2008-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2008
Civil War era Washington was a hot bed of espionage activity, the Confederacy’s Rose O’Neil Greenhow was part of the ring, led by a well known banker named William Smithson, who reported directly to the Confederate Secretary of War. Federal imprint, 7p. octavo, War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, November 18, 1863, which records the charges of “Holding correspondence with the enemy, in violation of the 57th Article of War.” ; and “Giving intelligence to the enemy, in violation of the 57th Article of War.” and contains transcripts of letters submitted as evidence, which read in small part: “...We can learn little or nothing about the intended movements of McClellan’s army across the river. I believe the fellow is a coward, and will never attack you without he is forced to do it...Johnson, of Tennessee, is here, and he has a devil in him as large as an ox. He is entering into arrangements with the President and Cabinet to furnish him with large sums of money, to be used in the employment of men to go to Tennessee and Kentucky to burn bridges and mills, and machine-shops and such like. These devils have determined to destroy every vestige of property, and to take the life of every citizen in Tennessee, rather than not succeed with their fiendish purposes. Two meaner and viler devils never lived than Johnson and Etheridge...” more. This imprint closes with Smithson’s guilty verdict and his sentence to hard labor for a period of five years. Very interesting.
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