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Lot 87
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Franklin Pierce 8pp ALS on “this fearful civil war…heavy fighting…on the Virginia side of the Potomac”, the Trent Affair and J. Fremont
Franklin Pierce 8pp ALS on “this fearful civil war…heavy fighting…on the Virginia side of the Potomac”, the Trent Affair and J. Fremont
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Description:

Franklin Pierce 8pp ALS on “this fearful civil war…heavy fighting…on the Virginia side of the Potomac”, the Trent Affair and J. Fremont

An autograph letter signed by 14th U.S. President Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) as “Franklin Pierce”, 8pp on the rectos and versos of two folded sheets of lined stationery, 5” x 8”, Andover, “Saturday Evg”. Noted in pencil at top left of first page in an unknown hand, “Autumn of 1861”. Includes complete transcription. Expected folds, a few spots of minor discoloration, else in fine condition.

In his attractive hand, Pierce pens a lengthy letter to Sidney Webster (1829-1910) of New York City, his personal secretary when president. It reads, in part, “Your long, pleasant letter of the 6th inst. reached me while I was at Hillsboro or Concord...And it has gratified me so much, that I could not withhold a glance from Mrs. Pierce. We enjoyed it separately and then together. It does us both good to hear of your business, your success, your new home – et cet...We hope some time to meet that ‘cordial hearty welcome’ – but when it may be, is as uncertain as the termination of this fearful civil war.

With regard to your own business there will be no lack. If cases involving maritime or revenue law fall off, others will take their place. You have achieved the great thing in New York as you did in Boston.

It w[oul]d seem that the combined forces of Price & McCulloch must have more than they can possibly attend to on their hands in Missouri. Still such a garrison with such a force cannot be otherwise than in danger…What a distressing condition of things in Mo & Ky and how unfortunate just now the quarrel between the Blairs & Fremont without reference to the merits or demerits of either: How annoying too to the Federal Government, the unobstructed departure of Messers Mason & Slidell to their European missions? Your friend Eustace is, I see, Secy of Mr. S. Where are Mrs. E. & her father Mr. Cochran [sic.]? I do not see how heavy fighting can be much longer postponed on the Virginia side of the Potomac. The free navigation of the river is absolutely indispensable to the vast army – They cannot get on without it and it would seem to be quite clear that it can only be secured by taking the batteries which now command the channel…”

The son of New Hampshire’s governor, Pierce studied law before enjoying a varied career in state and national politics. In 1832, he was elected to Congress, and four years later, Pierce won a Senate seat that he held until 1842. In 1846, President Polk offered Pierce the office of Attorney General, but Pierce declined, observing that when he had resigned from the Senate, he had done so with the express purpose never to be separated from his family again except to serve his country during war, which, in fact, he did the following year when he was commissioned a colonel during the Mexican American War. Despite his promise to his wife, Jane M.A. Pierce (1806-1863), he accepted the Democratic nomination for president, serving from 1853-1857.

As president, Pierce’s efforts to lead the nation were hindered by divisions within his party. Nonetheless, he reformed the Civil Service, the Departments of the Interior and Treasury; and oversaw the territorial expansion of the United States, most notably completing the Gadsden Purchase, by which the U.S. obtained modern-day Arizona and southern New Mexico from Mexico. However, it was also territorial expansion and its relation to slavery that undermined Pierce’s presidency, specifically the Kansas-Nebraska Act whose passage on May 30, 1854, contributed to the rise of the Republican Party. The legislation, drafted by Pierce and Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, opened Kansas to settlement while allowing popular sovereignty to determine whether the state would permit slavery. This led both pro- and anti-slavery advocates to settle Kansas for the sole purpose of casting their ballots on the issue. The resulting violence, such as that famously perpetrated by John Brown, was dubbed “Bleeding Kansas,” and helped further divide the Democratic Party and the nation, propelling it toward civil war.

Because of the political discord that marked Pierce’s presidency, the Democratic Party declined to nominate him for reelection. After leaving Washington, Pierce briefly returned to his native New Hampshire before setting off on a three-year tour of Europe and the Bahamas. He maintained an extensive correspondence with Webster, a New Hampshire native who, after graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School, became President Pierce’s private secretary. The pair formed a close relationship that continued up to Pierce’s death.

The here offered letter was written five to six months after the Civil War started. On August 10, 1861, Union forces clashed with Confederate troops under generals Sterling Price (1809-1867), the former Missouri governor, initially opposed his state’s secession, and Benjamin McCulloch (1811-1862) at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, the first major battle west of the Mississippi River. Although the Confederate forces won the field, Pierce’s statement that "the combined forces of Price & McCulloch must have more than they can possibly attend to on their hands in Missouri" is likely a comment on the general’s inability to pursue retreating Union forces due to a lack of reinforcements and weak supply lines.

In July 1861, John C. Fremont (1813-1890) was given command of the Department of the West by President Abraham Lincoln. Fremont had successes during his brief tenure there, though he ran his department autocratically and made hasty decisions without consulting President Lincoln or Army headquarters. He issued an unauthorized emancipation edict and was relieved of his command for insubordination by Lincoln. After a brief service tenure in the Mountain Department in 1862, retiring from the Army in 1864.

In September 1861, the Confederacy appointed former Louisiana Senator John Slidell (1793-1871), an outspoken defender of Southern rights and a staunch supporter of secession after Lincoln’s election, and former Virginia Senator James Murray Mason (1798-1871) as commissioners to France. Departing Charleston on October 12 and successfully evading the Union blockade, the pair arrived in Cuba where, accompanied by their families and Slidell’s secretary, former Louisiana Congressman George Eustis Jr. (1828-1872), they boarded the British mail packet RMS Trent. In this letter, Pierce ponders the whereabouts of Eustis’ wife Louise Morris Corcoran (1838-1867) and her father American banker, philanthropist, art collector and founder of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888). On November 8, 1861, Union forces intercepted the Trent and detained Slidell, Mason and Eustis, sparking an outcry from Britain. Their threatened entry into the conflict on the Confederate side was averted after an apology and release of the prisoners.

Pierce also discusses the importance of the Potomac River, where Confederate batteries on the southern shore fired on Union ships attempting to reach the capital. However, in the face of George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, the batteries were withdrawn following Joseph E. Johnston’s 1862 retreat after which fighting shifted south. Nevertheless, throughout the war, Confederate guerillas continued to attack boats navigating the Potomac.

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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