A letter from Hans von Plessen, at the time Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel), to an unnamed General. Plessen is selling the General a horse and is laying out the arrangements. Dated to Berlin on 6 July 1886 and signed in black ink. Measuring 139 mm (w) x 220 mm (h), presenting three folding creases and minimal overall creasing, remains near extremely fine.
Footnote: Hans von Plessen was born on 26 November 1841 in Spandau (today part of Berlin). His father was Generalleutnant Hermann von Plessen (1803-1877). Plessen joined the army in 1861 as an officer cadet and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1862. He was a veteran of the Second Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War, the latter in the rank of first lieutenant. Plessen was appointed to the General Staff as a captain in 1872. He became the personal adjutant of Emperor Wilhelm I after being promoted to major in 1879, and went on to receive promotions to lieutenant colonel (1885), colonel (1888), and major general (1891). Under Wilhelm II Plessen remained an important influence on the emperor. In 1892 he served as commander of the imperial headquarters, and in 1894 he became Wilhelm’s orderly adjutant general, having been promoted to lieutenant general, and subsequently becoming the emperor’s confidant. Plessen was one of the most influential and most loyal generals of the German army, commanding the German General Staff during the First War. When he retired on 17 November 1918 in the rank of colonel general and acting general field marshal, he was the oldest active officer at the age of 76. Plessen received numerous German and foreign awards, including 51 grand crosses. Among them are the Black Eagle Order with Chain and Diamonds, the Grand Cross of the Red Eagle Order with Oak Leaves and Swords on Ring, and the Pour le Mérite. Plessen died in Potsdam on 28 January 1929.