Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 24

Manuscript and Collectibles Auction

Autographs-U.S. Civil War

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 222		Confederate Spy Report. Spy report sent by Confederate general Humphrey Marshall in March 1864, regarding 13 Union regiments observed at Louisville, Kentucky, 1¼ pp folio. The report is marked "Copy" and is docketed "Hd Qrs Amer. Conf. States, Richmond Apr 1: 64. Resp.y referred to Maj Genl Breckinridge for his information. Jno B. Sale, Col. & Mil. Secy." Gen. Marshall, who had resigned from the army on June 17, 1863, to sit in the 2nd C.S.A. Congress, sends information he got from "a reliable man who is shrewd & had good opportunity for knowing." In part: "on the 15th March 13 regiments mostly of mounted infantry, under the command of Gen. Sturgiss, were concentrated at Mt. Sterling Ky….There were about 5000 men…He[the spy] mixed freely…with the troops. Some asked him in regard to the character of the roads leading to Pound Gap….The regts. at Mt. S. were 5 from Ky, 5 Abolitionists, 1 Illinois, 1 Indiana, & one not remembered where from….Bad feeling existed among the regts at Mt. S., and it had been apprehended those who sided with Col Wolford, & the Abolitionists proper, might come to blows. Wolford was posted, for a speech at Mt. S. on the 15th to the people, in opposition to the Order of Lincoln to enrol Ky negroes in the Army: but he was arrested for his speech at Lexington, & was released on the 14th…." Fine condition. Should be read in full. Super content. Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,500. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 223		Dibrell, George G (1822-1888) Confederate brigadier general who raised the 8th Tennessee Cavalry to operate as partisan rangers. He joined with Forrest from Stones River through Chickamauga, then fought under J.E. Johnston in the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, and through the Carolinas. Appointed B.G.C.S.A. January 28, 1865. Signature and place ("G.G. Dibrell / Sparta Tennessee") on a white album page, 2 x 4½ in., matted with an image of Dibrell and biographical information and framed to an overall size of 15½ x 10 in. Very Fine. Estimated Value $275 - 325. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $230
Lot 224		Allen, William Wirt (1835-94) Confederate general. Letter Signed ("Wm W Allen") as Brig. Gen. Commanding, in pencil, Headquarters of Allen's Cavalry Div. (South Carolina), Feb. 9, 1865, 1 page, on tan paper with brown-ruled lines, 8 x 5¾ in. To "Lt. Hudson A.A.A. Genl." regarding Allen's concern for the safety of his wagon train, apparently a supply caravan, during the Carolina Campaign, which followed Sherman's March. In part: "I have the honor to say that my wagon train is near Cook's (?) and I consider it no longer safe there. I would…send an order direct to Capt. Boykin A.Q.M. who is in charge of the train directing him to move it to some safe place to be designated by the Maj. Gen. Comdg. If the train should remain until I could hear from you and then send orders to it, it might be too late to get it out of the enemy's reach." At this time, Allen was involved in opposing the Federal Carolinas Campaign, which was the final, victorious Union push north from Georgia. Allen would be promoted to Major General less than two weeks later. Some show-through from docket and pencil is a little light, else Very Good. Estimated Value $600 - 800. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 225		Ames, Adelbert (1835-1933) Union general; Reconstruction Governor of Mississippi; last surviving Civil War general. Signature and rank ("A. Ames, Brig Genl. Vols.") on 1½ x 3¼ in. card; toning at edges; business card signed in full on verso. Signatures from two different times in Ames' life. Both Fine. (2 items). Estimated Value $125 - 150. View details	Realized $81
Lot 226		Morgan, John Hunt (1825-64) Confederate general and raider. Manuscript Letter Signed ("Jno H Morgan") as "Col Comd. Brigd", Hd. Qtrs. Gallatin, Tenn., November 11, 1862. One page quarto. Addressed to Major General Breckinridge, Commanding Forces at Murfreesboro. The text says, in full: Genl. Your dispatch was received and I immediately replied assuring you of my readiness to cooperate in your intended movements. Accompanying I have the honor to send a number of documents which were captured this morning. You may find them useful. Among them you will find a map giving an accurate description of the defences of Nashville. I beg that you will preserve these papers and when you have made such use of them as you desire, send them back. The letter is written on blue ruled paper which is watermarked, "KENT MILLS Improved 1852." Faint toning and small edge splits at folds, otherwise in Fine condition. This letter was obtained from the estate of General Breckinridge by the consignor's grandfather many years ago and has never been on the market. The documents to which Morgan refers are not with the letter, probably having been returned to Morgan as requested. 1862 was a busy year for Morgan. Promoted Colonel on April 4, 1862, he led his men on a thousand-mile raid through Kentucky from July 4 to August 1, then led another raid on Gallatin, Tennessee in late summer, and on Kentucky again in October. Five weeks after he wrote this letter, on December 11, he was appointed Brigadier General. On December 14, he married Martha "Matty" Ready; their wedding was officiated by General Leonidas Polk and attended by Generals Braxton Bragg, William J. Hardee, Benjamin Cheatham, and John C. Breckinridge. During the Murfreesboro Campaign, he led a mounted division into Kentucky from December 21, 1862 through January 1, 1863 against Rosecrans' supply lines. Morgan's swift and daring raids into Union-held Tennessee and Kentucky wreaked destruction on Union supply lines and garrisons and made him a legend in the South. On September 4, 1862, he was surprised by Federal troops and killed at Greenville, Tennessee. Estimated Value $8,000 - 10,000. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $6,900
Lot 227		Bogart, John (1836-1920) Engineer during the Civil War; best known for park planning and improvements in New York and other cities, including Brooklyn's Prospect Park; consultant for hydro-electric development from Niagara Falls; prepared plans for the first subway system in New York, and tunnels under the Hudson River to Jersey City and Hoboken. Twenty-one letters (96+ pages), dated from Jan. 1864 through April 1867; 11 are datelined "Fort Monroe, Va." (1864-66) and 10 datelined Brooklyn, NY (1866-67), where he had gone to take charge of the Prospect Park project; one letter is missing first page, and one page has edge tears, but overall Very Fine. All letters are to Miss Emma Jefferis, West Chester, Pa. Most with original transmittal covers. Included is a description of Jefferson Davis during his imprisonment at Fortress Monroe. A few excerpts: (Fort Monroe, June 11, 1864) "I suppose you are interested in the Philadelphia Fair…Capt. James says it will be a greater success than the New York Fair was….Gen. Grant's army has moved to the James River and consequently this is now the depot for his supplies. There are very many soldiers going and coming, both well and wounded….I saw so many sad things when Gen. McClellan's army was here that I hoped this would not again be the base….(Fort Monroe, Mar. 7, 1866) "I look up out of the window by me and standing on the parapet of the Fort with the officer of the guard I see the incarnation of the rebellion. Mr. Davis [Jefferson Davis] is taking his usual walk and every day it is pleasant he stands awhile on the parapet and looks out over the waters. He is a wonderful man, strongly asserting the right of what he has done, and most interesting in conversation in regard to the mighty events he has lived through…." (Fort Monroe, Apr. 19, 1866) "…calling for me to go to Hampton to lay out a cemetery wherein are to be collected the remains of the soldiers who are buried in this vicinity….quite a serious disturbance this week at Norfolk, begun by a collision between some white persons and the members of a procession of colored people celebrating the passage of the Civil Rights bill. Several persons were killed….(Fort Monroe, June 17, 1866) "…a dispatch from New York asking whether I would accept a situation as Engineer upon a new Park to be laid out for the City of Brooklyn…I had been appointed by the Board of Commissioners of the Prospect Park of Brooklyn….This Park has some six hundred acres and is to be laid out in the same general style as the New York Central Park…The appointment is a professional compliment…." Estimated Value $1,200 - 1,500. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $1,610
Lot 228		Howard, Oliver Otis. A heartfelt letter, signed "Oliver O. Howard, Maj-General U.S. Army." Accompanied by a steel engraving, and a photograph of the General. 1830-1909. Civil War Major-General. In 1864 he commanded the Army of Tennessee, and led the right wing of Sherman's army. After a distinguished military career, he became commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau (1865-74), where he did much to help former slaves, and the first president of Howard University (1869-74), which was named after him. Autograph Letter Signed. One page, Octavo, imprinted US Army letterhead, Headquarters Division of the Pacific, San Francisco Presidio, August 23, 1886. To Mrs. E.F. Strickland. Sentimental and reflective letter with a "favorite" quotation that Howard uses to express his philosophy of life. He writes, in part: " … It is not easy to write sentiments of value, like business papers, to order, -- but I have a favorite direction which I aim at, as my marksmen do at their target stationed at long ranges, it is 'not to let the day pass without making somebody [ 's happiness ? ] because I am living in this world." Very Fine. Estimated Value $250 - 350. View details	Unsold
Lot 229		Sherman, William Tecumseh. Matted and framed with a steel engraving of General Sherman, and an inscribed plaque that reads: " William T. Sherman, 1820-1891, Union General - Civil War." (1820-1891). Leading Union Army General during the Civil War. Autograph Letter Signed. Three pages, Octavo, Sandy Hook, November 11, 1866. To Union General Nathaniel P. Banks (1816-1894) of Boston. Lengthy letter written while aboard a U.S. military ship, off Sandy Hook, on his way to Mexico, where Sherman had been dispatched on a diplomatic mission. President Andrew Johnson, then unpopular, was attempting to get his potential rival, Ulysses S. Grant, to go out of the country, and he needed Sherman to come in as his Secretary of War and bolster Johnson's standing with Congress. The President tried to get Grant to go to Mexico; but he balked. Sherman didn't want to be Secretary of War, and, much to Johnson's annoyance, broke the impasse with Grant by offering to go to Mexico in Grant's place. So, in the Fall of 1866, Sherman sailed south, on this mission to Mexico. The letter is forward looking and has a democratic and patriotic outlook: " …Mr Campbell the Minister has with him a very competent Secretary of L…[?] in Mr. Plumb who will keep him fully advised of all matters touching the Interests of Mexico …We have a noble ship and I hope we shall soon be in Vera Cruz, ready to open communication with a stable Republican Government in our poor nieghbor Mexico, able to point to the example of our own Great Country …" Fine. Estimated Value $800 - 1,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 230		(Sumner, Charles). Five Autograph Letters Signed by John A. Dix, Wendell Phillips, Charles Francis Adams, George Boutwell (Grant's Secretary of the Treasury) and W.E. Forster (an English cabinet member), all written in 1874 regarding Senator Charles Sumner, who died that year. 9 pages total, all Fine. Sumner is best known for being attacked on the Senate floor by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina after Sumner's "Crime Against Kansas" speech. Sumner never fully recovered. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $207
Lot 231		Butler, Benjamin F (1818-93) Union general and politician. Manuscript Letter Signed ("Benj. F. Butler"), Washington, D.C., June 19, 1881, 1 pg., 9 7½ in. To Henry D. Purroy, Secretary of Tammany Society, New York City, regretting that he will not be able to meet with the Tammany Society on July 4th. Light toning; a few marginal chips and edge splits. The Tammany Society began as a fraternal organization in 1786 but became a powerful political machine that controlled New York City for nearly a century. Butler would become governor of Massachusetts in 1883. Estimated Value $125 - 150. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $81
Lot 232		Davis, Jefferson (1808-89) President of the Confederate States of America. Cut Signature ("Jeffer Davis") on a ½ x 4½ inch piece of ruled paper, no place, no date. Lightly toned. Boldly signed. Estimated Value $500 - 600. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $357
Lot 233		Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (1823-1911) Colonel of first Negro regiment in Union army; writer; clergyman; active in antislavery and woman's rights movements. Autograph Letter Signed ("Thos. Wentworth Higginson"), Cambridge, Mass., March 16, 1887, 1 pg., 7 x 4½ in. To an unknown correspondent, answering a request for an autograph. Higginson was the author of important biographies and the editor of Emily Dickenson's poems. Written in purple ink. A couple of thin areas from removal of mounting remnants on verso, else Very Good. Estimated Value $150 - 200. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $86
Lot 234		Hood, John Bell (1831-79) Confederate general who commanded the famous Hood's Texas Brigade at Gettysburg, where he was wounded in the arm; as Commanding General, Confederate Army of Tennessee (1864-65), he lost a leg at Chickamauga. Clipped signature from a military requisition, "John B. Hood / Bvt 2d Lt. Infy…."; also in Hood's hand, "Priv Toohy off extra duty," on 5/8 x 3 1/8 piece of blue paper, tightly trimmed. Light toning at right margin. With reprint of a waist-up photo of Hood. Estimated Value $600 - 800. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $345
Lot 235		Withdrawn	Unsold
Lot 236		Withdrawn	Unsold
Lot 237		Sherman, William T (1820-1891) Union general; best known for his "March to the Sea" that broke the back of Confederate resistance. Cut Autograph Signed with rank, "W.T. Sherman / General" on a 1½ x 3½ in. piece of paper. Shadow-box mounted with a black and white engraving of the seated general in full uniform with a sword and housed in a 14¾ x 10 in. gilt frame. A handsome piece. Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $173
Lot 238		Stevens, Thaddeus (1792-1868) Abolitionist and leader of Radical Republican; initiated impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson. Autograph Letter Signed, Lancaster, October 12, 1855, 1 pg., quarto. To Col. Stack, regarding an upcoming vote on Democratic Judge (John) Galbraith in Erie, Pennsylvania. Lightly toned. Also, a signed vignette of the House of Representatives, with "Fortieth Congress U.S." above it, Washington, no date (1867 or 1868), 4 x 4½ in. Overall soiling. Stevens was important in guiding the passage of the 13th and 14th amendments. He also introduced a bill for reparations for the freed slaves. (2 items). Estimated Value $200 - 250. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 239		Washington, John Augustine. Great-grandnephew of George Washington; last private owner of Mount Vernon, which he sold in 1858 to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association for $200,000. Autograph Document Signed ("John A. Washington"), Mt. Vernon, January 6, 1853, 1 page, 5-5/8 x 7¾ inches. To Dr. Leadbeater, asking him to prepare a recipe with a half ounce each of essence of bergamot, lemon, lavender, and orange flower water, and to mix it all with "a little Mush all in ½ Gallon Alchohol…." Washington was killed in the Civil War in 1861. Estimated Value $400 - 600. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 240		Welles, Gideon (1802-78) Union Secretary of the Navy. Autograph Letter Signed as Secretary of the Navy (Washington), October 4, 1862. 1½ pp quarto. Addressed to Major Wm. B. Slack, Quartermaster Marine Corps, regarding a contractor with rebel proclivities. Light toning. Very Fine. In full: Sir: The Secretary of the Treasury has enclosed to this Department a letter from the Collector at Baltimore, stating that Wm. War, contractor for furnishing rations at Norfold, 'is represented to be one of the most outspoken rebel proclivities. If not himself a rebel sympathizer he at least persistently refuses to subscribe the oath required by your regulations and places his refusal so to do, to the Surveyor, upon the distinct grouund that he has sons in the Rebel Confederacy and is unwilling to take an oath or do any act which would preclude his extending to them aid and assistance.' Your attention is called to the matter." Estimated Value $800 - 1,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 241		Welles, Gideon (1802-78) American politician, aided in founding of Republican party; served as Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy. Manuscript Letter Signed as Secretary of the Navy, Navy Department, March 11, 1861, 1 pg., 10 x 7¾ in. Written to B.P. Larried of Albany, one week after Lincoln took office. In part: "…you are informed that there is no vacancy at the Naval Academy from the 14th Cong[ressiona]l District of New York, an appointment having been made this year." Signed in brown ink. Light toning and soiling; folded below signature and attached at top corners to cardstock, easily removed. Fine. Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 242		Wells, Gideon (1802-78) Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy. Manuscript Letter Signed ("G. Welles") as Secretary of the Navy, on Navy Department letterhead, Washington, June 16, 1865. To Edward F. Davison, Consul, Argentine Republic, New York, informing him that the resignation of Acting Honorary Ensign William Brown of the U.S. Navy "has this day been accepted, agreeably to your request…and has been delivered to him." Very Fine. Matted with an image of Welles and framed to an overall size of 15 x 19 in. Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 243		Withdrawn	Unsold