Description:

George W. Randolph
Richmond, VA, November 10, 1862
Confederate Secretary of War Randolph Directs Colonel in Staunton, Virginia, to Protect Local Turnpike
LS

GEORGE W. RANDOLPH, Manuscript Letter Signed, to Davidson, November 10, 1862, Richmond, Virginia. 1 p., 8" x 10". Very good.

Complete Transcript
Confederate States of America,
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Richmond, Va. Nov. 10, 1862.
Col. Davidson, Comdg
Staunton, Va.
Sir,
The enclosed copy of a letter from Chas. Moore is called to your attention, and you are directed to inquire into and report the facts to the Department. You will establish patrols along the Staunton and Winchester Turnpike for the protection of the country from pillage.
Respectfully
Geo W Randolph
Secretary of War

George Wythe Randolph (1818-1867) was born in Virginia as the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson and son of future Virginia Governor Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. He served as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy (1831-1839), serving primarily in the Mediterranean. He attended the University of Virginia and studied law with an established lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in 1840 and practiced law in Charlottesville. In 1852, he married Mary Elizabeth Adams Pope (1830-1871), but they had no children. He was a member of the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 and was part of a delegation from Virginia that met with President Abraham Lincoln on April 12, 1861. After commanding a Virginia regiment of artillery as major, colonel, and brigadier general, Randolph became the Confederate Secretary of War on March 24, 1862. He helped reform the department and wrote a conscription law for the Confederacy. He strengthened the Confederacy's southern and western defenses but came into conflict with President Jefferson Davis. Randolph resigned on November 17, 1862, suffering from tuberculosis. He was elected to represent Richmond in the Virginia Senate and served until the end of the Civil War. In 1864, Randolph and his family ran the naval blockade and traveled to Europe, where he received treatment for his tuberculosis in England and France. He took the oath of allegiance to the United States in April 1866 and then returned to Virginia. He died of tuberculosis in April 1867 and is buried in the Jefferson family graveyard at Monticello.

Henry Brevard Davidson (1831-1899) was born in Tennessee and was educated in the common schools. In the Mexican War, he joined the 1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry in 1846. For his meritorious service, he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1853. He was appointed a second lieutenant in 1853 and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1856. In 1858, he transferred to the quartermaster department. In early 1861, he resigned his recent commission as a captain in the U.S. Army. He entered the Confederate Army as a captain and was promoted to major in April 1861. He served in the Adjutant General's office and then on the Inspector General's staff. He was promoted to colonel and surrendered with the Confederate forces after the Battle of Island Number Ten in April 1862. Exchanged in August, he was appointed to command the Confederate post at Staunton, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. He served as a cavalry commander and was promoted to brigadier general in August 1863. He fought in Tennessee and Georgia from September 1863 through September 1864, when he was sent to Virginia for the Valley Campaigns of 1864. He commanded a cavalry brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia from January to March 2, 1865, when the Confederate Valley force was virtually destroyed at the Battle of Waynesboro. Davidson surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston's force in North Carolina in April 1865. After the war, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and then to California in 1868. He served as inspector of public works (1878-1886) and deputy to the California Secretary of State (1887) and worked as a civil engineer and railroad agent.

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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