1 pp. on vellum. Printed and Autograph Document. 7½x9¼"
In part, “Know Ye, That William Gambrill a Sergeant of Captain Charles E. Clarkes Company D of the Seventeenth Regiment of Infantry who was enlisted the Twentythird day of June one thousand eight hundred and Sixty nine to serve Five Years is hereby discharged from the Army of the United States in consequence of Expiration of term of Service. Said William Gambrill was born in Baltimore in the State of Maryland, is 24 years of age 5 feet 9 inches high sallow complexion Grey eyes Brown hair, and by occupation when enlisted a Farmer…” Paymaster Augustus Henry Seward (1826-1876) has penned “Paid in full $723.15” signing “A H Seward Paym USA / June 27 1874” and also writing “Lieut Colonel 7th Cavy. / Brevet Maj Genl U.S.A.” beneath Custer’s signature. Seward, the eldest child of Lincoln’s Secretary of State William H. Seward, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and spent much of his life in the West, serving as an officer in the paymaster corps. During the attempted assassination of his father on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth's co-conspirator Lewis Powell, he was among the members of the Seward family and household who were injured. Captain Charles E. Clarke had served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. He writes “Excellent” at the bottom under the section concerning Gambrill’s "CHARACTER" adding "Sober, Honest, and Faithful in the discharge of duty," signing “Charles E. Clarke / Capt. 17th Inftry Commdg Co. D.” Fort Abraham Lincoln was established in 1872 in Dakota Territory, first as an infantry post. In 1873, the 7th Cavalry was stationed at the enlarged post and Lt. Colonel George A. Custer, Brevet Major General, was the First Post Commander. He served at Fort Lincoln from 1873 until the Battle of the Little Big Horn. On July 2, 1874, just nine days after signing this document, Custer moved his forces out of Fort Lincoln with trains numbering over 100 wagons, two companies of Infantry, a piece of heavy artillery, several Gatling guns, complemented by ten companies of the 7th Cavalry. In addition, he assembled a large group of Indian scouts. They entered the Black Hills on July 25th and remained in the hills for several weeks before returning to Fort Lincoln with information that the Black Hills were not being used by the Sioux. Custer’s next expedition to the Black Hills was in mid-May 1876. This time, the expedition ended at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876. Documents signed by Custer as commander of the 7th Cavalry are extremely rare and desirable. In 2012, a document signed by Custer at Fort Lincoln as Lieutenant Colonel 7th Cavalry Brevet Major General U.S. Army, just as this one is signed, sold for $40,500 at public auction.