LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Civil War Auction #674  / 

72163

CIVIL WAR AUTOGRAPH HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPT

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:490.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
CIVIL WAR AUTOGRAPH HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPT
<B>CIVIL WAR AUTOGRAPH HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPT,</B></I> 15 pages, Octavo, on four separate leaves including three with a stunning <B>Extra-Illustrated Color Print</B></I> at the head, featuring an American Bald Eagle in flight carrying an American flag. Printed just beneath, <I>“Woe, woe to the traitorous children of Mars, Who challenge this bird, with his banner of stars; We will teach them this lesson, that truth and the right Are ever Triumphant, and must win the fight.”</B></I><BR><BR>The manuscript is accomplished in an unknown hand, but most likely written by a Union soldier who had a very informed, contemporary knowledge of the events he describes. The content is fantastic, written in a style which seems to have been intended to be published as an informal history. It stretches from the beginning of hostilities at Ft. Sumter through the battles of the Fall 1862 campaigns in Northern Virginia. The manuscript reads (in part): <I>“The United States at the present time is involved in a war to crush a Rebellion that could have been crushed in its infancy but the head of Government was weak in the hands of the northern population the President was an imbecile it appears that he had no power of his own...South Carolina that hotbed of treason seceded first then the Arsenal was seized...The time arrived when the first gun was fired Sumteer was surrendered and our flag was honored...This affair created the wildest excitement in the North men flew to arms with the determination to stand by the Union...On the 23rd of February 1862 the whole Army received orders to move. Banks division went and took possession of Harper’s Ferry while the bulk of the Army marched towards Manassas under the command of Gen. McClellan. It was here he issued his first address to the Army of the Potomac the roads beyond Manassas was impassable and McClellan decided that the Army should advance on Richmond by the Peninsula accordingly troops were at once embarked on steamboats and sent to Fortress Monroe the Army having all safely arrived...”</B></I><BR><BR>An excellent primary-source document covering the first two years of the Civil War. For a complete transcription of this manuscript please contact Heritage Auction Galleries.<BR><BR><B>Condition:</B></I> Some staining to leaves and separation at folds; on the whole, in good condition with bright, clear text.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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