Partly printed certificate issued to John B. Bachelder. Signed by Joshua Chamberlain, as President of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and Horatio C. King. N.p., 6 June 1876. 10 5/8 x 8 5/8 in. 

An important postwar society card connecting two significant Gettysburg figures. The certificate bestowed honorary membership into the Society of the Army of the Potomac to John B. Bachelder (1826 - 1894), an artist who was a dominant personality commemorating the Battle of Gettysburg. Notably, the certificate is signed by Gettysburg hero Joshua L. Chamberlain, who was serving as President of the Society of the Army of the Potomac. Additionally, the certificate is also signed by veteran Horatio C. King (1837 - 1918), who received the Medal of Honor for his actions near Dinwiddie Courthouse on 31 March 1865. 

Educated at Captain Alden Patridge's Military School, Bachelder held a lifelong fascination with militaria. He would serve as principal for his alma mater (later Pennsylvania Military Institute) and was appointed as a Colonel in a Pennsylvania militia in the 1850s. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he accompanied the Army of the Potomac. Bachelder became deeply invested in recording the Battle of Gettysburg. Nearly immediately after the battle, he was studying the terrain, drafting isometric maps, and interviewing wounded soldiers on both sides. He would devote the rest of his life to commemorating the battle, publishing important artistic renderings and a detailed history, as well as serving as the Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. He was deeply involved in the placement of battlefield markers and monuments and is even credited with the coining of the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy" at Pickett's Charge. 

Joshua Chamberlain (1828 - 1914) was a college professor from Maine who volunteered his services and became a brevet major general and was notably the recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroic defense of Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he served four terms as the Governor of Maine (1867 - 1871) and as the president of Bowdoin College (1871 - 1883). 

An exceptionally fine piece of Gettysburg ephemera. 

[Gettysburg, Little Round Top, Culp's Hill, Pickett's Charge, Devil’s Den] [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]