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Richard Taylor

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
Richard Taylor

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Auction Date:2012 Feb 15 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : 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 (1826–1879) and the son of President Zachary Taylor ALS signed “R. Taylor,” three pages, lightly-lined on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, November 21, 1869. Letter to J. Hanson Thomas. In full: “Knowing how fully your sympathies are with us, I send you some circulars for distribution in Baltimore and other places in your state. We are making a similar movement in each of the Southern States. I write also to Gen. Brent, asking him to confer with you as to the best manner of accomplishing the object proposed. No one else in Maryland will be written to. Please convey to Mrs. Thomas and your family the kindest regards of Mrs. Taylor and myself.” In very good condition, with slight separations along horizontal folds, scattered light soiling, heavier to first page, staple hole to top left, and a pencil notation under signature.

Upon his return home to New Orleans, Taylor, the brother-in law of Jefferson Davis, found his estate had been confiscated and sold, and was forced to sell his two horses in order to bring his wife and children home. Having seen what he called the "deplorable conditions" in the south, the general bitterly opposed Reconstruction believing that Republicans and Northern "carpetbaggers" sought to exploit the South for financial gain and power. His 1878 memoirs, Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War, an examination of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era under Johnson and Grant, is still highly recommended today.

Taylor worked with the Democratic party to strike down Reconstruction, but when "Republican Radical Reconstruction" policies passed, the Confederacy found itself at the mercy of their new masters, the United States Army, and while white southerners lost their right to vote and hold office, blacks got the right to vote. Unhappy Confederate veterans formed secret societies from 1867-1870 to promote white supremacy and to oppose the Republican party. Among the better known groups were the Klu Klux Klan and the upscale Knights of the White Camelia. The letter signed by the general may have been an attempt to start a secret society in Maryland to oppose Reconstruction and illustrates the deep dissatisfaction of post-war Confederate veterans.
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