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

72146

HORACE GREELEY CIVIL WAR-DATE ALS.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:550.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
HORACE GREELEY CIVIL WAR-DATE ALS.
<B>HORACE GREELEY AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED.</B></I> One page, 5” x 8”, on “Office of the Tribune” letterhead, New York, dated December 25, 1864. As the Civil War drew to a close, Greeley offered this moving, Christmas Day antislavery message to an unnamed correspondent (in full): <I>“Sir: In the ardent hope that ours may be a free country at no distant day, and that the curse of our fathers and the shame of our age may leave us once more united, brethren and happy, I subscribe myself Yours, Horace Greeley”. </B></I><BR><BR>An ardent opponent of slavery, Greeley was torn between his belief in emancipation and his hatred of war. In 1864 he became convinced the Confederacy was nearing exhaustion and that with diplomacy they could be coaxed into negotiations for surrender. Greeley’s predilection for peace proposals came to a head in the summer of 1864. When the Tribune’s editor showed an interest in negotiations with Confederate agents in Canada across Niagara Falls, President Lincoln on July 9th, much to Greeley’s surprise and dismay, cunningly authorized Greeley to negotiate with them provided they had official credentials and that they agree to “the restoration of the union and abandonment of slavery.” Greeley and Lincoln’s secretary, John Hay, met with the Confederate agents on July 20th. The negotiations quickly broke down with the agents failing to establish their credibility to act on behalf of the Confederacy and claiming Lincoln had betrayed them by demanding emancipation be included in any final settlement. Greeley’s dismal failure at these negotiations and his initial reluctance to support Lincoln’s reelection resulted in damage to his reputation and credibility as the editor of the nation’s most powerful newspaper. However, he continued his often misconceived and misunderstood efforts to pull the nation back together well beyond the end of the war when he openly signed the bail-bond for the release of Jefferson Davis, provoking a storm of public criticism. This letter captures Greeley’s strong patriotic and abolitionist sentiments during the turbulent final year of the Civil War.<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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