LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25075

Bull Run - George Donnellan & Fletcher Webster

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:375.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Bull Run - George Donnellan & Fletcher Webster
<B>Battle of Bull Run - George Donnellan & Fletcher Webster.</B></I> First: an Autograph Letter Signed of Confederate Spy George Donnellan. One page, plain lined paper, 7.75" x 9.75", at W. B. Matthews House, July 14, 1861 (one week before Bull Run). In full: "<I>I shall endeavor to establish a line of communication between my destination and your Headquarters in Va. Should any sealed dispatch be handed into your possession without any superscription, and as coming from me, you will please address the same (after satisfying yourself of the contents) to Genl G.T.B. </B></I> General P.G.T. Beauregard <I>Manassa Junction, and have it carried through by the shortest & quickest time. With much respect Yrs G. Donnellan</B></I>". Donnellan was in the same Washington-based spy ring as Rose O'Neal Greenhow that was managed by Beauregard aide Thomas Jordan. Donnellan was used to carry messages between Greenhow, Jordan, and Beauregard including information on troop movements that Jefferson Davis later credited as the reason for the Confederate victory at First Bull Run. Greenhow and other of her associates were arrested shortly after Bull Run by Allan Pinkerton but Donnellan, with the Confederate Army, escaped capture. Mailing folds with some weakness, a tiny bit of ink "burn-through", else fine. A rare letter with excellent content and a compelling date. <BR><BR>Also, an Autograph Letter Signed "<I>Fletcher Webster</B></I>", only son of the Honorable Daniel Webster. 1½ pages, 4.5" x 7" lettersheet, March 28, 1848, to William Schouler (editor of the <I>Boston Atlas</B></I>). In full: "<I>Enclosed are the lines I spoke of. Knowing the authoress as well as the subject of them, I may be prejudiced but they seem to me very touching & pretty& if you have a place for them it will gratify a good many many good</B></I> sic <I>friends of all of us...</B></I>" Fletcher Webster, though close to his father, never sought public office but instead served under Presidents Pierce and Buchanan in the Custom-house at Boston. He served faithfully in the Civil War as a colonel and was instrumental in raising and organizing the Twelfth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. He died August 30, 1862 in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Original folds, else very fine. <I>From the Henry E. Luhrs Collection.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Small Flat (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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