Ulysses S. Grant Autograph Letter Signed.

GRANT, Ulysses.

Item Number: 112943

Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Ulysses S. Grant as First Lieutenant and Company Commander of the Madison Barracks in Sackets Harbor, New York. One page, dated April 2nd 1849, the letter is addressed by Grant to Gen. Brigadier Talcott, Chief of Ordnance and reads in full, “Gen. I have the honor herewith to forward my return of Ordnance and Ordnance stores pertaining to (I) Co. 4th Reg’t of Inf’y for the quarter ending the 31st of March 1849. I am Gen. Very Respectfully your Obt. Svt. U.S. Grant 1st Lt. 4th Inf.” After entering the army as a Third Lieutenant of Infantry in 1813, George Talcott was transferred to Ordnance duty and promoted on March 3, 1849 to Brevet Brigadier General, only weeks before the present letter was sent to him by Grant. In near fine condition with creasing and two small closed tears. Autograph letters from this period in Grant’s military career are scarce.

Following Grant's service in the Mexican–American War, his first post-war assignments took him and his new wife, Julia, to Detroit and Madison Barracks, a desolate outpost in upstate New York in bad need of supplies and repair. After four months at Madison Barracks, Grant was sent back to his prior quartermaster job in Detroit and when the discovery of gold in California brought droves of prospectors and settlers to the territory, Grant and the 4th infantry were ordered to reinforce the small garrison there.