Description:

William B. Franklin
Hartford, CT, ca. 1864
William B. Franklin to William F. Smith on Drinking with Grant!
5.25" x 8"
An autograph letter signed, three separate pages, 5.25" x 8", Hartford, Connecticut, Feb. 4, [n.y.]. To General William F. Smith, recounting his day before his capture by Confederate partisans near a train in Washington, DC in July, 1864. Fine condition. Ex: Collection of Steve Forbes.

In part:

"…I arrived at City Point in the morning of some day in the early part of July 1864, and spent the day in Gen. Grant's Head Quarters. In the evening you called, and I went to your Head Quarters with you, and spent the night there. Early the next morning you sent me in your ambulance to the terminus of the Railroad, and I was left there...I arrived at Gen. Grant's Quarters in the afternoon by rail, and stayed there until the dusk of the evening. Gen. [Rufus] Ingalls came over to Head Quarters, and in answer to my request for something to drink, he told me that if I go over to a room in a house not far off…I would find a pitcher of water & tumbler…& in a cupboard on the right, a bottle of whiskey. He said that he would soon join me. I went there and found the things…and not long after, he and you came in together. Grant came in, and after greeting us, he went to the mantel-piece and helped himself to whiskey & water. Shortly afterwards, he took another drink These actions seemed to exasperate you, they certainly surprised me, and soon Gen. Grant & you were engaged in acrimonious talk on the doings at Cold Harbor…I left the room…".

William B. Franklin (1823-1903) was a close friend of Ulysses S. Grant, and served as Corp Commander in the Army of the Potomac, leading in the Battle of First Manassas, Battle of South Mountain, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the ill-fated Red River Campaign. He was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Mansfield, and would be plagued by the it for the duration of the war.

Franklin notably was taken prisoner in July 1864 - and sometime around our letter - when a train he was on was captured by Confederate partisans. Despite the hindrance of his wounded leg, he was able to escape when his guard fell asleep.

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: 5.25" x 8"
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