Lot
522 
General Kearny Signed Letter from Fort Leavenworth, Mo. Dec 19 [1839], black cds with manuscript "25" rate marking on bluish folded letter datelined "Fort Leavenworth Decr 17th 1839" to Major E. A. Hitchcock, U.S. Army Mobile, Alabama, written and signed by "S.W. Kearny" of mostly army business nature, but which states, "…If the Com. in chief & all the staff could be sent away & officers called to fill their places who know something of the Army & its wants we could get on much better. I have the same opinion of them, in relation to the Army, that Napoleon had of the Bourbons in relation to France, viz that their day has gone by & that they are totally unfitted for their situation We have but little news here. Genl. Arbuckle assisted by the Arkansas people tried hard to get up an alarm against the Cherokees. I marched down with 250 Dragoons, found all quiet but the Genl. & then marched home again. Great men have done the same before me…"; vertical file folds, F.-V.F., an early signed Col. Stephen W. Kearny letter.Estimate $500 - 750.
In 1833, Lieutenant Colonel Kearny was appointed second in command of the newly organized 1st Dragoon Regiment. The U.S. Cavalry eventually grew out of this regiment, which was re-designated the 1st United States Cavalry in 1861, earning Kearny his nickname "father of the United States Cavalry". The regiment was stationed at Fort Leavenworth in present-day Kansas, and Kearny was promoted to the rank of colonel in command of the regiment in 1836. He was also made commander of the Army's Third Military Department, charged with protecting the frontier and preserving peace among the tribes of Native Americans on the Great Plains.
Realized: $1,450