War Period Signature as Major General

Served in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Knoxville, Grant's 1864 Overland campaign, Petersburg and Appomattox

(1827-1900) Born in Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania, he graduated #2 in the West Point class of 1849. He was appointed brigadier general on November 23, 1861, and commanded a brigade in General Ambrose E. Burnside's North Carolina expedition, and at the battle of Fort Macon. He was promoted to major general on August 20, 1862, and served as Burnside's chief of staff in the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. In 1863, he commanded the 9th Corps and directed his men skillfully at Vicksburg and in the capture of Jackson, Mississippi. He then took part in the Knoxville campaign against General James Longstreet. Returning east in 1864, he did yeoman's work during General U.S. Grant's Overland campaign. He later served in the Petersburg campaign, and after the debacle at the battle of the Crater, he succeeded General Burnside in command of the 9th Corps. During the attack on Fort Stedman, Va., on March 25, 1865, Parke commanded the army in the temporary absence of General George G. Meade, and moved quickly and capably to repel the last tactical assault by General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the 1865 Appomattox campaign. For this service he was brevetted major general in the Regular U.S. Army. After the Confederate surrender, General Parke commanded the 9th Corps in the Department of Washington. He served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy from August 28, 1887, to June 24, 1889, and he retired from the Army on July 2nd of that year. He wrote several reports on public improvements, and exploration of the west. He also served as a cartographer, publishing maps of the New Mexico Territory and of California. General John G. Parke died in Washington, D.C., on December 16, 1900, at the age of 73, and is buried in the churchyard of the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia.

War Period Signature With Rank: 3 1/4 x 1 1/4, in ink, Respectfully yours, Jno. G. Parke, Maj. Genl. Part of the "R" in "Respectfully" has been trimmed. Very desirable Union General with an excellent Civil War battle record!