Description:

Robert E. Lee
Near Petersburg, VA, August 10, 1864
Robert E. Lee Annotated Horse Appraisal of Traveller & Lucy Long Completed 2 Months Into Siege of Petersburg
MDS

A 1p manuscript document signed, being an appraisal of two horses personally owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), annotated by Lee in the docket section verso as "10 Aug '64 / Bound of appraisement of horses attached to H-d qrs -." August 10, 1864. Near Petersburg, Virginia. The document is beautifully secretarially inscribed on laid blue-lined paper and signed by three Confederate officers (a major/quartermaster, commanding major, and a captain) at center right. Expected wear including gentle, even toning. Isolated contemporary ink smears and some stains. Flattened transmittal folds, with minor closed tears near the margins and a few chips. Minor isolated bleed-through corresponding to Lee's docket verso. A former collector's pencil inscription verso. Else near fine. 7.875" x 10."

This appraisal of two of General Lee's mounts took place barely two months into the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg. Union forces had been threatening Petersburg, a city located 24 miles south of the Confederate capital at Richmond, since the winter of 1864. The Siege of Petersburg was a series of grueling battles and trench warfare engagements which took place over nine months, between June 9, 1864-March 25, 1865. General Lee's horse appraisal was completed about two months after the Battle of the Crater (July 30, 1864) in which Union sappers detonated 8,000 lbs. of gunpowder 20' beneath Confederate lines, creating a yawning cavern 170' x 60-80' x 30' in dimensions; and only a few days before the Second Battle of Deep Bottom (August 14-20, 1864), several costly infantry and cavalry skirmishes which took place in the James River delta only 11 miles southeast of Richmond. After this last encounter, General Lee realized the gravity of the Union threat to Richmond.

General Lee was an experienced and expert horseman, and he invested money, time, and energy in acquiring outstanding warhorses. The "Gray Horse" valued at $4,600 Confederate in the first line of the appraisal referred to Traveller (1857-1871), whom General Lee rode throughout the Petersburg campaign. The "Sorrel Horse" valued at $2,800 Confederate in the second line of the appraisal referred to Lucy Long (ca. 1857-1891).

The document in full:

"Near Petersburg, Va
August 10th 1864

The undersigned officers having been appointed by Special Order No. 148 Current Series a 'Board of Survey' to appraise the value of the private horses attached to the H'd Qrs A.W.Va; after carefully examining the following horses the property of Genl R.E. Lee determine the present value of

one Gray Horse to be… $4600.00
" Sorrel " " "… $2800.00

A.S. Sand
Major + Q.M.

D.B. Bridgelord [?]
Maj Comdg…A.W.V.

APPifer Capt [?]
Bata O.E. + Co."

Traveller was a "Confederate gray" male American Saddlebred purebred measuring 16 hands and weighing 1,100 lbs. His coat was gray with dark point coloration, and he had a luxuriant mane and tail. Lee's principal warhorse after February 1862, Traveller was an ideal mount, as Lee and other admiring contemporaries often remarked: he was fast, steady, responsive, hardy, and not easily frightened during battle.

A wonderful description of Traveller in Lee's own words is included in Douglas Southall Freeman's monograph "R.E. Lee: A Biography" (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934), Appendix I-5. Lee recalled: "[Traveller]… has been my patient follower ever since, to Georgia, the Carolinas and back to Virginia. He carried me through the seven days battle around Richmond, the Second Manassas, at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, the last day at Chancellorsville, to Penna, at Gettysburg, and back to the Rappahannock. From the commencement of the campaign in 1864 at Orange, till its close around Petersburg, the saddle was scarcely off his back, as he passed through the fire of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbour, and across the James river. He was almost in daily re­quisition in the winter of 1864-'65 on the long line of defences from the Chickahominy north of Richmond, to Hatcher's run south of the Appomattox, 35 miles in length; and in 1865 bore me to the final days at Appomattox Ct. House…" (pp. 644-646). Sadly, Traveller only outlived Lee by a few months; he was euthanized after contracting tetanus at age 14.

Lucy Long was a sorrel (brown) mare who had been gifted to General Lee by J.E.B. Stuart in 1862. As Traveller's primary backup, Lucy Long was reliable and safely carried General Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville. In Freeman's biography, Lucy Long is described as "low, quiet, and manageable." Like Traveller, Lucy Long outlived General Lee, dying in her early 30s in 1891.

There is no doubt about the identification of Traveller and Lucy Long as the Gray and Sorrel horses listed in this appraisal. Besides the corroboration provided by historical records that Traveller and Lucy Long were ridden by General Lee during the waning days of the Civil War, Lee's other known mounts were either dead (Richmond), retired (The Roan), or too infrequently used (Ajax) to be considered as candidates here.

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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  • Dimensions: 7.875" x 10"
  • Medium: MDS

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000