American Historical Ephemera and Photography

[CIVIL WAR]. Manuscript order written by Lt. Col. Charles Marshall for Robert E. Lee, from the Antietam Battlefield. Sharpsburg, MD, 18 September 1862.

One page, 7 3/4 x 10 in., creased along folds with some separations and small holes, spotting and toning throughout.

In full: "R. B. Grubb is authorised to received [sic] recruits into the company he is about to form, and muster them into the service of the Confederate States of America. / By command of Gen R. E. Lee / Charles Marshall, Maj A. D. C."

Charles Marshall (1830-1902) was a well-educated and well-connected lawyer practicing in Baltimore when the Civil War broke out. One of his most important connections, a family friendship with Robert E. Lee, landed him a position on Lee's staff in March of 1862. Marshall was appointed with the rank of captain and functioned variously as Lee's aide-de-camp, assistant adjutant general, and secretary. He would be promoted ultimately to the rank of lieutenant colonel and would be one of only two of Lee's staff members to attend the meeting between Lee and Grant to discuss the surrender at Appomattox Court House. Notably, Marshall also penned the first response to Grant's proposed terms for surrender and Lee's famous farewell letter to the Army of Northern Virginia, known as General Order No. 9.

R. B. Grubb enlisted in the Confederate States Army as a captain on 30 October 1862, having raised what would become Company C of the 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion. He would be killed in action on 7 August 1863, during the skirmish at Walker's Hill in Waterford, Virginia.