Abraham Lincoln [manuscript caption title for a tribute to the Civil War president, written at Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory, 28 March 1882, signed at the end by the author "W. Merritt / Colonel Fifth Cavalry / B't Maj. Gen'l. / U.S. Army"]

Fort Laramie, WT, 1882. 4to. Three pages, approximately 275 words, in part: "There is not to my mind, outside of Divine Writ, so convincing an evidence of the immortality of the soul, as is furnished by the growth and development of the mind and character of this greatest of American Presidents to meet the exigencies of the direction and control of a great Revolution, on the successful issue of which depended the happiness of one fifth of the world … as his career differed from that of the other heroes of history, in that he lived and strove for reforms that (truncated) would benefit mankind though his own life should be the price, in so far is Abraham Lincoln the greatest of Reformers, the noblest of Patriots, the ablest of men." This essay was published along with other tributes to Abraham Lincoln in The Lincoln Memorial (NY, 1882). Very good. Folded. (#6317). Wesley Merritt graduated from West Point in 1860, serving briefly in the West, before returning east for Civil War service in the Union cavalry attached to the Army of the Potomac, participating in its major campaigns and battles through Appomattox, ending the war commanding a division as a Major General. Following the war he commanded the 9th Cavalry in Texas for eight years; promoted to colonel in 1876, he took command of the 5th Cavalry in Wyoming, participating in the Custer campaign and other actions against the Indians and serving in that capacity until 1882 when he was appointed to a five-year posting as superintendent of West Point. He commanded the 1898 expedition to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. (Inventory #: 58456)