Killed at the Battle of Stones River, Tennessee, in 1862

Had his head blown off by a Confederate artillery shell

Appointment for a captain to report to Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman in Missouri

This document was sent to President Lincoln's first Secretary of War, Simon Cameron

Civil War Date Document Signed

(1821-62) Born at Havana, Cuba, his birth name was "Julio Pedro Garesche de Rocher." He attended Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., 1833-37, and was then appointed as a cadet to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in the class of 1841. He received his commission as 2nd lieutenant, on July 1, 1841, and was assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery. Garesche then served on frontier and garrison duty for the next 5 years, and was promoted to 1st lieutenant on June 14, 1846. During the Mexican War he served with distinction at Camargo, Mexico, and was later appointed to the post of Acting Assistant General of the Rio Grande District, serving in this capacity from 1847-48. He served on the Texas frontier from 1849-51; was on staff duty in the Adjutant General’s office at Washington, D.C., 1852-53; returning to Texas in 1853, he served on recruiting and engineer duty in the Department of Texas; and was back on frontier duty at Fort Brown, Texas, from 1853-55. He was promoted to the rank of brevet captain and A.A.G. on November 9, 1855, and was serving at Washington in 1861 when the Civil War commenced. Declining a commission as brigadier general, instead he accepted a position as staff major, on May 14, 1861. Promoted to lieutenant colonel and A.A.G., on July 17, 1862, he was appointed as "chief of staff" to Major General William S. Rosecrans. Garesche participated in the operations of the Army of the Cumberland, and at the Battle of Stones River, Tenn., on December 31, 1862, while riding alongside of General Rosecrans, he was decapitated by a Confederate cannon ball. General William B. Hazen discovered his lifeless body and removed Garesche’s West Point class ring, and personal bible.

Civil War Date Document Signed: 8 x 10, imprinted form, filled out in ink.

WAR DEPARTMENT
Washington, June 18, 1861

Sir:

You are hereby informed that the President of the United States has appointed you Captain in the Thirteenth Regiment of Infantry, in the service of the United States, to rank as such from the fourteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and Sixty one. Should the Senate, at their next session, advise and consent thereto, you will be commissioned accordingly.

Immediately on receipt hereof, please to communicate to this Department, through the Adjutant General's Office, your acceptance or non-acceptance of said appointment; and, with your letter of acceptance, return the Oath herewith enclosed, properly filled up, Subscribed and Attested, reporting at the same time your Age, Residence, when appointed, the State in which Born, and your full Name, legibly written out.

Should you accept, you will at once report in person for orders, to the Colonel of your Regiment, (Col. W.T. Sherman) at Jefferson Bks., Mo.

(To) Simon Cameron
Secretary of War

Capt. Charles C. Smith
13th Regt. Infantry

A true copy

Julius P. Garesche
Asst. Adjt. Genl.

U.S. Office
June 28/61

Light age toning and wear. Very fine. Extremely desirable and rare autograph.

Captain Charles Campbell Smith, the subject of this appointment, was a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, when he enlisted on April 19, 1861, and was commissioned captain, 10th Indiana Infantry. He was discharged on May 26, 1861, and commissioned captain in the 13th U.S. Infantry. He resigned from the army on November 5, 1864. Smith died on August 20, 1891, and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C., in Site 139-C.

The 13th United States Infantry was reconstituted in May of 1861, with William Tecumseh Sherman appointed as their colonel, and Philip H. Sheridan serving as one of their other captains. Sherman and Sheridan would both go on to become very prominent and influential Union generals' during the American Civil War. The 13th U.S. Infantry earned its motto, "First at Vicksburg," and fought in the battles of Haynes Bluff, Champion's Hill, Black River, and the assault on Vicksburg. The 13th Regiment was the only Union regiment to plant their colors on the Confederate positions at Vicksburg. The 13th U.S. Infantry would later go on to fight in the Spanish American War, and World War II.

WBTS Trivia: Julius P. Garesche was a Catholic in Newark, New Jersey, and he organized the first local conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and was their president. He contributed frequently on Catholic, social and political questions to the New York "Freeman's Journal" and "Brownson's Quarterly Review," and in September 1851, in recognition of his services to the Church, he received the honor and decoration as "Knight of St. Sylvester," which was bestowed upon him by Pope Pius IX.