American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Printed "General Orders, No. 13," War Department printing of President Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. "War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, Sept. 24, 1862." pp. [1], 2-3, [blank], 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 in., margins appear to have been clipped, adhesive joining pages on left edge indicating orders likely extracted from a bound orders book. Fraudulent Abraham Lincoln signature ("A. Lincoln") at top right, forged by Eugene Field II and Harry Dayton Sickles. Blank page 4 of orders with manuscript statement, "This is from the Abraham Lincoln collection and was given to Wm. P. Brown her coachman by Mrs. Lincoln in 1866[.]" Followed by signature of William P. Brown ("W.P. Brown"), Mary Todd Lincoln's coachman, and signature of Notary Public Frank E. Thatcher below his statement "This signature is genuine."

This General Orders is one of hundreds of items that were forged by Eugene Field II and Harry Dayton Sickles as part of the "Coachman Forgeries." Field and Sickles had Brown, who was actually Lincoln's coachman, sign a variety of items such as books, maps, documents, etc., then had those signatures notarized by Thatcher. The forged Lincoln signatures were subsequently added later, an effort to add significant value to the otherwise more commonplace item. The General Orders, No. 139, is war-date, and is one of the earliest printed editions of Lincoln's preliminary emancipation proclamation.

[With:] Ca 1880-early 1900s reproduction of The New York Herald newspaper declaring the death of President Lincoln. The New York Herald. New York, Saturday April 15, 1865. Whole N. 10459. This reproduction bears nearly the same notarized statement and the same two signatures as appear on the General Orders, though without the forged Lincoln signature.

[Also with:] Modern facsimile of "A Letter from President Lincoln to Mr. Hackett." Washington, 17 August 1863.