476

Nathaniel Lyons

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Nathaniel Lyons

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2014 Apr 16 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, 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
Outspoken career army officer (1818–1861) who became the first Union general killed in the Civil War. Scarce ALS signed “N. Lyon,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.75 x 10, West Point, May 17, 1840. Letter to George Work. In part: “While yet engaged in elementary pursuits, and subjected to the privations and hardships of a Cadet, I cannot prehaps [sic] duly appreciate the advantages the advantages afforded by the Military Academy…I deeply sympathize with you in having been unsuccessful in attaining an appointment…You must consider yourself as one among the sufferers in the general catastrophe, brought about by the unprincipled servants of the People…I expect no more appointments can be made from Ct, unless as you suggest some vacancy should accidentally occur…I fear you will not receive much encouragement in this respect, there being considerable strife throughout the country for admittance to the Academy…The advantages afforded by this Institution, are of course best known to those who have experienced them…I trust you will agree with me that, to divest ourselves of the prejudices of our Country, to be able to discriminate [sic] between right and wrong, and arrive at transcendental truth, are objects worthy of our attention—, by which alone we can escape the errors of past ages & render ourselves useful in Society and the World. We admit that these objects are in some measure obtained at many of the Literary Institutions of our country, while I humbly assert that the Military Academy possesses a superiority in this respect unparalleled in the world." Lyon goes on to describe his course of study for the year. In fine condition, with intersecting folds and some mild staining.

While Lyon's strong moral convictions expressed in this letter would indicate an unfettered opposition of slavery—the "the errors of past ages"—he did not consider himself an abolitionist, finding them too radical for his tastes. As the years progressed his antislavery stance grew stronger, particularly as conflict erupted in the western part of the country with the admission of new states, in which the decision to allow or outlaw slavery needed to be made. He witnessed these arguments firsthand after being assigned to Fort Riley in Kansas, where the slavery question was to be determined by 'popular sovereignty,' spawning horrific violence in the territory. Lyon began to pen antislavery and pro-Republican manifestos for the Western Kansas Express newspaper, denouncing what he called the 'slavocracy.' This experience made him a strong supporter of the Union cause, and in February 1861 he was made commander of the Union arsenal in St. Louis. In a valiant effort to rally his troops at the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, Lyon was wounded twice and his horse killed underneath him, leading him to commandeer an infantryman's horse and ride back into battle, only to be shot through the heart on Bloody Hill at 9:30 a.m.—the first Union general to be killed in the war.