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Lot 259
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New York Adjutant General Deals with Calls for Volunteers
New York Adjutant General Deals with Calls for Volunteers
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Description:

New York Adjutant General Deals with Calls for Volunteers

This pair of letters deals with the efforts of the State of New York to fill its quotas under the series of enlistment calls issued to states in 1863 and 1864.

[CIVIL WAR.] John B. Stonehouse, Autograph Letter Signed, to Edwin M. Stanton, February 23, 1864. 1 p. + envelope, 7.75" x 9.75". Expected folds; very good.
With: Orison Blunt, Manuscript Letter Signed, to J. B. Stonehouse, October 12, 1864. 1 p., 8" x 10". Expected folds; very good. Ex-Forbes.

Excerpts
[Stonehouse to Stanton, February 23, 1864:]
"I am directed by His Excellency Governor Seymour respectfully to request, that he may be furnished with a copy of the report of the Commission appointed to enquire into the correctness of the quota assigned to the State of New York under the recent calls of the President."

[Blunt to Stonehouse, October 12, 1864:]
"I have transmitted to you today by Express a box (for which please find receipt enclosed) containing a substantial token of the appreciation of the New York County Volunteer Committee of your kind efforts in aiding them to fill the Quota under the President's call for Five Hundred Thousand Men. Please accept from me, who have been personally cognizant of your exertions in our behalf the expression of my sincerest regards and the hope that the contents of the box sent you may prove as satisfactory to you in the reception, as it is to us in the transmission."

Historical Background
In March 1863, Congress passed the Enrollment Act to establish a national system of conscription to replace the Militia Act of 1862. It authorized the President of the United States to assign a number to be furnished by each Congressional district, giving appropriate credit for all volunteers and militia already provided from that district. Provost Marshal General James B. Fry administered the implementation of the act and reported directly to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Fry appointed an Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in each state, including two for Pennsylvania and three for New York. The Enrollment Act led to the New York City draft riots in mid-July 1863, requiring the presence of Union troops to restore order.

In October 1863, President Lincoln called for an additional 300,000 men. As the first letter reflects, governors often questioned the quotas applied to their states. Democratic governors like Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) of New York supported the Union but criticized the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln and were particularly reluctant to provide the mandated quotas of troops. Seymour questioned the military draft of 1863 on constitutional grounds. Seymour lost his bid for reelection in 1864 to Republican Reuben Fenton.

In mid-July 1864, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 500,000 more volunteers. If by September 5, enough volunteers had not been enlisted, a draft would be instituted in each district that did not reach its quota. The second letter from the chairman of the New York County Volunteer Committee thanks Assistant Adjutant General Stonehouse for his assistance in meeting the city's quota.

John B. Stonehouse (1813-1885) was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1841. In 1855, he was a paper hanger in Albany, New York, and he was a clerk there in 1860. In 1861, he served as chief clerk to New York Adjutant-General J. Meredith Read. He gained promotion until appointed as Assistant Adjutant General for the State of New York with the rank of colonel in May 1864. He was later promoted to brigadier general. Stonehouse helped fill the state's quotas for soldiers during the Civil War and prosecuted the state's claims against the federal government from 1875 until his death. These claims totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Orison Blunt (1815-1879) was born in Maine and went to sea at age 14. By 1840, he established himself as a firearms dealer in New York City. In partnership with William Syms, he established the Metropolitan Arms Company on Broadway, and they became prominent importers and manufacturers of firearms. He was first elected alderman in 1853, then to the Board of Supervisors in 1857, and reelected in 1861. Blunt became one of the major suppliers of rifles to the Union army. The Board of Supervisors, of which Blunt was a member, offered $2 million to fulfill New York's draft quotas by offering large bounties to recruits and substitutes. He was also an inventor who developed the pepper-box gun, a forerunner of the Gatling gun, that fired 70 rounds per minute, and a breech-loading cannon. In 1863, he was the Union nominee for mayor of New York City but lost to Democrat C. G. Gunther.

Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869) was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in 1834. In 1836, he married Mary Ann Lamson (1813-1844), and they had a son and a daughter, though their daughter died as a toddler. Stanton commenced his political life as an Ohio lawyer and antislavery Democrat. In 1856, he married Ellen Hutchinson (1830-1873), and they had four children over the next seven years. Stanton served as U.S. Attorney General under President James Buchanan in the winter of 1860-1861, during which time he strengthened the Administration's resolve against secession. Appointed as Lincoln's Secretary of War in early 1862, Stanton brought civilian-style order to the Army and War Department, improving the efficiency of the armed forces. His earlier success as a Pittsburgh lawyer honed his skills in negotiation and communication, allowing him to work with Congress and the president to ensure appropriate involvement in the conduct of the war by each branch of government, as specified by the Constitution. Continuing in the cabinet of President Andrew Johnson, Stanton clearly articulated the Army's role as a major agent in the implementation of Reconstruction policies. Disagreements over Johnson's position on Reconstruction led to Stanton's ouster and eventually to Johnson's 1868 impeachment. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Stanton to the Supreme Court, but Stanton died before he could take the oath of office.

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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