William Augustus Nichols, Colonel & Union Major General, Adjutant General, Department of the

- William Augustus Nichols, Colonel and Union Major General, Adjutant General, Department of the East - 4 3/4" wide by 6 1/2" tall official US Army "General Order # 33" dated January 14, 1864 HAND-SIGNED / AUTOGRAPHED by Civil War General William A. Nichols. The order and has a long list of officers and their promotions and is signed in vintage fountain pen as "W.A. Nichols" as Assistant Adjutant General. It is in great condition with only light edge wear- William Augustus Nichols Sr. (Born May 12, 1818-Died April 8, 1869) Civil War Union Brevet Major General. An 1838 United States Military Academy graduate, he devoted his adult life to the military. His Civil War service was performed as a Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General in Washington, D.C. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Regular Army on September 24, 1864 and Major General, US Regular Army on March 13, 1865 for "meritorious and faithful services during the war". Nichols served during the Rebellion as Adjutant-General of the Department of the East, June 10-November 14, 1861. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Staff, Assistant Adjutant-General, August 3, 1861. He served as Adjutant- General of the Department of New York, November 14-December, 1861; as Mustering and Disbursing Officer, New York City, December, 1861-June, 1862; and as Assistant in the Adjutant-General's Office at Washington, D. C., May 19, 1862- August 11, 1866. He was promoted to Colonel, Staff, Assistant Adjutant-General, June 1, 1864. He was breveted to Brigadier-General, September 24, 1864 and breveted Major-General, March 13, 1865, U. S. Army, for meritorious and faithful services during the Rebellion. Nichols served as Chief of Staff to Lieutenant-General William T. Sherman, August 18, 1866-March 4, 1869; and to Lieutenant- General Phillip Sheridan, commanding Military Division of the Missouri, March 4-April 8, 1869 when he died at St. Louis, aged 51 years. He remained in the Regular Army after the war, and died in 1869 while on active duty at his Colonel's rank. He was the son-in-law of Brevet Brigadier General Rene E. DeRussy, and the brother-in-law of Brigadier General Gustavus A. DeRussy.