Civil War-dated autograph endorsement signed as president, "Capt. Dahlgren please see these gentlemen & examine their plan for carting large guns. A. Lincoln, April 21, 1862,” on an off-white 3.25 x 2 slip. Impressively mounted, matted, and framed in a 34 x 25 display, which features a number of Civil War-era relics and ephemera, including dominoes, bullets, musket balls, two Confederate bank notes, and a soldier's portrait. In very good to fine condition, with light wrinkling, toning, and fading from prior display; a couple of the bullets have become detached from the mount within the display.



Sometimes called 'the first railroad war,’ the Civil War quickly made apparent the utility of freight lines for the quick and efficient movement of large quantities of resources—be it men, food, or artillery. The industrialized Union possessed an enormous rail advantage over the Confederacy, with nearly 20,000 miles of rail to the South's 9,000 miles. The plan here referenced may well have considered the use of railroads for "carting large guns."