(CIVIL WAR MASSACHUSETTS) Application packet to serve as ge

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(CIVIL WAR--MASSACHUSETTS.) Application packet to serve as general in the Union army, including copies of letters to Lincoln. [2], 17, [6] manuscript pages, 8vo, original rear wrapper, coming disbound; vertical fold, minimal wear to text. Np, December 1861 to January 1862

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Benjamin Franklin Edmands (1807-1874) served for many years before the war as a major general in the Massachusetts militia. With the rapid expansion of the military came the pressing need for countless new generals in the Union army. This packet details the strenuous and persistent efforts by Edmands to secure a commission in the early months of the war, including manuscript copies of 11 letters of recommendation and a petition addressed to President Lincoln from figures such as ex-Governors Emory Washburn and Edward Everett. Extensive notes by Edmands explain that copies of the letters were also placed in the hands of General McClellan and Secretary of War Stanton. The door remained closed. On the last two pages, Edmands recounts his saga, finally determining that his enemy was current governor John Andrew, who had been telling anyone who asked that Edmands was "broken down . . . an old style of general, not versed in modern tactics, and in Mass. is considered incompetent to command a Regiment." Thus the veteran Massachusetts commander sat out the Civil War.