fifteen of the twenty-two members of the District\'s House of Delegates aswell.

Now living on B Street SE,Chipman spent much of his time in Congress advocating for the District\'s publicworks program.Among the bills he submitted to Congress was a bill to appropriate 2,500,000acres of land to build schools, a bill to appropriate $200,000 to completeconstruction of the Washington Monument, and a bill to build a new bridge overthe Anacostia River, a bill toimprove the Washington harbor. When Congressman RobertRoosevelt sharply criticized the District\'s board of publicworks, calling it rife with fraud and corruption, Chipman fiercely defended theboard, saying Roosevelt\'s charges were based on willful misinformation andfalse accounts.

Running for reelection in 1873, he defeated Democrat L.G. Hine, formerlyof the District\'s Board of Aldermen, receiving 12,443 votes to Hine\'s 7,042.

In 1874, Chipman submitted a bill to annex Georgetownto the City of Washingtonand to rename its streetsto conform to Washington\'s street-naming conventions.He also tried to require the federal government to pay the District governmentproperty tax for the federal buildings located in the District.

In 1875, Congress disestablished the District\'s territorial governmentincluding Chipman\'s position of delegate.

Later Years

Chipman moved to Red Bluff, Californiain 1876, where he served as a member of the California State Board of Trade,eventually becoming its president. He served as a supreme court commissioner inCalifornia from 1897 to 1905. Finally, he was appointed by California\'s governorGeorge Pardee as the first presidingjustice of the newly created California Third District Court ofAppeals, a position he held from 1906 until 1921, when heresigned due to failing health.

He died on February 1, 1924, in SanFrancisco at the age of 89. He is interred in Bellefontaine Cemeteryin St. Louis, Missouri.A small memorial remains in the library of the California Third District Courtof Appeal in Sacramento.Chipman is the second longest-serving presiding justice of the court. In April2006, the Federalist Societyof Chipman\'s alma mater, the University of CincinnatiCollege of Law, officially honored Chipman, renamingits local chapter the \"Norton Parker Chipman Federalist Society for Lawand Public Policy Studies at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.\"

Quotes

I confess. I weary of this contest year after year to obtain simplejustice for the District of Columbia. I weary of the indifference ofCongress... I weary of the abject dependence of this community and the positionof obsequiousness which their agent must submit to lest he offend somecongressional propriety or step upon some congressional toe...

— speech to Congress,1875

Nothing can be more clear, upon a cursory view of the local government andits relations to the parent Government, than that the United States have neveracted upon any well-defined theory, or with any consistency or unity; thatwhile it has been just—indeed, almost generous—in certain directions, it hasbeen parsimonious and mean in others... What is needed above all things here isa consistent, well-defined policy on the part of Congress in the support ofthis District government.

— speech to Congress

Popular culture

IOWA
(3 YEARS)

Second Infantry.-Cols., Samuel R. Curtis, James M. Tuttle,

James Baker, Noah W. Mills, James B. Weaver, Noel B. Howard;

Lieut.Cols., James M. Tuttle, Marcellus M. Crocker, James

Baker, Noah W. Mills, Henry R. Cowles, Noel B. Howard; Majs.,

Marcellus M. Crocker, Norton P. Chipman, James B. Weaver, Noel

B. Howard, Mathew H. Hamill. This regiment was organized at

Keokuk in April and May, 1861, the first regiment of three-

years men organized in the state and the first to take the

field from Iowa. It was mustered in May 27-28 and left the

state at daylight June 13 for St. Joseph, Mo., where it

remained on railroad guard duty and aided in maintaining order

until the latter part of July. Moving to Bird\'s Point, it

remained there until the latter part of October on similar

service. The climate was such that on its removal to St. Louis

the number of men fit for duty was only about 400. Col. Curtis

having been promoted to brigadier-general,, Lieut.-Col. Tuttle

was commissioned colonel, Maj. Crocker was made lieutenant-

colonel, but soon afterward was commissioned colonel of the

13th regiment and was succeeded by Lieut.-Col. Baker, promoted

from the captaincy of Co. G. The regiment remained in St.

Louis during the winter, engaged in the duty of guarding

prisoners and recuperating. An unfortunate incident here led

to an unjust order, the regiment being marched in public

disgrace from its quarters to the levee for embarkation to Fort

Donelson without music and with its colors furled, the reason

being that some one had crept into the \"museum\" of McDowell

college, at that time used as a prison, and carried away some

stuffed rabbits, etc. The culprit not being discovered the

regiment was held to be guilty of the crime (?) under the

peculiar canons then prevailing in military circles and

suffered accordingly. At Fort Donelson it splendidly redeemed

itself as a part of Lauman\'s brigade, which stormed the enemy\'s

works on the left, the regiment leading the column, planting

its Flag within the outer works, pouring a murderous fire into

the opposing lines, and compelling the enemy to seek his inner

lines. Even Halleck, who had approved the unmerited disgrace,

telegraphed commendations. After the surrender the 2nd was

awarded the post of honor and was first to enter Fort Donelson.

But it had paid dearly with 41 killed and 157 wounded out of

630 in action. It participated at the battle of Shiloh, its

brigade repulsing several assaults and the regiment losing

about 80 in killed and wounded. It took part in the siege of

Corinth and in the pursuit of Beauregard\'s forces, later

marched to Iuka, but did not take part in the battle. Col.

Tuttle was promoted brigadier-general, Lieut.-Col. Baker was

commissioned colonel and was succeeded by Capt. N. W. Mills.

James B. Weaver was appointed major. In the battle of Corinth

in October it made a brave charge, Col. Baker falling mortally

wounded on the first day and Lieut.-Col. Mills on the second

day. The regiment\'s loss was 108 in killed, wounded and

missing out of 346 engaged. The regiment moved to La Grange,

Tenn., and to Pulaski in October, going into winter quarters.

On Dec. 9 it marched to Tuscumbia, Ala., in pursuit of raiders,

but returned on the 23d after one of the hardest marches in its

history. Maj. Weaver had been commissioned colonel upon the

death of his superior officers at Corinth, Capt. Henry R.

Cowles succeeding as lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. N. B. Howard

was promoted to major. About the first of 1864 the regiment

reenlisted as a veteran organization. Leaving Pulaski on April

29, 1864, it joined the army in the movement toward Atlanta,

skirmished at Snake Creek gap, fought at Resaca, and other

points, and took part in the siege and battle of Atlanta. At

Jonesboro, with the 7th Ia. it cleared the way through a

fortified position for the cavalry. The non-veterans having

been mustered out on May 22 the regiment had but six companies

during this campaign, Lieut.-Col. Howard commanding. Its

numbers were augmented at Atlanta by the addition of the three

remaining companies of the 3rd Ia. and Lieut.-Col. Howard was

promoted colonel. It moved with the army toward Savannah, was

in a lively engagement at the Ogeechee river, in which the

enemy were soon put to flight, and moved into Savannah two

weeks later. In the march through the Carolinas it was engaged

at Columbia and again at Lynch\'s creek, which closed its

fighting history. After moving to Goldsboro, thence to Raleigh

Petersburg and Richmond, it proceeded to Washington City.

where it took part in the grand review. It was mustered out at

Louisville. The regiment\'s original strength was 998; gain by

recruits 223; unassigned recruits 26; total 1,247.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4

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