CIVIL WAR DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY CAPT. ROBERT L. ORR — FUTURE MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT, 61ST PENNSYLVANIA INFANTRY

CIVIL WAR DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY CAPT. ROBERT L. ORR — FUTURE MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT, 61ST PENNSYLVANIA INFANTRY

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Partly-printed discharge certificate, one page, issued to Private Alfred W. Bird of Company H, 61st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, completed in manuscript and signed by his company commander, Capt. Robert L. Orr, at Camp Stanton, D.C., dated March 23, 1862. The form certifies that Bird, a 30-year-old Philadelphia-born tailor standing 5'8½", light complexion, grey eyes, and dark hair, had enrolled at Philadelphia on September 3, 1861, mustered in as a recruit under Major John Ely of the 23rd Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served honestly and faithfully with his company in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. He was discharged for disability — fistula in ano, contracted after enlistment — with pay due from his last payment by Paymaster Pomeroy through December 31, 1861, and a clothing advance of $38.01 noted in the printed stoppages section.

The document is signed at the base "Rob't L. Orr, Commanding Company." At the time this certificate was signed, Orr held the rank of Captain, commanding Company H of the 61st Pennsylvania. He rose steadily through the ranks over the next three years — Major (December 18, 1864), Lieutenant Colonel (April 18, 1865), and Colonel (May 14, 1865) — and by the war's final weeks commanded the regiment itself. On April 2, 1865, during the assault on the Petersburg defenses, Orr assumed command of the 61st Pennsylvania after Col. Crosby fell mortally wounded, and, after two color-bearers had been shot down, personally carried the colors at the head of the column through the charge. For this action he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, with his 1892 citation reading in part that he "carried the colors at the head of the column in the assault after two color bearers had been shot down." He was wounded in the same engagement, was cited earlier for gallantry at Winchester and Fisher's Hill in the fall of 1864, mustered out at Washington, D.C. on June 28, 1865, and died November 14, 1894, in Philadelphia, where he is buried at Lawnview Cemetery.

This certificate predates Orr's Medal of Honor action by three years and captures him as a young company-grade officer overseeing the discharge of one of his men, offering a nice contrast to the gallant field commander he would become.

CONDITION: Toning and foxing throughout; a loss/tear to the upper left margin affecting the printed header only, not touching text; expected fold lines from period storage; sound and legible overall.    [ss][ph:L]

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