Union Army Commander

United States Congressman from California

War period signature with rank

(1819-98) Born on a farm near Little Taylor Run, in Kingston Township, Delaware County, Ohio, he graduated #5 in the West Point class of 1842, and was known as "Old Rosy." Just days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Rosecrans offered his services to Ohio Governor William Dennison, and he was given command of the 23rd Ohio Infantry, whose members included Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley, both future presidents of the U.S. His plans and decisions proved extremely effective in the 1861 Western Virginia Campaign while serving under General George B. McClellan. His victories at Rich Mountain, and Corrick's Ford, in July 1861, were among the first Union victories of the war, and he was assigned to command what was to become the Department of Western Virginia. He was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army, ranking from May 16, 1861, and major general to rank from March 21, 1862. In May 1862, he directed the left wing of General John Pope's Army of the Mississippi in the advance on Corinth. When Pope was ordered east, General Rosecrans took over command of the army and fought and won the battles of Iuka and Corinth while under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant. Given command of the Army of the Cumberland, he fought against Confederate General Braxton Bragg, at the Battle of Stones River, and later outmaneuvered him in the brilliant Tullahoma Campaign, driving the Confederates from Middle Tennessee. He later fought at the bloody Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, where he was defeated, with a third of his army being swept from the field, and his troops ended up being trapped in the besieged city of Chattanooga. Following his humiliating defeat, General Rosecrans was reassigned to command the Department of Missouri, where he opposed General Sterling Price's Missouri Raid. General Rosecrans was mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service on January 15, 1866. After the war, he became a companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a military society of officers who had served in the Union armed forces. In 1868-69, Rosecrans served as U.S. Minister to Mexico. Rosecrans was elected as a U.S. Congressman from California, serving 1881-85, including being the chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee. He spoke at a grand reunion of Union and Confederate veterans at the Chickamauga battlefield, on September 19, 1889, delivering a moving address praising national reconciliation. This gathering led to Congress establishing the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park the following year, the nation's first national battlefield park. General William S. Rosecrans died on March 11, 1898, at Redondo Beach, California, at the age of 78. His casket lay in state in the Los Angeles City Hall, covered by the headquarters flag that flew over Stones River, and Chickamauga. In 1908, his remains were interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

Signature With Rank: 4 1/4 x 2 1/2, in ink, W.S. Rosecrans, Bvt. Major Genl., U.S.A. Excellent and bold Civil War era autograph.