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BEAUREGARD, PIERRE G.T. (1818-93)# 7150
Confederate General - Louisiana
Beauregard commanded the forces which started the Civil War by shelling Fort Sumter, and he went on to serve with distinction at First Manassas, Shiloh, and in the defense of Richmond.
Autograph Letter Signed, two pages, front and reverse of a 5 ½” x 9” sheet. Responding to an invitation to take part in a veterans’ tour of the battlefield of First Manassas, Beauregard lists twelve of the Confederate commanders engaged in the battle.
“New Orleans, June 20/ [18]88.
Mr. J.H. Tourjee, Norwich, Connecticut.
Your favor of the 17th inst[ant] has been received. I think quite favorably of the project you refer to, of an excursion to the Battle field of the 1st Manassas * by the survivors of both Armies, North & South, who participated in that first great battle of the late War. Should my engagements permit it, I would be glad to be present on that interesting occasion.
I have not time to give you many names of those who were prominent in that battle, but here are a few:
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, Washington, D.C.; Wade Hampton, U.S. Senate; M.L. Bonham, Columbia, S.C.; J.B. Kershaw; G.W. Smith…New York City; Thos. Jordan, 61 Broadway, [New York City]; Col. A.R. Chisholm; Govr. F.T. Nichols, Baton Rouge, La.; Col. D.B. Penn, New Orleans; Judge S.D. McEnery, Supreme Court; [Judge] H.B. Kelly, Court of Appeals.
I am, y[ou]rs very truly,
G.T. Beauregard
The sheet is lightly and evenly toned, with minor separation at the edges of two horizontal folds, and there is heavier wear and soiling along the folds on the reverse.
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JACKSON, THOMAS J. "STONEWALL” (1824-63) Confederate Lieutenant General – Virginia; Mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville# 9157
Civil War-Date Signature & Rank, “T.J. Jackson, Maj[or] Gen[era]l P[rovisional] A[rmy] C[onfederate] S[tates],” on a 1 ¼” x 3” slip of paper.
Lightly toned, with show-through of old glue staining from the reverse.
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KEMPER, JAMES L. (1823-95) Confederate Major General – Virginia; Governor of Virginia – 1874-77# 9160
A Mexican War veteran, Kemper led the 7th Virginia Infantry from First Manassas to Williamsburg, gaining promotion to brigadier general. He was seriously wounded and captured while leading his brigade in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.
Signature, “J.L. Kemper,” on a light 2 ½” x 4” card.
Very good overall, with light, even toning and a few minor stains; old mounting remnants on the reverse.
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LEE, ROBERT E. (1807-70)# 6212
Confederate General & Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Returning the Remains of a Young Lieutenant Who Died in Texas to His Father in Pennsylvania
Autograph Letter Signed, 8” x 10”, to John Dick, a prominent Pennsylvania banker and businessman, later a U.S. Congressman from 1853 to 1859. While in command of his first fort, Camp Cooper, established in northern Texas to protect the frontier from hostile Indians, Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee resends information relating to the return of the remains of Dick’s son, 2nd Lieutenant George McGunnigle Dick, in light of the possible loss of his previous letter on the subject. That communication, Lee suspects, may have been carried aboard the steamer Louisiana, when it burned and sank in the harbor of Galveston, Texas on May 31, 1857.
“Hon[ora]ble John Dick, Meadville, P[ennsylvani]a. Camp in Clear fork of Brazos, 13 July 1857. Dear Sir, Having seen a statement in the papers that the letters that had reached Indianola from about the 20 to the 30 May had all been lost in the mails shipped aboard the Steamer Louisiana, & as my letter to you of the 6 May should have been at Indianola about that time, I have determined to send to you a Copy, that you might see why your letter of 10 Sept. [18]’56 had been so long unack[nowledge]d, should the original have been lost, & that I had given such attention to your inquiries as I was able. I hope my letter of the 19th May reached you safely, & that you will have rec[eive]d w[ith] this the remains of your Son, forw[arde]d at that time to the Messrs. Thorps, who were also written to. I made arrangements for their shipment from Indianola, & have heard of their safe passage through San Antonio. With Sentiments of esteem & respect I am very resp[ectfull]y your Ob[edien]t Serv[an]t, R.E. Lee.”
During a forty-day expedition which scouted the headwaters of the Colorado, Brazos, and Wichita rivers, begun in early June, 1856, the four cavalry squadrons in Lee’s command had several encounters with hostile Comanche Indians. The available records indicate that Lieutenant Dick died at Camp Cooper on July 31, 1856 - just eight days after Lee’s return. It is unknown if he died of wounds received during the expedition, or due to an illness or an injury that occurred at the notoriously harsh Camp Cooper.
The letter is in excellent condition, with slight discoloration along portions of the usual folds and superficial paper breaks at their intersections.
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LEE, ROBERT E. (1807-70)# 7506
Confederate General & Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Document Signed, 8” x 10 ½”, as President of Washington College, Lexington Virginia, April 28, 1867, “R.E. Lee,” the partly printed report card for a student, “Mr. Edwin T. Dumble,” in the subjects of Latin, Greek, and Mathematics.
Born in Madison, Indiana in 1852, Edwin Dumble moved to Galveston, Texas with his family as an infant. His education at Washington College was twice interrupted by reversals in his father’s cotton and lumber businesses. He later served as an executive in several oil companies – most notably the Southern Pacific, the Rio Bravo, and the East Coast Oil Companies - and as Texas State Geologist from 1887 to 1897. In 1924, Dumble received a doctorate of science from his early alma mater, now Washington and Lee University, before retiring to Virginia. He died in 1927.
In excellent condition overall, the document is lightly and evenly toned, with a few superficial stains. There are two small pinholes along one of the usual folds, none of which passes through Lee’s signature.
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LONGSTREET, JAMES (1821-1904)# 7517
Confederate Lieutenant General – South Carolina
Longstreet saw action from First Manassas through Appomattox, becoming Lee’s senior lieutenant general in the Army of Northern Virginia. He held post-war positions in the Grant, McKinley, and Roosevelt administrations.
War-Date Endorsement Signed
Civil War-Date Endorsement Signed, on a 1 ¾” x 3 ¼” slip of paper, removed from a larger document.
“Respectfully forwarded, J. Longstreet, L[ieutenan]t Gen[era]l.”
While post-war manuscripts by Longstreet are readily available, war-date examples are seldom encountered. This endorsement, distinctly signed by Longstreet with his right hand, can be dated to the war-time period before the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5 & 6, 1864, where a severe wound forced Longstreet to use his left hand for writing for many years afterward.
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PICKENS, FRANCIS W. (1805-69)# 6855
Confederate Governor of South Carolina – 1860-62; U.S. Congressman – South Carolina – 1834-43
Civil War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, 8” x 10”, on imprinted stationery as Confederate Governor of South Carolina. Shortly after the outbreak of war, Pickens instructs the commissary general in the payment and distribution of rations for troops in the new South Carolina regiments.
“4 June 1861. To Commissary Gen[era]l Walker. Sir, I rec[eive]d yours of this inst[ant]. Capt[ain] Elliot’s company appear to have rec[eive]d rations at 40 c[en]ts – and the service was for twenty four days – and the highest Army ration is 30 c[en]ts. The $488.10 is the highest one paid. This of course includes beef & vegetables, & the bill for $151.75 cannot be allowed. As to temporary supplies to Gen[era]l Garlington, Col[one]l Rion, and Col[one]l Blandings command, you might furnish for a day or so. Please see that the supplies left by Cash’s reg[imen]t at Florence are taken care of & held or brought to the city, & so of Burns & Jenkins & all the other reg[imen]ts. F.W. Pickens.”
There is light, even toning, along with two horizontal folds and smudging of ink to several letters of text.
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PRESTON, JOHN S. (1809-81)# 7533
Confederate Brigadier General - Virginia
A Virginia native and pre-war attorney, Preston served on the staff of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard during the bombardment of Ft. Sumter and at the battle of First Manassas. He later served in command of conscript and prison camps, and as superintendant of the Confederate Bureau of Conscription in Richmond.
Civil War-Date Signature, with the rank Preston held from April 23, 1863 until June 10, 1864 in another hand, “Jno. S. Preston, Col[onel] A[ssistant] A[djutant] Genl. Com[man]d[in]g,” on a 2” x 4 ½” slip of paper.
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STEPHENS, ALEXANDER H. (1812-83)# 6476
Confederate Vice President - Georgia
Despite his unionist stance as congressman from Georgia, Stephens followed his native state to the Confederacy, becoming a representative in the Provisional Congress, a position he retained even after assuming the Vice Presidency. After the war, he returned to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873 through 1882.
Civil War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, three pages on a folded 4” x 6 ¼” letter-sheet, as Confederate Vice President, recommending a young engineer, Assistant Master of the Confederate Armory at Richmond, Virginia, Amassa Ring, formerly in the employ of the armory at Harpers Ferry, to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown.
“Richmond, Va., 29 March 1862, His Excellency Joseph E. Brown, Milledgeville, Ga. Dear Sir, Mr. Amassa W. Ring, a engineer who is now 1st Ass[istan]t Master of the Confederate States Armory in this city wishes to get employment in the manufacture of arms in our state. I consider him well qualified – superior quality to Mr. Jones who I understand is now in the Service of the State. Mr. Ring is quite a mechanical genius – sober, young [?] comprehensive and combining in business some of the rarest and best qualities of a artful & practical man I ever saw combined in any one character. He was in the U.S. Coast Survey up to the secession of Ga. He after that went to Harpers Ferry & from there to this city. I feel assured if you have any business for such a man a better or fitter one cannot be got in the Confederacy if in the Government. Yours truly, Alexander H. Stephens.”
Just two weeks earlier, Union General George B. McClellan had begun floating the enormous Federal Army of the Potomac down the Chesapeake to the tip of the York-James Peninsula. Anticipating the imminent campaign to take Richmond, along with the possible evacuation of the city and abandonment of its military stores and production facilities, Stephens predictably takes a position favorable to his native state by suggesting Ring to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown. Despite McClellan’s failure to take Richmond in the spring of 1862, much of the South’s war industry was soon shifted to less threatened areas, most notably to the Confederate States Armory at Macon, Georgia.
Lightly and evenly toned, with the usual folds; brushing, spotting and offsetting of ink throughout.
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THOMAS, WILLIAM H. (1805-93)# 6780
Confederate Colonel - North Carolina; Commanded Thomas’s Cherokee Legion; White Chief of the Oconaluftee Cherokee
Document Signed, Charleston, South Carolina, June 13, 1838, “Wm. H. Thomas,” a partly printed 3 ¼” x 7” promissory note, payable to James W.Y. Watson for $258.82.
The document has light toning, soiling, and wear, along with the expected folds.
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VOLCK, ADALBERT J. (1828-1912)# 7182
Bavarian-Born Political Cartoonist & Caricaturist
A dentist by vocation, Volck supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. He savaged President Lincoln and the Union cause in political cartoons, acted as a courier for Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and smuggled goods for the Confederate Army.
Autograph Document Signed, 4 ¼” x 7”, Baltimore, Maryland, April 26, 1878, “A.J. Volck,” a partly printed receipt for $37 on Volck’s Baltimore dental practice, received from a Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neville; also fully accomplished by Volck, thus bearing a second signature in the heading.
The receipt is lightly and evenly toned, with light vertical folds.
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