2020-01 Putnal
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/18/2020
Manuscript Document, 1-1/4p, folio, being an official copy of the Farewell Address of General William B. Franklin, retained by H.L. Cranford, A.A.A.G, dated January 27, 1863, it reads "To the officers & men of the Left Grand Division. In obedience to the order of the highest authority, the undersigned relinquishes the command of the Left Grand Division. He does so with sincere regret. His connection with the command has been ever pleasant. The prompt obedience and cheerful co-operation you have at all times rendered, your patient endurance upon the march, your steady bravery upon the field, the manly determination with which you have encountered and overcome the dangers and hardships of several trying campaigns, command his admiration and gratitude. All of you are endeared to him by gallant conduct and loyal service and most of you by the memories of many battle fields and the proud recollection that from none of them have you been driven back. By these common memories he exhorts you to prove true and fight gallantly in the future as you have ever fought in the past for the great cause in which you are engaged, believing that for yourselves you will win imperishable fame - for your country final and during victory. In severing a connection which you have made so dear, he asks that no one will believe that he voluntarily parts with you in the face of the enemy. Signed W. B. Franklin Maj. Gen. Vols…" Fine. General Franklin was relieved of command of the Left Grand Division after the Union Arm was defeated at the battle of Fredericksburg. His superior, General Ambrose E. Burnside, bitterly complained about Franklin's performance and blamed him for their dismal failure. He has previously seen action in the Virginia Peninsula and Antietam campaigns. He later went west and fought in the Sabine Pass expedition and the Red River campaign. This copy in the hand of H.L. Crawford who was a captain in the 14th Brooklyn Infantry, and at this time was serving as an Acting Assistant Adjutant General at headquarters of the 2nd Brigade.
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