2009-04
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/31/2009
DAVIS, Jefferson. (1808-1889) President of the Confederate States of America 1861-65, Senator from Mississippi, Secretary of War 1853-57. Davis was captured by officers in the Union Calvary on May 10, 1865 in Irwinville, Georgia. Autograph Letter Signed, "Jefferson Davis," September 4, 1878, Beauvoir, Harrison Co. Mispi, 4pp., 8" x 5," lined stationary with embossed female head in upper left, fine. The former president of the Confederate States of America was engaged, at this time, in writing his book, "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government." In this letter, Davis writes J(ames) C(ephas) Derby, founder of the publishing firm Derby & Miller in New York, and at the time of this letter was associated with the New York house of D. Appleton & Co., the publishers of Davis' book. Davis writes, "The announcement that the Confederate archives were accessible, exceeded, I fear, the extent of the order in that connection. Maj. Walthall has corresponded with General M. J. Wright and it appears that the officer in charge of the archives, gives to Genl. W. such copies of papers as it may be deemed proper to allow him to have. This is an advantage of which we have been glad to avail ourselves." He reports that General Walthall had contemplated a trip to New York but was called to Memphis because of the outbreak of fever there. He goes on to offer several corrections to an article on "important documents on exhibition at Toledo" whose statements he finds "generally so unreliable that one cannot form a conclusion from them. For example, in this recital, articles are mentioned as taken by Michigan soldiers at the time of my capture, it may be true that they were "taken" by Col. Pritchard of Mich[igan] or his staff officers when they pillaged my wife's trunks, after I was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe, or they may have been found in a trunk belonging to me which a party going from V[irgini]a to Florida had carried to Fl[orid]a and left there; but they were not "taken" as reported." He continues, "Again, the Govt. of the CSA was never transferred to Greensboro,N.C. I stopped there after the surrender of Lee for a conference with J.E. Johnston & Beauregard, but never designed to establish the gov[ernmen]t there." Davis closes, "Sincerely thankful to you for your kind offer, I can only say that if there be important documents of which you can get copied for me, you would no doubt aid, as well as oblige me by doing so, however is an inquiry which it would probably not do for me to make directly."
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