Clipped slip of paper meas. approx. 6.75 x 1.75 inches. Written in ink in a fine flowing hand is “MYLES W. KEOGH  CAP. + A. A. AD. / STAFF OF BRIG. GENL. JNO. BUFORD / COMDG REGULAR CAVALRY BRIGADE / ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.”

All ink is strong and clear. Paper is clean. Reverse has remnants of another inscription

Myles Walter Keogh was born March 25, 1840 in Orchard House, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland. After his education he joined the Papal Army of Pope Pius IX and by August of 1860 he was a 2^nd Lieutenant. He was recruited by the United States for service in the Union Army and arrived in Washington on April 2, 1862. Through Secretary Seward's intervention Keogh was given a Captains' rank and on April 15 he was assigned to the staff of Brigadier General James Shields.

Keogh was temporarily transferred to McClellan’s personal staff but he was to be with 'Little Mac' for only a few months serving the General during the Battle of Antietam. After McClellan's removal from command in November 1862, the admirable traits identified in Keogh’s first six months in the Union army came to the fore when he was reassigned to General John Buford’s staff.

Keogh served Buford with obedience and gallantry during Stoneman’s Raid in April 1863 and the enormous battle at Brandy Station on the following June 9^th.

On June 30, Buford, with Keogh by his side, rode into the small town of Gettysburg. Very soon, Buford realized that he was facing a superior force of rebels to his front and set about creating a defense against the Confederate advance. During the ensuing battle Myles Keogh received his first brevet for "gallant and meritorious services" and was promoted to the rank of Major. When Buford fell ill Keogh was by his side and it was in his arms that Buford died. After the General’s death Keogh escorted his body to West Point for burial.

Major Keogh was now appointed as aide de camp to General George Stoneman. While serving on a raid Keogh was captured after his horse was shot out from under him. Keogh was held for 2½ months as a prisoner of war before being released through Union general William Tecumseh Sherman’s efforts. Keogh would later receive a second brevet with promotion to lieutenant colonel for his gallantry with Stoneman at the Battle of Dallas.

At the war’s end, although he had the brevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army, he accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Cavalry on May 4, 1866. Keogh never served with that unit and was promoted to Captain, 7th Cavalry, on July 28, 1866 under the command of George Armstrong Custer.

Keogh commanded Company I of the 7^th Cavalry until it was wiped out at the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876. It was the end of Keogh’s long and distinguished career.

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