American Historical Ephemera & Photography

ARCHER, James J. (1817-1864) and Charles Garrison HARKER. (1837-1864). Abstract of Provisions sold to Officers in the Field during the month of June 1859 by 2nd Lt. Chas. G. Harker 9th Infy. Lake Okanakane, [British Columbia, Canada], June 1859. 

1 page, 15 3/4 x 12 1/2 in., on blue paper, docketing to verso, old creases with minor toning.  

Lists commissary articles sold to officers accompanying the Northwest Boundary Commission signed by 2nd Lt. Charles G. Harker ("C.G. Harker") as issuing officer and by Captain James J. Archer ("J.J. Archer") as Commander of the Military Escort. Signed at Lake Okanakane (now Okanagan) in British Columbia, on the Canadian side of the border.

In 1846, the United States and Great Britain signed the Oregon Treaty, which made the 49th parallel the boundary between the US and British North America. The US formed a boundary commission to mark the border. The two countries then arranged to work together in the International Boundary Commission to establish and mark the northern border of the Washington Territory with British Columbia. The commission’s first meeting took place near Victoria, British Columbia, on 27 June 1857. The last of the fieldwork of the joint commission was completed in the spring of 1861, just after the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War.

James J. Archer (1817-1864) was a lawyer who served in the Mexican War and was cited for bravery at Chapultepec. In 1855, he decided to join the regular army as a captain in the 9th U.S. Infantry, serving in the Pacific Northwest. When the Civil War began in 1861, Archer was stationed at Fort Walla Walla in the Washington Territory. He resigned his commission on May 14, and joined the Confederate Army and was named colonel of the 5th Texas Infantry.

Charles Garrison Harker (1837 – 1864) attended the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1858. Harker served at outposts in the Oregon and Washington territories with the 9th US Infantry, including service with the Northwest Boundary Commission. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Harker was assigned to duty in Ohio to help train newly recruited volunteer soldiers. He was promoted to first lieutenant of the 15th U.S. Infantry on 14 May 1861, and then to captain on 24 October 1861. He was subsequently appointed as colonel of the 65th Ohio Infantry, later he took over command of the 20th Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Ohio.

Important US Army document from the Northwest Boundary Commission SIGNED BY TWO IMPORTANT FUTURE GENERALS IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 

[With:]
JONES, William Edmondson (1824-1864). Manuscript document of articles purchased for the Regiment of Mounted Rifles. Fort Merrill, TX, 25 September 1852.

1 page, 4to, 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in., on blue paper, old creases. 

Listing of 18 3/4 pounds of bacon, 25 pounds of hardtack, 2 quarts beans, 1 ½ pounds of coffee, 3 pounds brown sugar, etc. purchased by Jones as Acting Commissary of Subsistence. With integral receipt signed by Private Matthew Smith acknowledging receipt of $4.18½ in payment. Smith “went on sick leave to Corpus Christi” and returned with the commissary stores.

William Edmondson Jones (1824 – 1864) was nicknamed "Grumble," reflecting his irritable disposition, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1848, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the U.S. Mounted Rifles. He served with the cavalry fighting Indians in the west until he resigned his commission in 1857 to become a farmer and agent for the sale of Sibley Tents. At the start of the Civil War, Jones organized a company from his home county known as the Washington Mounted Rifles which became Company D of the 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment. He was promoted to the rank of colonel was given command of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. He was promoted to Brigadier General on 19 September 1862, and on November 8, was assigned to command the 4th Brigade of Stuart's Cavalry Division in the Army of Northern Virginia. In May 1864, Jones assumed command of the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley who were defending against the halting advance of Maj. Gen. David Hunter towards Lynchburg, Virginia, in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. In the Battle of Piedmont, on 5 June 1864, Jones was shot in the head and killed while leading a charge against a superior attacking force.

Fort Merrill was established in 1850 on the right bank of the Nueces River where the Corpus Christi to San Antonio road crossed the river. After 1853, the fort was garrisoned only intermittently. The fort was abandoned on December 1, 1855. Fine original document from the Texas frontier signed by a famous future Confederate General.