LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. 1809-1865.
Autograph Endorsement Signed ('A. Lincoln') and inscribed 'Let the man take the oath of Dec 8, 1863...,' 4to (241 x 207 mm), 2 lines on the verso of a pardon request, Washington City, March 17, 1865, additionally signed by Vice-President Andrew Johnson beneath his endorsement, March 16, 1865, trimmed at edges.

LINCOLN SIGNS A FULL PARDON REQUEST FOR A CONFEDERATE PRISONER OF WAR LESS THAN A MONTH BEFORE HIS ASSASSINATION. A rare full Lincoln pardon for James H. Acree, of the 14th infantry of Tennessee, captured at Gettysburg. Acree's friends submitted the petition here stating that Acree would like to 'take the oath and return his allegiance to the United States.' The petition is signed first at the local level attesting to the loyalty of the signers, and then by Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and finally by President Abraham Lincoln. The 'oath of Dec. 8, 1863' was Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction by which he sought to reintegrate the confederacy into the United States.

Acree was released from Fort Delaware on March 23, 1865, and two weeks later Lee would surrender at Appomattox, and Lincoln would be dead a week after that. Pardon's from Lincoln have often been trimmed to his endorsement, and this one showing the full context is beautiful, and timely.
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