Lot 315
Davis, Jefferson. Letter written in the hand of Varina Davis and signed twice by Jefferson Davis, once at the end of the letter ("Jefferson Davis") and once after the postscript ("Yours, J.D."), 2 pages, 8 x 5 in., Beauvoir, Mississipi, Oct. 13, 1883. To Confederate General Marcus J. Wright, who had requested copies of some letters Davis had written to Robert E. Lee, regretting that he had no one earlier to make copies but now someone had offered to do so. "…I find the memo in some places undecipherable, and in others suppose these may be an error in the date….A few more words of Lee's letter might solve a doubt….Let the memo, be fairly written, so as to be read by one not educated to your Clerk's hieroglyphics…." In a postscript, Davis asks, "Can you give me a copy of a letter from Genl. R.E. Lee, to which I sent a telegraphic reply Aug. 10, 1864. The letter was probably written a very short time before the date of the reply, which indicates that the subject was the appointment of a commander for the cavalry in So. West. Va. Yours, J.D." Lee's name is mentioned a total of three times.
Marcus J. Wright (1831-1922) was a Brig. Gen. in Cheatham's Division. After the war, he was one of the foremost writers of the Confederate side of the war and contributed fifty sketches of Southern commanders to Appleton's. He prepared Memoirs of Robert E. Lee with Gen. A.L. Long and wrote other books dealing with U.S. military history. From 1878 he was an agent for the War Department for the collection of military papers.
Estimated Value $750 - 1,000.
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| Realized $960 |
