War date signature with rank, place & date, plus photograph in uniform

(1825-88) Born in Black River, Lorain County, Ohio, he graduated #1 in the West Point class of 1849. Appointed to the Engineer Department, of the U.S.A., he was engaged in constructing the fortifications at Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1849-1852. His next assignment was as instructor of Military Engineering at West Point where he also designed a new riding school. Gillmore was chief engineer of the Port Royal expedition in 1861-62, which affected an important Union lodgment on the Carolina coast. His greatest moment in the Civil War came when his brilliant plan reduced Fort Pulaski, Georgia, the Confederate stronghold which guarded the approaches to the Savannah River. A staunch advocate of the relatively new naval rifled guns, he was the first officer to effectively use them to knock out a stone fortification. More than 5,000 artillery shells fell on Pulaski from a range of 1,700 yards during the siege, which resulted in the fort's surrender after its walls were breached. The result of the efforts to breach a fort of such strength and at such a distance conferred high honors on the engineering skill and self-reliant capacity of General Gilmore. He then traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, where he supervised the construction of Fort Clay situated on a hilltop commanding the city. Gillmore commanded a division in the Army of Kentucky, and though long associated with engineering and artillery, Gillmore's first independent command came at the head of a cavalry expedition against Confederate General John Pegram. Gillmore defeated the Confederates at the battle of Somerset for which he was brevetted for gallantry. In 1863, he commanded the Department of the South and was in charge of the Charleston, S.C. campaign. It was said that his operations constituted a new era in the science of engineering and gunnery. In 1864, he served under General Benjamin F. Butler, and was involved in the Bermuda Hundred, Virginia campaign. In February 1865, he returned to the command of the Department of the South until the end of the war.

Signature with Rank, Place & Date: 3 3/4 x 5, in ink, Q.A. Gillmore, Maj. Genl., Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 14th, 1864. Comes with an antique portrait photograph, of General Gillmore, in uniform, with rank of Major General. 3 3/4 x 5 1/2. Circa late 1800’s.

WBTS Trivia: The Gillmore Medal is a military decoration of the United States Army which was first issued on October 28, 1863. The medal is named after Major General Quincy A. Gillmore who commanded Union troops attempting to seize Fort Wagner, S.C. in 1863. Also called the Fort Sumter Medal, the Gillmore Medal commemorates the men who served in the fighting around Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863, and was presented to all Union soldiers who had served under General Gillmore's command.