Civil War Important
May 10, 1864 War Date Historic Original Civil War Telegram from J. T. Sprague to New York Governor Seymour: "General Sedgwick Killed, three thousand (3000) prisoners taken - Results encouraging. (General) J. T. Sprague"
May 10, 1864-Dated Civil War Period, Important Historic Content Partially-Printed Western Union Telegram, (Union) "General Sedgwick Killed ...," (May 9th at The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House) sent from J. T. Sprague to New York Governor Seymour, Choice Very Fine.
This important content Civil War Date Telegram sending the shocking news "General Sedgwick Killed, three thousand (3000) prisoners taken - Results encouraging." measures about 4.75" x 7.5". Handwritten on a "Western Union Telegraph Company" form. It reads, in full:
"To Gov Seymour May 10 1864 / By Telegraph from Washington 186_ / General Sedgwick Killed, three thousand (3000) prisoners taken - Results encouraging. / J. T. Sprague".
The Death of John Sedgwick at The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House - May 9, 1864. Sedgwick was killed by Confederate artillery fire at Spotsylvania Courthouse shortly after commenting that his position was out of range of the Confederate gunners. His death earned Sedgwick recognition as the highest ranking Union officer to be killed in the war. Two well hidden bottom corner repairs where previously mounted for display. When General Grant heard the news, he could hardly believe it. "Is he really dead?" he asked, later remarking that Sedgwick's death was "greater than the loss of a whole division of troops."
Provenance: Collection of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II.
Major General John Sedgwick was one of the most experienced and competent officers in the Army of the Potomac. He was also greatly respected and beloved by his men. Born in 1813, he graduated from West Point in 1837, later serving in the Seminole War, the Mexican War, and at various posts in the West.
He became a Brigadier General at the beginning of the Civil War and led a division at Antietam, where he was seriously wounded. Returning to duty in 1863, Sedgwick was placed in command of the Sixth Corps, which he led at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. By the Overland Campaign, he was the army's highest ranking officer after only Meade.
The Sixth Corps arrived at Spotsylvania on the afternoon of May 8 after a severe march. After dark, it took its place in the center of the Union line, its right flank resting on the Brock Road. Warren's Fifth Corps was on Sedgwick's right, and Hancock's Second Corps would eventually extend the line to the left. Sedgwick established his headquarters 100 feet or so from this spot. Two guns of Battery H, 1st New York Artillery, stood where two branches of the Brock Road met.
Confederate sharpshooters had been peppering the area all morning on May 9, wounding, among others, General William Morris. Staff officers cautioned Sedgwick not to approach the road, but he forgot their warnings a few minutes later when he walked over here to untangle a snarl in his line. When his men warned him to take cover, Sedgwick responded by joking, "They couldn't hit an elephant at that distance." Just then, a sharpshooter's bullet crashed into his skull, right below his left eye, killing him instantly.
When Grant heard the news, he could hardly believe it. "Is he really dead?" he asked, later remarking that Sedgwick's death was "greater than the loss of a whole division of troops."
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John T. Sprague (1810-1878) soldier, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1810. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on October 17, 1834, and in the fall of 1836 he directed the removal of a final band of Creek Indians from Tallassee, Alabama, to the trans-Mississippi lands allotted to them. The next year Sprague resigned his commission as a marine and became a second lieutenant in the Fifth United States Infantry, where he served from July 3, 1837, to July 7, 1838, at which time he transferred to the Eighth Infantry. He was promoted to first lieutenant on May 1, 1839, and was sent to Florida as an aide to brevet Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb, who had been charged with bringing the interminable Second Seminole War to an end.
Sprague was brevetted captain on March 15, 1842, for meritorious conduct in the Seminole campaign and was promoted to that rank on September 21, 1846. During the Mexican War Sprague remained in Florida in charge of Indian Affairs and served as commanding officer at Fort Brook. He was brevetted to the rank of major on May 30, 1848, for meritorious conduct in the Florida War.
On May 18, 1852, Sprague was detached from E Company at Fort McKavett, Texas, and was sent East on general recruiting service. In June 1855 he was sent back to the Southwest, where he served in both Texas and New Mexico Territory. In New Mexico he saw service against the Navajo, Apache, and Comanche Indians between the Rio Grande and the Sacramento Mountains. Before leaving New Mexico in August 1858 he received a "vote of thanks" from the Territorial Legislature in a joint resolution for his services and was commended to the President of the United States for promotion.
In January 1861 Sprague was again ordered to Texas. He arrived in New Orleans about March 6 and was subsequently pursued to Texas for openly expressing Union sentiments and denouncing the Secession Convention then sitting in that city. Upon his arrival in San Antonio, he was prevented from rejoining his regiment at Fort Bliss and was arrested by a Committee of Public Safety. On April 23, 1861, Sprague was paroled by Confederate authorities and left Texas for New York.
Sprague was placed on active duty in Albany, New York, as United States mustering and disbursing officer and superintendent of the General Recruiting Service. Although he was elected by the citizens of Albany to command the 113th Regiment of New York Volunteers and appointed colonel by Governor Morgan, the appointment was disapproved by the Secretary of War. This disappointment was mitigated somewhat when Sprague was selected to be adjutant general for the state of New York, a position he held from August 1861 to January 1865.