Raynors 2020-05 Putnal
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/30/2020
War-date Letter Signed, "Jefferson Davis" 1pp., Executive Office, Richmond, February 6, 1865, To the Senate of the Confederate States, in full "I hereby nominate Major General John C. Breckinridge of the State of Kentucky to be Secretary of War of the Confederate States". Fine condition. In late 1862, Davis appointed James Seddon to the position of Secretary of War next, and Seddon would be the Confederate official to hold the position for the longest. Seddon's reportedly "malleable" nature as Secretary of War meshed perfectly with the micromanaging nature of Jefferson Davis' interactions with the war effort. Seddon clashed repeatedly with Confederate governors, but Seddon's concurrence with Davis on the demotion of General Joseph E. Johnston caused the strongest backlash from Congress. Seddon resigned in January 1865. In February 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Major General John C. Breckinridge Secretary of War. Concluding that the war was hopeless, he urged Davis to arrange a national surrender. After the fall of Richmond, Breckinridge ensured the preservation of Confederate records. He then escaped the country and lived abroad for more than three years. When President Andrew Johnson extended amnesty to all former Confederates in 1868, Breckinridge returned to Kentucky, but resisted all encouragement to resume his political career. War injuries sapped his health, and he died in 1875. Breckinridge is regarded as an effective military commander. Though well-liked in Kentucky, he was reviled by many in the North as a traitor.
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