USMA West Point Class of 1854 Signatures. WITH: Original Ink-Drawn Map and Watercolor View
"On the eve of the Civil War differing loyalties sent some West Pointers north, others south, but their academy friendship survived the conflict." -Mary Elizabeth Sergent, American Heritage Magazine
A CLASS DIVIDED: A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES OF WEST POINT ALUMNI SOON TO BE DIVIDED BY THE CIVIL WAR.
WITH: FINELY DRAWN INK MAP OF WEST POINT BY ALEXANDER STEWART WEBB AND ELEGANT WATERCOLOR VIEW.
FROM THE COLLECTION OF JEB STUART.
The Signatures:
The present collection includes two large displays of signatures, on sheets featuring numerous small boxes printed onto them filled in by each individual with their name and a location, perhaps their current residences. The effect these documents give is the impression of an informal assortment of hand-written calling cards amassed after a social function of West Point alumni. Predominately, the sheets are signed by most of the Class of 1854, a fateful group who were soon be divided by the impending Civil War. Beyond this outstanding group, other graduating classes are represented as well as certain individuals who were not graduates of the USMA but no less salient figures of wartime America—including Albert J. Myer, inventor of wigwag signalling, and James Wiley Magoffin, lessor for the land upon which Fort Bliss would be built.
The terminus ad quem for the collection of signatures is most likely 1854, the earliest death of any signee, in this case John L. Grattan, who died after encountering Sioux troops in the Dakota Territory. Yet, a number of signees are from later graduating classes—so either, if the signatures were assembled all on one date, these individuals were still current students, or possibly these sheets represents a longer project of collecting the signatures.
The providences of those who signed these papers alone reflect the many sacrifices made by the servicemen. Michael Ryan Morgan (Class of ’54) survived the War, retired in 1897 and lived to be nearly 80, and Albert J. Myer lived on to propagate his widely-successful wig-wag flag signalling system across the world. William Dorsey Pender and Stephen Hinsdale Weed (both Class of ’54) perished, as so many did, at Gettysburg in the early days of July 1863—only three decades of age each. John T. Magruder (Class ’57), by solemn contrast, was killed only one year after his graduation from West Point; the Sacramento Daily Union edition of 17 August 1858 published the notice:
Information has been received of the sudden death of Lieut. Magruder, of Washington City, while on his way to Great Salt Lake with the Utah army. His death was caused by another man, a quarrel having arose between them, which resulted in the shooting of Lieut. Magruder. His parents reside at Washington.
Yet, unlike his peers who would shortly be fractionalised among the Union and Confederate armies, Magruder never knew the domestic horror of the Civil War—neither the extent of violence on American soil nor the growing schism between his fellow class-men.
An enumeration of each of the 53 signees is provided below, along with brief biographical details.
Two West Point Illustrations from Signed JEB Stuart Scrapbook - A Fine Map in Ink by Alexander Stewart Webb and a Watercolour Study:
In a largely dilapidated scrapbook owned by JEB Stuart (signed faintly in pencil “JEB Stuart | June 1853”, the summer between his Junior and Senior years at West Point), two impressive illustrations have been preserved.
The first is a topographic map in ink by Alexander Stewart Webb (Class of ’55), JEB Stuart’s underclassman by one year. Brevetted Brigidier General and Major General on 13 March 1865, Webb was recognised “for gallant and meritorious services in the campaign terminating with the surrender of the insurgent army under Gen. Lee.”, and his wartime letters are now held at Yale University’s Beinecke Library (see “Webb, Samuel Blatchley”, in Appleton, p. 403). The present drawing, possibly depicting an aerial view of either Trophy Point or Constitution Island, is remarkable for the meticulous line shading to capture the region’s elevation and natural features.
The second illustration, a miniature watercolour study in sepia, offers a scenic view from the Plain at Trophy Point, overlooking the water with Constitution off to the right in the background. Signed “Merrill”, it is feasibly by Lewis Merrill (Class of ’55) based on proximity to JEB Stuart’s time at West Point, but this is uncertain.
Both of these images from JEB Stuart’s personal collection capture the natural beauty and early history of USMA West Point.
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West Point signature displays, c. 1854. 2 pages on 2 folia (13 x 10¾ in; framed: 23 x 20 ¾ in). Small puncture hole toward top left on one sheet, not affecting text.
with
Webb, Alexander Stewart. Topographic map, n.d. Ink on paper (13¼ x 9½ in; mounted: 15 x 11¼ in). Signed in ink in bottom right-hand corner “A. S. Webb”.
with
View from Trophy Point, n.d. Watercolour on paper (3 x 2 ½ in; mounted: 15 x 11¼ in). Signed in bottom right-hand corner “MERRILL”.
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References:
Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, ed. by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, 7 vols. (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1898–1900), VI: Sunderland-Zurita (1889)
Heidler, David Stephen, Jeanne T. Heidler and David J. Coles, Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social and Military History (New York: Norton, 2002)
Sacramento Daily Union, “Additional Atlantic News”, 17 August 1858, p. 4
List of Signatures
No. | Name | Rank | Allegiance | USMA Class | Notes
1 | John T. Magruder | Bvt 2nd Lt | Union | ‘57 | d. 28 June 1858, Maryville, NE (aged 21)
2 | J S Simonson(?) | Major | ? | ? | ?
3 | Henry B. Douglass(?) | Colonel | Union | '52 | d. 19 June 1892, Barnet Park, NY (aged 65)
4 | Albert James Myer | Bvt Brigadier General | Union | – | d. 24 August 1880, Buffalo, NY (aged 51)
5 | John Bordenave Villepique | Brigadier General | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 9 November 1862, Port Hudson, LA (aged 32)
6 | John L. Grattan | Bvt 2nd Lt | Union | ‘53 | d. 19 August 1854, Ft Laramie, Dakota Territory (aged 24); engaged by the Sioux
7 | John Speed Rudd | Adj General | Confederate | ? | ?
8 | Washington Lafayette Elliott | Bvt Major General | Union | ‘44 | d. 29 June 1888, San Francisco, CA (aged 63)
9 | Richard Irving Dodge | Colonel | Union | ‘48 | d. 15 June 1895, Sackett’s Harbor, NY (aged 68)
10 | Richard Kidder Meade | 2nd Lt | Confederate | ‘57 | d. 31 July 1862, Petersburg, VA (aged 26)
11 | John Henry Edson | Lt Colonel | Union | ‘53 | d. 11 February 1914, Elizabeth, NJ (aged 84)
12 | Charles Geddings Rogers | Lt Colonel | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 24 February 1888, Nashville, TN (aged 57)
13 | Charles Nesbit Turnbull | Bvt Colonel | Union | ‘54 | d. 2 December 1874, Boston, MA (aged 42)
14 | Henry Larcom Abbot | Colonel | Union | ‘54 | d. 1 October 1927, Cambridge, MA (aged 96)
15 | John Osmond Long | Colonel | Confederate | ‘54 | ?
16 | Samuel Kinsey | 2nd Lt | Union | ‘54 | d. 14 July 1855, Washington, DC; typhoid
17 | Robert Granderson Cole | Colonel | Confederate | ‘50 | d. 7 November 1887, Savannah, GA (aged 49)
18 | Andrew Jackson Smith(?) | Colonel | Union | ‘38 | d. 28 January 1897, St Louis, MO (aged 82)
19 | Henry Adam Smalley | Captain | Union | ‘54 | d. 13 May 1888, New York, NY (aged 54)
20 | James E. B. “Jeb” Stuart | Major General | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 12 Mary 1864, Richmond, VA (aged 31); wounded at Yellow Tavern
21 | Edgar O’Connor | Colonel | Union | ‘54 | d. 28 August 1862, Groveton, VA (aged 29)
22 | William Dorsey Pender | General | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 3 July 1863, Gettysburg, PA (aged 29)
23 | Milton T. Carr | Captain | Union | ‘54 | AWOL 1863
24 | James Vote Bomford | Colonel | Union | ‘32 | d. 6 January 1892, Elizabeth, NJ (aged 80)
25 | George Washington Custis Lee | Major General | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 18 February 1913, Alexandria, VA (aged 81)
26 | John Bailey Mullins | Lieutenant | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 3 October 1891, Norfolk, VA (aged 62)
27 | William McEntyre Dye | Major | Union | ‘53 | d. 13 November 1899, Muskegon, MI (aged 68)
28 | Hyatt C. Ranson | Lt Colonel | Union | ‘51 | d. 16 March 1874, Jeffersonville, IN (aged 51)
29 | George Brinton McClellan(?) | Major General | Union | ‘46 | d. 29 October 1885, Orange Mountain, NJ (aged 58)
30 | James Wiley Magoffin Jr. | – | – | d. 27 September 1868, San Antonio, TX (aged c. 68)
[Second leaf]
31 | Thomas J. Wright | Lieutenant | Union | ‘54 | d. 12 October 1857, Ft Randall, Dakota Territory (aged 29)
32 | Samuel T. Shepperd | 2nd Lt | Union | ‘54 | d. 27 June 1855, Ft. Leavenworth, KA (aged 24)
33 | Stephen D. Lee | Lt General | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 28 May 1908, Vicksburg, MS (aged 74)
34 | John Trout Greble | Bvt Lt Colonel | Union | ‘54 | d. 10 June 1861, Big Bethel, VA (aged 27); first West Point graduate claimed by the War
35 | David Hancock | Major | Union | ‘54 | d. 21 May 1880, Harrisburg, PA (aged 47)
36 | Alfred Beck Chapman | Lieutenant | Union | ‘54 | d. 16 January 1915, San Gabriel, CA (aged 85)
37 | John T. Mercer | Colonel | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 19 April 1864, Plymouth, NC (aged 31)
38 | Thomas J. Treadwell | Captain | |Union | ‘54 | d. 2 August 1879, NY Arsenal, NY (aged 47)
39 | Charles Greene Sawtelle | Brigadier General | Union | ‘54 | d. 4 January 1913, Washington, DC (aged 78)
40 | John McCleary | Bvt Major | Union | ‘54 | d. 25 February 1868, Charleston, SC (aged 36)
41 | Edwin Franklin Townsend | Brigadier General | Union | ‘54 | d. 15 August 1909, Washington, DC (aged 76)
42 | William M. Davant | 2nd Lt | Union | ‘54 | d. 1 October 1855, Rio Grande, TX (aged 24); drowned
43 | Henry Whitney Closson | Brigadier General | Union | ‘54 | d. 15 July 1917, Washington, DC (aged 85)
44 | Loomis L. Langdon | Brigadier General | Union| ‘54 | d. 7 January 1910, New York, NY (aged 80)
45 | Michael Ryan Morgan | Brigadier General | Union | ‘54 | d. 16 September 1911, St Paul, MN (aged 78)
46 | Stephen Hinsdale Weed | Brigadier General | Union | ‘54 | d. 2 July, 1863, Gettysburg, PA (aged 30)
47 | George A. Gordon | Major | Union | ‘54 | d. 26 October 1878, Washington, DC (aged 45)
48 | Judson David Bingham | Brigadier General | Union | ‘54 | d. 17 November 1909, Philadelphia, PA (aged 79)
49 | Oliver Otis Howard | Major General | Union | ‘54 | d. 26 October 1901, Burlington, VA (aged 76)
50 | Horace Randal | 2nd Lt | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 27 February 1861, Jenkins’ Ferry, AR (aged 31)
51 | James Deshler | Colonel | Confederate | ‘54 | d. 20 September 1863, Chicamauga, GA (aged 30)
52 | Zenas Randall Bliss | Major General | Union | ‘54 | d. 2 January 1900, Washington, DC (aged 65)
53 | Thomas Howard Ruger | Major General | Union | ‘54 | d. 3 June 1907, Stamford, CT (aged 74).
Price: $60,000 .