General Walter Quintin Gresham

General Walter Quintin Gresham - Inventory Number: AUT 036 

Autograph of General Walter Quintin Gresham.  

Gresham was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 38th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on September 18, 1861. In December of that year, he was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 53rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The 53rd Indiana Infantry subsequently took part in Grant's Tennessee campaign of 1862, including the Siege of Corinth and Battle of Vicksburg.[2] During the Siege of Vicksburg, Colonel Gresham commanded a brigade. In August 1863, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers, and was placed in command of the Federal forces at Natchez, Mississippi. In 1864, he commanded a division of the XVII Corps in Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, and before the Battle of Atlanta, on July 20, he received a gunshot wound to his knee that forced him to retire from active service and left him lame for life. In 1865 he was appointed a brevet major general of volunteers.

He was also a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and of the United States Circuit Courts for the Seventh Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana. He served as Postmaster General of the United States and United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Chester A. Arthur and as United States Secretary of State under President Grover Cleveland.

Inventory Number: AUT 036