GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD TYPED LETTER SIGNED AS COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE ARMY — ACCEPTING A SEAT ON THE MILITARY SERVICE INSTITUTION'S 1892 GOLD MEDAL BOARD

GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD TYPED LETTER SIGNED AS COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE ARMY — ACCEPTING A SEAT ON THE MILITARY SERVICE INSTITUTION'S 1892 GOLD MEDAL BOARD

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Typed Letter Signed, "J. M. Schofield," as Major General, one page on printed "Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D.C." letterhead, dated December 18, 1891. Single leaf, approximately 8 x 10.5 inches, addressed to Major William L. Haskin, 1st Artillery, Secretary of The Military Service Institution, Governor's Island, N.Y.

In full: "In reply to your communication of December 12th, I accept the duty imposed upon me by the Executive Council to act as one of the Board to award the gold medal of 1892. I shall be glad if you will inform me when the other members named signify their acceptance."

John McAllister Schofield (1831–1906) was one of the preeminent soldiers of the nineteenth-century U.S. Army: West Point graduate, Civil War major general, Medal of Honor recipient for "conspicuous gallantry" at Wilson's Creek, U.S. Secretary of War under Andrew Johnson, Superintendent of West Point, and Commanding General of the United States Army from 1888 to 1895. Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, bears his name. He signs here as "Major General," his rank throughout his tenure as the Army's senior officer; this letter was written within months of the July 1892 act of Congress that awarded him the Medal of Honor.

The Military Service Institution of the United States, organized in 1878 and headquartered at Fort Columbus on Governor's Island, was the leading professional society for Army and National Guard officers — an American counterpart to Britain's Royal United Service Institution — promoting military study through correspondence, discussion, and the publication and prize-medaling of essays. Schofield, who praised the Institution in his 1892 annual report, here personally accepts appointment to its gold-medal board, making this a substantive content letter linking the Commanding General of the Army to the most important professional military organization of the era. Recipient William L. Haskin (1841–1931), a Civil War veteran and career artilleryman who rose to brigadier general, served as the Institution's Secretary and authored the standard history of the 1st U.S. Artillery.

The reverse bears the period file docket — "Rec'd 1891 / Board of Award in Prize Essay of 1892 / Accepted" — and the recto carries Haskin's red-ink endorsement, "Ans'd Dec. 19 / W.L.H."

Condition: Very good. Usual horizontal and vertical mailing folds, light overall toning, a few minor spots, and faint file notations as described. Bold, fully legible signature. A clean, displayable example with first-rate institutional and military association.   [ss][ph:L]

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