Acknowledgement of Resignation – Charles H. Eager, 17 December 1863

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Document of Captain Charles H. Eager of Company B, 15th MA Infantry. This document was sent by George F. Balch, Captain of Ordnance and Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance from the War Department in Washington, D.C. Balch is requesting an Ordnance Return from Eager in view of his pending resignation.

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Ordnance Office

                                   War Department

                                Washington, Dec. 17, 1863

Capt. C. H. Eager

Co. B, 15^th Mass. Infty.

     Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of Dec. 6^th, 1863, notifying this office of your intention of resigning your commission as capt.

     Before giving you a certificate of non-indebtedness to the United States on account of Ordnance, it will be necessary for you to make and transmit to this Office the Ordnance Returns now due from you for the pt 1 quarter, 1862. On their receipt at this Office, they will be examined and referred to the Second Auditor; of which action you will be promptly advised. In your letter transmitting them, refer to this by its date.

     By order of the Chief of Ordnance:

                                      Geo. F. Balch

                                      Captain of Ordnance

                              Assistant to Chief of Ordnance

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Charles H. Eager, a hardware dealer from Fitchburg, MA was appointed 2nd lieutenant of Co. B, 15^th MA Infantry on August 1, 1861, at the age of 31. He was subsequently promoted to 1^st lieutenant, May 11, 1862; and captain, October 15, 1862. He was a regimental quartermaster, and commanded the regiment from November 27, 1863 to January 1864. His resignation was announced February 4, 1864. He served at Ball’s Bluff, Antietam, and Gettysburg, among others.

Application Response – Charles H. Eager, 31 May 1861

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Letter written by A.G. Browne Jr., Military Secretary to the Commander in Chief, to Captain Charles H. Eager, Company B, 15th MA Infantry, from Boston, MA. Browne is responding to an application from Eager regarding a military commission. Browne writes that all applications will be filed and considered impartially, based on merit and the number of vacancies at the time.

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     Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 Executive Department

 Boston, May 31, 1861        

Dear Sir:

     It is impossible to hold out “any encouragement” concerning any military appointment to any person, beyond an assurance that his papers may be placed on file in this department and shall be examined and decided upon impartially with due consideration of the merit they exhibit, and of the condition of the vacancies existing at the time. If

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after examining the papers a personal interview shall be desirable, it is the custom of business in this Dept. to notify the applicant to that effect.

     It is impossible to decide on any one application individually or at once, because the object to be obtained is to secure what on the whole, all things considered, are the

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best appointments, which can only be done by considering together simultaneously a number of various applications.

                             Yours respectfully,

                                A. G. Browne jr.

                              Military Secretary to the

                              Commander in Chief

Chas. H. Eager Esq.

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Charles H. Eager, a hardware dealer from Fitchburg, MA was appointed 2nd lieutenant of Co. B, 15^th MA Infantry on August 1, 1861, at the age of 31. He was subsequently promoted to 1^st lieutenant, May 11, 1862; and captain, October 15, 1862. He was a regimental quartermaster, and commanded the regiment from November 27, 1863 to January 1864. His resignation was announced February 4, 1864. He served at Ball’s Bluff, Antietam, and Gettysburg, among others.