July 1858

Spooner, Lysander, fl. 1865

Broadside

Title: A Plan for the Abolition of Slavery

"A Plan for the Abolition of Slavery," imploring non-slaveholding whites in the South to combine with slaves to overthrow plantation owners. "Your numbers, combined with those of the Slaves, will give you all power. You have but to use it, and the work is done. The following self-evident principles of justice and humanity will serve as guides. … 1. That the Slaves have a natural right to their liberty. 2. That they have a natural right to compensation (so far as the property of the Slaveholders and their abettors can compensate them) for the wrongs they have suffered. 3. That so long as the…

GLC09235

1 February 1858

Broadside

Title: [Slave sale broadside]

"Administrator's Sale! …at public auction, to the highest and best bidder…a likely young Negro Woman, Named Mary, and her child.…J. M. M'Cutchen, Administrator." Posted in Boonville, Missouri-rare slave sale broadsides from west of the Mississippi.

GLC09236

1865

Broadside

Title: [South Carolina's 1860 Act of Secession]

Lithographic facsimile of South Carolina's 1860 Act of Secession. On March 3, 1865, a detachment of the 102 U.S. Colored Troops captured what they believed to be the original manuscript of South Carolina's Secession ordinance. (In fact, they had discovered a rare Confederate lithographic facsimile by Evans and Cogswell.) 1st Lt. George A. Southworth, upon returning to Michigan, arranged for the document to be reproduced, adding a printed inscription on the bottom, "This Scroll of 'Treason' was found in the house of Dr. Lamb, Secretary of State…," listing the companies and leaders who…

GLC09237

2 March 1880

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles T. Congdon

To Charles T. Congdon of the New York Tribune. Douglass thanks Congdon for his recently published reminiscences of Charles Sumner. "It was not merely the seed time of a great harvest, but the hard time when old and knarly oaks were to be hewed down ... and the land prepared for growths of more value.… I am touched by your reference to poor Henry Clapp.... you have, with a few light touches given a perfect portrait of Charles Sumner. Those who knew him best will best understand the truth of your picture of that splendid man. He was vain, but his vanity was that of a sweet minded child pleased…

GLC09238

8 December 1759

Richardson, John, fl. 1759

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Adams

Richardson, a medical officer, to Thomas Adams in Albany, a lengthy and detailed description of the Indians and the English armies as he travels up the Hudson through New York. "I accidentally met with Brigadier General Gage…who was traveling the same way to take upon him the command of the army that were at Niagara… joined with his party at Albany, as the passage from thence to Oswego was reckoned hazardous, upon acct. of several Scalping Parties…French Indians attacking us who still pursue that damnable custom of scalping." Mentions Dutch in New York, gives great description of Mohawk…

GLC09239

20 May 1874

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Autograph letter signed

Title: to J. A. J. Creswell

As president, regarding his daughter's White House wedding. "In directing invitations for the Cabinet to attend the marriage of our daughter tomorrow, Mrs. Grant is not certain whether one was sent to Miss McIntyre or not. If none was sent it was an oversight." See GLC 4360.

GLC09240

circa 17 July 1858

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Pamphlet

Title: [Abraham Lincoln speech delivered July 17, 1858]

Speech delivered on July 17, 1858 in Springfield, IL, as a prelude to the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Contains Lincoln's stands on key national issues including the Dred Scott decision and the Lecompton Constitution. "My declarations upon...Negro slavery may be misrepresented, but cannot be misunderstood."

GLC09241

3 March 1785

Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Thomson

Draft letter to Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, declining appointment [as one of three commissioners to lay out site for Federal capital] "Reduced to the painful necessity of a sedentary life by chronic disorders,… In this situation Congress will readily perceive that I could not accomplish their views." Major Gen. Schuyler had been one of the oldest officers serving in the Continental Army and in 1785 was serving his second term as senator in the New York Legislature.

GLC09242

21 July 1889

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mr. Brigham

Writes about his recent inspections of new Western military outposts, "thank you for your letter of the 12th with map of Fort Sheridan. I saw the new Posts at Forts Riley, Logan, and Leavenworth all good and a large improvement on the old putting common in our day." To [Judson?] Brigham. With engraving of Sherman.

GLC09243

May 1853

Jones, William E., 1824-1864

Manuscript document signed

Title: Muster roll of Mounted Rifles at Fort Ewell, Texas

Muster roll of the Mounted Rifles at Fort Ewell, Texas, signed by Lt. "Grumble" Jones, later Confederate general and cavalry commander.

GLC09244

November 1863

Sickles, Daniel Edgar, 1819-1914

Manuscript document

Title: [Address at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art]

Address at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, mapping the path to Union victory. Powerful congressman in the New York Democratic Party, with ties to senior Union political and military leadership, assesses the war: "We cannot fail to see that our iron-clads and our victories have made friends for us in Europe. Let us remind my Lord Palmerston on New Year's Day that the concession of belligerant rights to the Southern insurgents was one of the instances in which the clever manager of European affairs made a blunder. Now is their time to undo this wrong.…Who believes that…

GLC09245

circa 1860-1869

Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882

Photograph

Title: [General Hooker's staff in mock battle]

Albumen print of Alexander Gardner photograph showing General Hooker's staff in mock battle. With notes by Capt. Benjamin H. Ticknor, 45th Mass. Infantry and 2nd Mass. Heavy Artillery, identifying "Mock fight over the body of A. R. Waud, artist" and "Col. Dahlgren & staff & [et]c." on the reverse side. Harper's Weekly field artist and photographer Waud was traveling with General Hooker at the time this photograph was taken.

GLC09247

6 May 1863

Longstreet, James, 1821-1904

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Daniel H. Hill

To Daniel H. Hill re plans to send Hood's cavalry in pursuit of Union troops retreating from Chancellorsville, asking citizens to delay the enemy's movements: "We have reports from scouts and persons from Maryland that Hunter's and Fosters Armies are to come to Va. The repulse of Hooker's force does not appear to be entirely decided. He has been driven back at all points but holds still a position on this side the Rappahannock near the US fords.… Burnsides failure on account of mud was quite evidence enough to me that we had abundance of time to operate wherever we chose.… Have all routes…

GLC09248

16 March 1863

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Letter signed

Title: to James Longstreet

To James Longstreet, ordering preparations to engage Union army when it crosses the Rappahannock, noting strategy of mobility to counter the union's greater numbers: "It is also reported that it is Genl. Hooker's intention to cross the river & advance as soon as the State of the roads will permit, & that in fact he has received repeated orders to that effect.… we should be prepared to concentrate to meet him wherever he shd advance in force. From present indications it is fair to presume that we shall be called upon to engage him first on the Rappahannock, and I desire you to be…

GLC09249

15 July 1862 - 2 August 1862

Wise, Henry A., 1806-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: [Recommendation for Thomas H. G. Poulson]

Recommending a private in the 46th Regiment, Va. Vols., who was "captured at Roanoke Island as [sic] is now on parole. He is poor and needs & desires employment." This letter is adhered to a letter dated 2 August 1862 from Thomas H. G. Poulson to Confederate Secretary of the Treasury C.C. Memminger stating, "Gen. Wise has known me from my youth…and I beg leave to refer you, to the accompanying letter from him in order that you may ascertain as to my character qualifications."

GLC09250

11 June 1863

Wise, Henry A., 1806-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: [Report of disposition of forces]

Gen. Wise reports to Major Gen. Arnold Elzey, head of the Department of Richmond, on his troop placements north and east of Richmond. "The great consideration is forage. There are 2000 tons at least in this neighborhood calling for scythe's & reaping machines."

GLC09251

28 August 1862

Maury, Matthew Fontaine, 1806-1873

Autograph letter signed

Title: to C.C. Memminger

Asking Confederate Secretary of the Treasury C. C. Memminger to find an appointment for "Mr. Caldwell of Fredericksburg…a respectable citizen," who has been discharged from the Army after being injured. Endorsed by R.M.T. Hunter and L. C. De Jarrette, both recommending appointment. Maury was America's foremost oceanographer and was commissioned into the Confederate States Navy as Chief of Harbor Defenses.

GLC09252

26 December 1870

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Stoess

To his brother-in-law Charles Stoess, Bavarian Consul in Liverpool. From Memphis, relating family and business news: "The fall has been the most favorable for gathering the cotton crop ever seen by 'the oldest inhabitant'. The low price has acted unfavorably on the laborers, though there will be nevertheless it is thought more cotton sent to market than there was last year."

GLC09253

21 February 1850

Longstreet, James, 1821-1904

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George W. Crawford

To Secretary of War George W. Crawford, asking assistance in obtaining promotion. "I do not hesitate to say that I can furnish ample proof, from every Officer under whom I have served, of as much service as any Officer of my grade could have rendered. I shared a full part in every action (Save one) of the late war against Mexico. Before, and since the war I have constantly served on the Frontier. It is true that I have been breveted twice for services during the late war. But brevets have been given in such promiscuous profusion, that this is an empty requital, which confers neither fame nor…

GLC09254

circa 1860s

Lee, Sydney Smith, 1802-1869

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Carter Lee

To his brother, Charles Carter Lee, giving news of his son Fitzhugh Lee's serious wound at the Third Battle of Winchester on 9/19/1864. "My dear Fitz was slightly wounded in the fight near 'Winchester,' Fitz has been sick for 11 days and was not well when he went into the fight… had two horses shot under him.... His poor Nelly Gray was wounded so bad he had to abandon her-… He had her in the first Manassas fight.… But alas-she has gone.… My dear boy wrote to me after he was wounded and said he had done his best....the ball that struck him went through a thigh and through the saddle and killed…

GLC09255

6 June 1860

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Anna Fitzhugh

To cousin Anna Fitzhugh, an intimate letter written on the eve of the Civil War, reporting on family news and revealing his personal anxieties and troubles: "A divided heart I have too long had, & a divided life too long led. That may be one cause of the small progress I have made on either hand, my professional & civil career. Success is not always attained by a single undivided effort. It rarely follows a halting vacillating course. My military duties require me here, whereas my affections & urgent domestic claims call me away. And thus I live & am unable to advance either.…

GLC09256

30 June 1848

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sidney Smith Lee

Having returned from service in the Mexican War just a day before, Lee writes to his brother Sidney Smith Lee of his homecoming and other family news. "Here I am once again, my dear Smith, perfectly surrounded by this Mama & her precious children, who seem to devote themselves to staring at the furrows in my face and the white hairs in my head. It is not surprising that I am hardly recognizable to the young eyes around me perfectly unknown to the youngest. But some of the older ones gaze with astonishment & wonder & seem at a loss to reconcile what they see , to what was pictured…

GLC09257

circa 1870

Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ellen Bernard

An exuberant letter to Ellen Bernard "Nellie" Fowle of Alexandria, VA, whom he married on April 19, 1871. "God bless you Miss Nellie I had no idea you were such a woman as you are. I feel as if I really know you for the first time." With small card.

GLC09258

12 October 1897

Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Fitzhugh Lee

To Fitzhugh Lee as U.S. Consul General to Havana, asking Lee to aid a New York doctor in obtaining legal proof of his brother's death in Cuba.

GLC09259

7 October 1864

Clark, John B., fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sterling Price

Former Confederate congressman and brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard writes to Major Gen. Sterling Price, giving Northern Press reports of Price's Missouri Expedition: "it appears that you have penetrated within twenty miles of St. Louis with your forces, and that you are taking one place after another in rapid succession, filling our enemies with consternation & alarm.... I pray you may have complete success and that our people may raise and shake off the shackles that have so long bound them; may the Almighty preserve you and your noble army, and give you that success our…

GLC09260