RUFUS KING AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED AS ADJUTANT GENERAL OF NEW YORK — FUTURE ORGANIZER OF THE CIVIL WAR "IRON BRIGADE" — TO MAJOR R. L. BAKER, COMMANDING WATERVLIET ARSENAL

RUFUS KING AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED AS ADJUTANT GENERAL OF NEW YORK — FUTURE ORGANIZER OF THE CIVIL WAR

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RUFUS KING (1814–1876). Autograph Letter Signed ("Rufus King, Adj Genl"), one page, single folded sheet (approx. 8 x 10 in.), "Adjutant General's Office, Albany," June 16, [1841]. Addressed on the integral leaf to "Major R. L. Baker, U.S. Ordnance Corps, Comdg at Watervliet Arsenal, N.Y.," with a red Albany "JUN 16" circular postmark, manuscript "Single Paid" notation and bold red "PAID" handstamp, and a red wax seal. Contemporary docket "June 16, 1841" and number "No. 192."

In full: "Dear Sir, Accept my acknowledgements for your prompt reply to my letter of 11th instant. I mentioned to Mr. True the substance of your letter and the offer of employment with which it concludes. He desires to return his hearty thanks to you for this offer, but does not feel justified in giving up his present business connections for temporary employment in the arsenal. I remain, dear Sir, with great respect, Yr obt servt, Rufus King, Adj Genl."

A handsome ordnance-association letter joining two well-documented figures. The writer is the younger Rufus King — grandson and namesake of the Federalist senator and Constitutional Convention delegate (1755–1827), but a distinct and notable figure in his own right. A West Point graduate (Class of 1833) and civil engineer, this Rufus King served as Adjutant General of New York under Governor William H. Seward from 1839 to 1843. In 1861 he organized the celebrated "Iron Brigade" of Wisconsin and Indiana regiments, rising to division command in the Army of the Potomac, and afterward served as U.S. Minister to the Papal States under Lincoln.

The recipient, Major (later Colonel) Rufus Lathrop Baker (1790–1868), was the commanding officer of Watervliet Arsenal from 1838 to 1851 — the oldest continuously operating arsenal in the United States and a principal federal ordnance establishment. The "temporary employment in the arsenal" King references is Watervliet itself, neatly confirming the context. The letter captures King in his capacity as the state's senior militia officer corresponding with the commandant of a major U.S. ordnance facility — a desirable crossover of New York militia administration and federal ordnance history, signed by an officer who would become one of the more storied figures of the coming war.

CONDITION: Usual mailing folds; a light scattered foxing/stain to the sheet. The integral address leaf shows minor edge loss and a small opening tear at the seal, as is typical of opened stampless folded letters. Old collector/dealer pencil notations present. Text fully legible, entirely in King's hand and boldly signed. A solid, displayable example.     [ss][ph:L]

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