JOHNSON, Andrew (1808-1875). Document signed ("Andrew Johnson"), as President of the United States, to Edward B. Rossiter, 12 Massachusetts Infantry and 13th Veteran Reserve Corps, WIA Fredericksburg. Washington, D.C., 7 May 1865.

1 page, visible 15 x 18 in., old folds, matted and framed to 19 3/8 x 22 1/2 in., not examined out of frame.

Partly-printed military commission conferring the rank of second lieutenant in the Veteran Reserve Corps to Edward B. Rossiter as of 28 October 1864. Signed by President Johnson and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869).

Rossiter was a 26-year-old carpenter from Boston when he enlisted as a sergeant on 26 June 1861. On the same day, he was mustered into Company C of the 12th Massachusetts, known as "Webster Regiment" as it was originally commanded by Colonel Fletcher Webster, son of Daniel Webster. They engaged in picket duty in the Army of the Shenandoah, but engaged in the Battle of Antietam, losing 67% of its strength, the highest percentage casualty rate of any Union regiment. Rossiter appears to not have been one of the 224 casualties at Antietam, however, he was wounded in action a few months later at Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862. On 1 July 1863, he transferred to Company H of the 13th Infantry Veteran Reserve Corps, reenlisted on 25 April 1864, and as this document confirms, he was promoted to second lieutenant on 7 November 1864.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana, and Historical Documents