U. S. Grant Autograph Letter Signed, Sent to Maj.... Lot 33

U. S. Grant Autograph Letter Signed, Sent to Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck (March 2, 1865) Scarce Civil War-dated ALS signed “U. S. Grant, Lt. Gen.,” one page, 7.5 x 5.25, Head Quarters Armies of the United States letterhead, March 2, 1865. Addressed from City Point, Virginia, headquarters of the Union Army during the siege of Petersburg, a handwritten letter to Major General Henry Halleck, in full: “I think orders should go to [Edward] Canby to put [Frederick] Steele in command of the new Corps formed which properly should be numbered 13th and A. J. [Andrew Jackson] Smith’s 16th.” Archivally double-matted and framed with a carte-de-visite portrait of the four-star general to an overall size of 12.75 x 16.5. In very fine condition. This letter relates to Steele’s command of the XIII Corps, part of Maj. Gen. Edward Canby's Union forces. Between February 18, 1865, and May 18, 1865, Steele led a force of African American soldiers, officially designated the ‘Column from Pensacola,’ in Canby's Army of West Mississippi. These troops fought at the battles of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley, the latter being the final major battle of the Civil War; the Confederates surrendered just hours after Grant had accepted the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox on the morning of April 9, 1865.