Autograph letter, signed by Henry Carrington. 1½ pp., on 4-page conjugate lettersheet of lined paper.

Col. Carrington, who oversaw construction of forts to protect the Bozeman Trail, writes the the Assistant Adjutant General to obtain information about the timing of telegrams sent to him relieving him of his command following the massacre of some eighty troops under the Command of Captain William J. Fetterman, who were pursuing Indians who had attacked a wood-cutting detail. Carrington was subjected to a court of inquiry and subsequently exonerated, but his dismissal shortly after the events effectively destroyed his military career. Carrington writes, in part, "While at Fort Philip Kearney D.T. I received from Laramie, and from Lieut. Col. Wessels copies of telegram... relieving me from command... They were differently worded, and neither had a date... As that date has become a material fact, I respectfully ask the following information... On what day of December was my telegraphic dispatch received at Department Head Quarters..." With extensive if just partially legible docketing on the fourth page. A significant letter with bearing on one of the key incidents in the Indian Wars on the frontier following the Civil War.