James N. Caldwell, Military Collection Featuring Presidential Signed Commissions, Including Van Buren, Polk, Fillmore, & Johnson, Plus 

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Jun 12, 2015 - Jun 13, 2015

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• Lot Description
  Lot of 10: 16.5 x 20.5 in. vellum diploma, United States Military Academy, 23 July 1840. For James N. Caldwell, State of Ohio. Signed by academic staff, Richard Delafield, Superintendent, D.H. Mahan (Engineering), A.E. Church (Math.), C. Berard (French), C.F. Smith (Infy. Tactics), Wm. H.C. Bartlett (Nat. & Exper. Philos.). J.W. Bailey (Chem & Minerol.), Robt. W. Weir (Drawing), M. Knowlton (Artillery).
  
  13.5 x 17 in. vellum appointment as Second Lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Regiment, 5 August 1840. Signed by Martin Van Buren (President 1837-1841) and Joel Roberts Poinsett, Secretary of War.
  
  15 x 17.5 in. vellum appointment as First Lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Regiment, 31 March 1847. Signed by James K. Polk (President 1845-1849), and William L. Marcy as Secretary of War.
  
  14 x 18.5 in. vellum appointment as Captain in the 1st Infantry, 26 October 1850. Signed by Millard Fillmore (President, 1850-1853) and C.M. Conrad, Secretary of War.
  
  15.5 x 19.5 in. vellum appointment as Brevet Lieut. Colonel, 9 August 1866, to date from 31 Dec. 1862, for "gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee." Stamped signature of Andrew Johnson, printed signature of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 
  
  "W.D.B." Rosecrans' Campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps, or the Army of the Cumberland: a Narrative of Personal Observations, ... Consisting of Official Reports of the Battle of Stone River. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., 1863. 12mo, embossed cloth,465pp plus 12pp ads. Spine heavily sunned; front and back boards also with sunning.
  
  Cullum, George W., Bvt. Major-General. Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, from 1802 to 1867. Revised edition, with a supplement Continuing the Register of Graduates to January 1, 1879.
  
  Vol. I, 1802-1840.  619pp.  New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1868. 8vo, embossed cloth, gilt spine. Faded and sunned. Spine torn. Text block broken, several signatures separated, but present. In fairly rough condition, but pages fine, very little toning.
  
  Vol. II, 1841-1867. 665pp. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1868. 8vo, embossed cloth, gilt spine. Faded and sunned, spine nearly gone. Rear board separated.
  
  Vol. III, Supplement. New York: James Miller, 1879. 8vo, blue embossed cloth, gilt spine, 543pp. Text block slightly cocked, wear to spine ends. Corners bumped. Pages toned along edges.
  
  James Nelson Caldwell was born 17 Nov. 1817 in Franklin, Ohio. He secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy from the State of Ohio where he was a cadet from 1 July 1836-1 July 1840 (Cullum # 1041). He graduated 25th in his class of 42. Many in this group went on to become officers in the Civil War - at least 9 Confederate and 5 Union Generals (including William Tecumseh Sherman), plus 5 Colonels and 7 Majors. He would have also known many of the members of the three classes ahead and three classes behind him at the Academy. 
  
  Upon graduation he was a brevet Second Lieutenant in the 2^nd Infantry, until his was appointment as 2^nd Lieut. in the 1^st Infantry on 5 August 1840. He served in the Seminole Wars in Florida for the next year and was then sent to frontier duty in Wisconsin and Kansas for the next four years. He was primarily recruiting during the Mexican War, being promoted to 1^st Lieutenant during that time, then to Mississippi. He spent the next decade (1848-1861) at various posts around Texas (Ringgold, Ft. Duncan, Ft. Belknap, Camp Verde, and more), and earned a promotion to Captain in 1850.
  
  At the start of the Civil War (Rebellion of the Seceding States, War of Northern Aggression)he was sent to Key West Barracks, then served primarily in the Western Theater, where he earned a brevet for “gallant and meritorious services” at Murfreesboro and Stones River (“second Murfreesboro”), TN. He was retired from field service as the result of disease and exposure in the line of duty, but was in command of the draft rendezvous at Concord, NH from April 1863 to Feb. 1865. At the end of the war, he was unemployed for a time, before securing a position as Professor of Military Science for a time at Kentucky University, and a member of the Board for Examination of Candidates for promotion in the Army.
  
  He married the widow of Captain Edgar Lacey of the 1^st Infantry and had two sons and two daughters. His sons were Professor James N. and Doctor Frank Caldwell. His step-daughters married J.M. Turner of Cincinnati and Col. P.T. Swaine, 22^nd US Infantry. Caldwell died in Carthage, OH 12 March 1886 at the age of 68. He is buried at Woodhill Cemetery in his home town of Franklin. 
  
  Provenance:Descended Directly in the Caldwell Family

  Condition

  USMA diploma with fading of signatures, but still readable. All with expected folds, some edge curling. Generally very good, with some a little better than others.
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