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Lot 50
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15 Superb Letters from Union Civil War Officers
15 Superb Letters from Union Civil War Officers
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Description:

Civil War

15 Superb Letters from Union Civil War Officers

 

[CIVIL WAR.] Archive of fifteen wartime and postwar letters and documents by Civil War officers, and three cartes de visite, 1861-1891.

 

This remarkable collection of letters includes the signatures of many Union officers from the Civil War. Most of the letters are addressed to William W. H. Davis.

 

Highlights and Excerpts

  • *Cartes de visite of Captain John A. Winslow, General William T. Sherman, and General Philip H. Sheridan. Each 2.5" x 4".

 

  • *George Cadwalader, Autograph Letter Signed, to James Harper, May 3, 1861, Philadelphia. 1 p., 5" x 8". With clipped obituary of George Cadwalader from 1879. Residue on verso from previous mounting; excellent.
    “I am much obliged to you for your prompt and satisfactory attention to this troublesome matter and Major Weaver will see you at once and place a guard in charge of the property.”

 

  • *Andrew A. Humphreys, Endorsement on Partially Printed Document Signed, Requisition for Forage for Public Horses, October 16, 1862, Sandy Hook. 1 p., 10.125" x 8". Edge tears and tears on folds.

 

  • *Alfred H. Terry, Autograph Endorsement Signed, October 6, 1863, on Special Orders No. 350, October 2, 1863, Folly Island, SC. 4 pp., 8" x 9.75". Expected folds and tear on one fold.
    “Respectfully forwarded with the earnest recommendation that the detail be countermanded. I respectfully suggest that the detail of men from volunteer regiments for permanent duty in a regular battery is an evasion of the Act of Congress which prohibits the enlistment of volunteers in regular organizations: there is no difference in fact between such a detail and an enlistment.... If the report made to Col. Davis is correct Mr Gardner’s conduct was unsoldierlike unofficerlike & ungentlemanly in the highest degree—a gross breach of courtesy to the commandants of the post the brigade the regiment & the companies to which the men in question belong.”

 

  • *David B. Birney, Autograph Letter Signed, to Henry C. Howell, September 9, 1864, In the field, Virginia. 1 p., 7.75" x 10". Expected folds; residue on verso from previous mounting. Excellent.
    “Let me introduce Major Briscoe of my staff who goes to Phila [?] to raise a regiment. The Major ought to be known to you by reputation, as he has gained a very handsome one on the field. Please do all that you can for him with the Ward and other committees, and aid him by counsel & kind words in his patriotic efforts to reorganize ‘Birney’s Zouaves.’”

 

  • *John A. Dix, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, January 16, 1865, New York. 1 p., 5" x 8".  Mounted on paper frame; with engraving of Cadwalader C. Washburne on verso; very good.

 

  • *Benjamin H. Grierson, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, March 5, 1865, New Orleans. 1 p., 5.125" x 8". Residue on verso from previous mounting; very good.

 

  • *Winfield Scott Hancock, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, March 10, 1865, Winchester, Virginia. 1 p., 5" x 8". Residue from previous mounting on verso; very good.
    “I am much obliged to you for your attention and for your assistance in filling up my corps. I do not know that you can assist me in any other manner than by occasionally notice the success of the organization.”

 

  • *Galusha Pennypacker, Manuscript Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, June 24, 1866, West Chester, Pennsylvania. 2 pp., 5" x 8". Residue on verso from previous mounting; very good.
    “While I am perfectly willing, and glad, (which, I know, is the case with yourself,) to accord to the Colored Troops the honor they deserve, I cannot see the propriety, necessity or right of assigning them a place in the procession on the 4th of July. And the colored soldiers, themselves, will not feel aggrieved, I am sure, for they do not expect it.”

 

  • *Wellington H. Ent, Manuscript Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, September 4, 1866. 1 p., 7.75" x 10". Residue on verso from previous mounting; very good.
    “On my return from a short absence, I found your letter asking me to appoint the delegates to the Cleveland Convention. I am not the Chairman of any State Committee and have no authority whatever to make the appointments.
    The National Convention of Union Soldiers & Sailors met in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 17, 1866. President Andrew Johnson hoped these veterans would be a political counterweight to the Grand Army of the Republic formed a few months earlier.

 

  • *William H. Emory, Manuscript Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis and others, May 7, 1868, Washington, D.C. 2 pp., 7.75" x 10". Expected folds; very good.
    “I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication dated May 2d but not received till May 5, inviting me to deliver the address on the occasion of dedicating the monument lately erected in your Town to the memory of the officers and men of the 104th Penn Regmt who fell in the late war; and to say in reply, that altho I think you could have selected, one more capable of delivering an oration, I nevertheless feel that I have no right to decline the honour and the duty, and that I will accept the invitation with pleasure.”

 

  • *Winfield Scott Hancock, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis and others, May 22, 1868, Washington, DC. 3 pp., 5" x 8". Residue on verso from previous mounting; very good.“I find it impossible however, at this time, to lay aside my official duties here, even for the performance of that other sacred duty, the honoring of the memory of the gallant dead of my own native state.”

 

  • *Andrew A. Humphreys, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis and others, May 25, 1868, Washington, DC. 1 p., 5.75" x 9.25". Residue on verso from previous mounting; very good.
    “I have received your invitation to participate in the ceremonies of the dedication of the monument lately erected to the memory of the officers and men of the 104th Pennsylvania Regt. who fell in the late war, and regret that official engagements will prevent my being present on the occasion, for it is always a source of satisfaction to unite in a tribute of respect to those who fell in the war.”

 

  • *John R. Brooke, Autograph Letter Signed, to Editor of the Weekly Press, November 28, 1885, Fort Shaw, Montana. 2 pp., 5.25" x 8". Mounting strip down left margin; very good.
    “I was not in command, immediately, of the 53rd Penna vols at Gettysburg, being in command of the Brigade of which it was a part, and could not, therefore, give you that statement or story of its actions in that battle as well as some officer who was present with it that day.”

 

  • *John R. Brooke, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, August 21, 1887, Fort Shaw, Montana Territory. 2 pp., 5" x 8". Expected folds; very good. 2 pp., 5" x 8".
    “I send you by this mail a photograph taken in 1864. It is a good picture of me as I then was. I am very much stouter now and weigh 60 lbs more than when the picture was taken.... It does me good to see the names of my former comrades though I would be very glad to hear their voices. I am and have been for the past twenty years an exile from home. Your mercury has been playing queer tricks this summer. You would need to bring your winter clothing if you came out here.”

 

  • *Galusha Pennypacker, Autograph Letter Signed, to William W. H. Davis, December 22, 1891. 2 pp., 5" x 8". Expected folds; residue on verso from previous mounting; very good.
    “When a man like you,—a statesman, a scholar, and a distinguished soldier,—says kindly words of me, I cannot repress a feeling of pride, (and I believe that is ‘honest pride,’) for those words amount to so much.... I could never even hope to be what you, in the friendship of your great big heart, have painted me. But, you have done me a kindness,—a great and appreciated kindness,—and I can only ask you to accept my poor Thanks in return.”
    On August 17, 1891, just four months before writing this letter, Pennypacker (1844-1916) received the Medal of Honor for his actions on January 15, 1865, at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, where he was severely wounded while leading a charge and planting his regiment’s colors.

 


William W. H. Davis (1820-1910) was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from Norwich University in Vermont in 1842. He served as a professor at a military academy in Virginia and studied law. He served in the Mexican War and returned to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he practiced law for five years. From 1853 to 1857, he held several government offices in the Territory of New Mexico and published the Santa Fe Gazette in Spanish and English for two and a half years. After returning to Pennsylvania, he purchased the Doylestown Democrat newspaper. He recruited and served as the colonel of the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. In February 1864, he commanded the garrison on the northern end of Morris Island, south of the entrance to Charleston harbor. For service there, he was breveted brigadier general and mustered out in September 1864. After the war, he returned to managing and editing his newspaper and speaking and writing on historical subjects.

 


This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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