2020-09 Putnal
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/26/2020
BEAUREGARD, Pierre Gustave Toutant (1818-1893) was a Confederate general officer who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Beauregard commanded armies in the Western Theater, including at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, and the Siege of Corinth in northern Mississippi. He returned to Charleston and defended it in 1863 from repeated naval and land attacks by Union forces. He is most known for his defense of the industrial city of Petersburg, Virginia from Union troops, in June 1864, which delayed the eventual fall of the confederate capital Richmond, Virginia in April 1865. War-date Manuscript Letter by prominent citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, 1pp. folio, October 3, 1863, addressed to General Beauregard and reads in part: "...As Merchants and citizens of Charleston deeply interested in the safety of the city, we would most respectfully request your co-operation in carrying into effect a plan of 'Torpedo leaving Vessel' designed by Capt. Francis D. Lee Confederate Engineer. This plan was presented to the State Committee of safety, and from therein it was submitted to a sub committee, composed of scientific machinist's from whom it received the most unqualified approval. Every effort was made by the latter body to carry it into immediate execution but failed..." Docketed on verso "G.T. Beauregard Genl. Comdg." Fine condition. Francis D. Lee (1826-1885) was an American architect and inventor from Charleston, South Carolina. He worked as an architect until the outbreak of the American Civil War, where he became a Confederate Army Captain under the staffing of General Beauregard, who took full advantage of his inventiveness, by encouraging him to design and construct (with assistance) a small Torpedo Boat, named The Torch. This boat was a spar boat, named so due to explosive devices placed at the end of a long pole or spar, in The Torch's case, it had 3 such spar's mounted to the bow to attack blockading warships.
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