1864 General William Irvine Document with Black Servants/ NY Cavalry/ Civil War

  
1864 Union General William Irvine with Black Servants. / NY Cavalry/ Civil War.

Is a war dated pay voucher for. General William Irvin when he was the Lieutenant Colonel of the 10th New York Cavalry.

New York Cavalry was very active in campaigning allowing Irvine to see action in almost 55 engagements from 1862 till 1865. Although many slaves fled the south and emancipation freed them, those that linked up with the Union army no longer served their southern masters but now worked as servants for northern officers as in this case. The servants are described as being Eli & William, colored with black hair and eyes. One is 5' 6" and the other is 5' 8" in height. Irvine was a Mexican War veteran and a member of the United States Congress before the war (1859-61) and was breveted a brigadier general on March 13, 1865.

Voucher is split along the folds and measures approx. 16" x 10" and is boldly signed by Lt. (General) William Irvine with postal stamp verso. After two years at Dickinson College (1836-38), Irvine studied law in Lewiston, PA and was admitted to the bar there in 1842.

He practiced law until April 9, 1847, when he obtained a commission as Captain, Company D, 11th United States Infantry and served in Mexico. He was honored by brevet to Major for his bravery in action at Contreras and Churubusco in August and wounded at Molino del Rey on September 8, 1847. He mustered out with his Company on August 16, 1848, and continued his law practice until the outbreak of the Civil War.

He was also the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania from 1848 to 1852. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted as a Private in Logan's (PA) Guard but was commissioned Colonel of the 7th Pennsylvania Infantry on April 23, 1861 for 3 months' service.

He mustered out on July 23, 1861, and was commissioned Colonel of the 49th Pennsylvania Infantry on February 28, 1862. He was tried by a court martial early that year for drunkenness and conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.

He was acquitted on the first and only mildly punished for the second and was appointed Brigade Commander at the start of the Maryland Campaign in 1862, commanding the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division, 6th US Army Corps. Late in the day at Antietam on September 17 he ordered the 7th Maine to attack Confederate troops on the Piper Farm with disastrous results.

He continued in Brigade command and was slightly wounded near Fredericksburg, VA on 29 April 1863 and hospitalized for a period of time. He was brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers on March 13, 1865, for "gallant conduct" at Antietam.

By 1873 and to at least 1880 he practiced law in Louisville, KY. In September 1885 he became a founding director of the (prospective) Ohio Falls, French Lick & Terre Haute Railroad Company in Louisville, but on 14 October 1885 he was found "homicidally" insane, having reportedly tried to kill his wife and son, and was committed to the Central Kentucky Asylum at Anchorage, KY. He died there less than three months later in January 1886. This is a rare opportunity to own Civil War pay voucher of a Union General that utilized black servants to assist his daily activities and thus this is a must have for any Civil War collection.