Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47129

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47129

Nathaniel Lyon Autograph Letter Signed. One page, 7 3/4 x 10 inches, "St. Louis Arsenal"; March 27, 1861. Lyon, the first Union General killed in the Civil War, writes to Colonel Lorenzo Thomas in Washington while stationed at the St. Louis Arsenal in Missouri. Lyon had requested to be named commander of the arsenal after he suspected that Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson would try to seize it in rebellion if war broke out. His letter reads, in full:

"The letter from your office of the 22d Inst calling for return of the troops of this Post for the month of February 1861 was received last evening, and is referred to Maj Hayner, Ord Corps, who commanded the troops here for that month." Signed, "N. Lyon / Capt 2nd Infy."

Lyon's suspicions were proven true when President Lincoln called for troops to suppress the Confederate insurrection on April 15, 1861. Missouri's Governor Claiborne Jackson refused to comply and began mustering the state guard outside St. Louis. When Lyon confronted him, Jackson fled the city, and Lyon spent the following months driving back secessionist forces and suppressing rebellion across the state. On August 10, 1861, Lyon's troops faced a Confederate army nearly twice their number at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and Lyon was killed in the fighting by a shot to the heart. Although the Union Army was defeated that day, Lyon's efforts to neutralize pro-Southern forces in Missouri ultimately allowed the Union to secure the state.

Condition: Smoothed folds, with a few small separations thereat, just touching text but not affecting legibility. Lightly age-toned, with mat burn and minor wear at the edges. A few very light spots of foxing or staining. Small pencil annotation at the top left. Strip of archival tape at the top edge on the verso, likely from previous mounting.

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