War period signature with rank

(1822-1900) Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, his naval officer father died when he was 2 years old, and he was raised up by his uncle, Matthew Fontaine Maury, the famous "Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology." He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1842, commenced the study of law, but then changed course by accepting an appointment to West Point, graduating in the class of 1846, and was commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the Regiment of Mounted Rifles. His antebellum record in the Regular U.S. Army was distinguished and included receiving the brevet of 1st lieutenant for bravery at Cerro Gordo during the Mexican War, where he suffered a painful wound that almost resulted in the amputation of his arm. His gallantry in this battle prompted the citizens of Fredericksburg and the Legislature of Virginia to honor him with a special presentation sword. After convalescing at White Sulphur Springs, Va., he was assigned to the U.S. Military Academy as an instructor, serving in that capacity from 1847 until 1852. He then returned to active field duty with the Mounted Rifles, serving in the Oregon Territory, and then on the Texas frontier. He then returned east and commanded the Cavalry School at the Carlisle Military Barracks in Pennsylvania in 1858. He authored a book, "Tactics for Mounted Rifles," which became the standard textbook on the subject. When the War Between the States broke out, Maury was stationed in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory, serving there as Assistant Adjutant General. Hearing the news of the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, he resigned from the United States Army, and traveled back to his native Virginia where he entered the Confederate Army as a colonel, serving as Adjutant General, then as Chief of Staff under General Earl Van Dorn. He was promoted to brigadier general for gallantry at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 18, 1862. He also fought gallantly in the battles at Iuka and Corinth, Mississippi, and was appointed major general, November 4, 1862. After serving at Vicksburg, Miss., and in East Tennessee, he was appointed commander of the Army of the Gulf, at Mobile, Alabama, which he defended very capably until its capture in 1865. After the war ended Maury came home to Virginia and established an academy in Fredericksburg where he taught classical literature and mathematics. In 1868, he was the founder of the Southern Historical Society. He also wrote the book, "Recollections of a Virginian in the Indian, Mexican, and the Civil Wars." He was appointed by President Grover Cleveland, as Minister to Colombia, and served at that post from 1887 to 1889.

War period signature with rank: 4 1/2 x 1, in ink, Dabney H. Maury, Assistant Adjutant General. Very nicely signed on blue lined paper.