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| Title |
Jefferson Davis |
| Number |
53193 |
| Size |
7.75" x 9.75" |
| Date |
April 19, 1861 |
| Place |
Montgomery, Alabama |
| Category |
Civil War |
| Price |
$5,500.00 |
Just a week after Fort Sumter, Jefferson Davis, in a rare ALS as Confederate President, thanks a soon-to-be elected Tennessee Confederate state legislator for recommending a Kentucky Colonel for an appointment.
Autograph Letter Signed “Jeffn Davis” as Provisional President of the Confederate States of America, one page, 7.75” x 9.75”. Montgomery, Alabama, April 19, 1861. To “Hon G A Henry.” Light discoloration, mailing folds. Fine condition.
In full, “Thanks for your friendly and patriotic letter of the 16th inst which I have just received. Your recommendation of Col. D Bell of Ky has been referred to the Secretary of war for his respectful consideration. It gave me sincere pleasure to be greeted by you with the warmth and friendship of our earlier days. As ever truly yr friend.”
Born in Kentucky, Gustavus A. Henry (1804-1880) was a member of the Kentucky State Legislature in 1831. He moved to Tennessee about 1833. Henry was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for Congress in 1842, losing to Democrat Cave Johnson, later Polk’s Postmaster General. In 1853, Henry ran for Governor of Tennessee as the Whig and “Know-Nothing” candidate, losing to Democrat Andrew Johnson. After Tennessee seceded from the Union, Henry was elected to the Confederate Tennessee State Senate, serving until the end of the war. Several of his sons joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and Gustavus, Jr., served on the staff of General Gideon J. Pillow.
On February 9, 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected Provisional President of the Confederate States of America. On February 25, 1861, LeRoy Pope Walker was appointed the Confederacy’s first Secretary of War by President Davis. On March 1st, President and Mrs. Davis and family arrived in Montgomery, Alabama, the Confederacy’s first capital. The Provisional Congress ratified the Confederate Constitution on March 11, 1861. Secretary of War Walker issued the orders for the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War. This letter was written by President Davis just one week later. On May 26, 1861, the Confederacy’s first family left Montgomery for Richmond, the new Confederate capital, arriving there on May 29, 1861.
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