Lee, Samuel Phillips, 1812-1897 to John Mercer Brooke
Order a pdf of this item here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02029.02 Author/Creator: Lee, Samuel Phillips, 1812-1897 Place Written: Cairo, Illinois Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 June 1865 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 24.7 cm, Width: 19.5 cm Order a Copy
Written by Acting Rear Admiral Lee as Commander of the Mississippi Squadron to Brooke, a former Confederate naval officer seeking amnesty. References that the preceding page of this letter was a copy of the letter he sent to the president on his behalf. Says he would have lauded his abilities as a seaman, navigator, and hydrographer, but thought to dwell too much on them would be a cause of complaint against him. Claims that "I have felt that if I had not been sent out of the country in the fall of 1860 that I might have helped to save some of my honest Navy friends who were so cruelly misled and sacrificed by unprincipled politicians, who only cared for 'me and my nigger' before any and every white man without a Slave - & that is just all they meant by their 'States Rights' - which, with Slavery, I hope are gone for ever!" Asks where mutual friends are now. "What a happy thing it is to be together again as countrymen & Friends - and what a country to be proud of…." Brooke eventually settled in Lexington, Va., and married Sandy Pendleton's widow. Written while aboard the USS "Tempest."
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.