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Joseph E. Johnston

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Joseph E. Johnston

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Auction Date:2013 Jul 25 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Confederate general (1807–1891) who, when Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, resigned his commission as a brigadier general in the regular army—the highest-ranking US officer to do so. Choice, boldly-penned ALS signed “J. E. Johnston,” two pages, lightly-lined on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, February 21, 1882. Letter to magazine editor and future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Edward W. Bok. In part: “In reference to your question—I met Gen. Sherman on the 17th of May 1865, near Durham N. C. We made an armistice and agreed upon terms of pacification to be suggested to the two governments. They were rejected by Mr. Johnson, President of the U. S., a fact of which I was informed by Gen. Sherman on the 24th of the Month. On the 26th we had a second meeting—in which terms of capitulation were agreed agreed [sic] upon, terminating hostilities in our geograpical [sic] commands, which happened to be co-extensive. This, as we intended and expected, terminated the war.” In fine to very fine condition.

In their meeting on May 17, 1865, General Johnston rejected Sherman’s terms for the surrender of the vestigial confederate forces, the same terms Gen. Robert E. Lee had accepted for his command five days earlier. Johnston instead hoped for the armistice to hold and the rebel forces to disperse, with the promise that they would not take up arms again against the United States. He also negotiated that state governments would be recognized by Washington as long as they supported the Constitution. Sherman agreed to these accommodating terms, believing they reflected Lincoln’s desire to welcome the South back into the Union with its dignity still intact. However, in the highly-charged, post-assassination climate, President Johnson and his cabinet rejected the two generals’ deal and threatened the destruction of all Southern forces if Johnston did not agree to the same terms as those negotiated with Lee. An incredible, first-hand account of the conclusion of the war from a Confederate perspective.