Clipping is made up of two slips of paper. One piece meas. approx. 3.00 x 0.75 of an inch and reads “YOUR OBT: F. WHEATON.” This is mounted on a larger clipping that meas. approx. 3.25 x 1.25 inches. This clipping is inscribed “MAJOR GEN: VOLS.” The clipping with Wheaton’s signature is mounted on the large clipping so it is centered over the Major Generals inscription. Both slips of paper have aged together and match in color and light surface dirt. All writing is done in strong ink. The Major General inscription may be a little bolder than the signature above it.

Francis Wheaton was born on May 8, 1833 in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended Brown University, studying civil engineering, but withdrew in 1850 to take a position with the Mexican-United States Boundary Commission. On March 3, 1855, he was commissioned as a 1^st Lieutenant in the 1^st U.S. Cavalry and assigned to duty on the Missouri and Kansas Border. He participated in the campaign against the Cheyenne Indians and also in the Utah War and was promoted to Captain on March 1, 1861.

When the Civil War started, Wheaton was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry on July 10, 1861. The regiment fought at the First Battle of Bull Run where its Colonel was killed. Wheaton was promoted to Colonel and took command of the regiment. He led it during the Peninsula Campaign where he was commended for his actions at Williamsburg.

On November 29, 1862, Wheaton was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers and placed in command of the 3^rd Brigade, 3^rd Division, 6^th Corps. He led the brigade in heavy fighting at the Battle of Chancellorsville however, at Gettysburg Wheaton found himself commanding the division and his was the only division of the 6^th Corps to be engaged.

Wheaton was back in command of the brigade during Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in 1864, as well as during the subsequent Siege of Petersburg. His men were hurried by train to Washington, D.C., in time to help repel Jubal Early's raid on Washington. During the ensuing operations in the Shenandoah Valley, under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, Wheaton was promoted to command of the 1^st Division after Brig. Gen. David Allen Russell was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester. His division fought well in subsequent battles. After the return of VI Corps to the Petersburg front, Wheaton earned the brevet rank of Major General of Volunteers and was brevetted Colonel in the Regular Army.

Shortly after the end of the Civil war, Wheaton was placed to command the district of Nebraska in Omaha. On April 30, 1866, he was mustered out of the Volunteers and was subsequently promoted as Lieutenant Colonel of the 39th Infantry in the following July.He received a brevet promotion to the rank of Major General in the Regular Army, to date from March 13, 1865, for meritorious service during the Civil War.

Wheaton made a poor showing in the Modoc Indian War but despite this he was appointed Colonel of the 2^nd Infantry on December 13, 1874.

After the retirement of Major General Thomas H. Ruger, Wheaton was promoted to major general in the Regular Army on April 3, 1897 and was mandatorily retired one month later on his 64th birthday on May 8.

Wheaton died in Washington, D.C., of a brain hemorrhage and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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