Partly printed document completed in manuscript. Signed by John Letcher, as Governor of Virginia. [Richmond, Virginia?], 12 January 1861. 1 page, 4to, with original blue wafer seal. 

Perhaps the earliest military-related document from the long and storied career of Delaware "Del" Kemper (1833-1899). He would reach the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Confederate Army and was well acquainted with high-ranking Confederate leadership. After the war, he would teach at Hampden-Sydney College until receiving an appointment as U.S. Consul to Amoy, China. 

Published military records document his enlistment with the Alexandria Light Artillery on 15 March 1861, mustering in on April 17th. This document, however, records an earlier militia commitment as a Second Lieutenant of Riflemen in the 175th Regiment, 6th Brigade, 2nd Division of the Virginia Militia - also known as the Alexandria Riflemen. Signed on 12 January 1861 by Virginia Governor John Letcher (1813-1884), his rank was active as of January 7th. Although Virginia would not officially secede until April 17th, secession sentiments were already running high in response to Lincoln's election. Men, including Del Kemper, flocked to militia units which had been rising in popularity since John Brown's ill-fated raid on Harpers Ferry. 

An Alexandria native, he was elected the captain of the Alexandria Light Artillery in April and was mustered into Confederate service by the end of July, merging into the 18th Battalion, Virginia Heavy Artillery as Company E. They fought at First Manassas (Bull Run) and thereafter were involved in the defense of Richmond. Kemper was promoted continually, reaching Major by June 1862 and then Lt. Colonel by March 1863. They would take the field again at Second Manassas, where he was wounded in the shoulder. Extant wartime correspondence reveals frequent letters between Kemper and the high-ranking generals, including P.G.T. Beauregard,  Pendleton, and others. 

After the war, Kemper wrote to Robert E. Lee requesting a reference as he applied for a professorship at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia (Washington & Lee University, University Library Special Collections and Archives, Robert E. Lee Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 81). He taught mathematics there, where one student deemed him "not a successful instructor for the average undergraduate. His knowledge was too extensive and intuitive" (William Henry Whiting, Professors at Hampden-Sydney College, p. 32, as quoted in Hugh Carrington Grigsby & Alden G. Bigelow. "Student Life at Hampden-Sydney College, 1872-1876." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. 87, No. 4 (Oct. 1979), p. 451). After nearly 2 decades of instruction, Kemper was appointed as the U.S. Consul to Amoy, China (present-day Xiamen, Fujian) by President Grover Cleveland. 

Kemper's wartime correspondence, military records, and papers related to his consular service are held at the South Carolina Historical Society (Delaware Kemper papers, 1856-1899 (0617.00)). Additionally, a wartime CDV portrait of Kemper is held at the Library of Congress (LOT 15158-1, no. 1001 [P&P]). 

A rare pre-war militia appointment for an important Confederate officer. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate]  [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]