37

Rutherford B. Hayes

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD
Rutherford B. Hayes

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:2015 May 13 @ 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
Civil War–dated ALS signed “R. B. Hayes,” one page, 7.5 x 9.5, April 1, 1865. Letter to Major Robert P. Kennedy, written from Camp Hastings, West Virginia. In part: “Some days ago I applied for leave to visit Washington…The capture of the mail Thursday may have got my leave. It is important to my constituents to attend to one of the appointments (of no special import to me) and I want to go there soon. A friend at W[ashington] writes me that he spoke of it at the War Dept and was told there would be no difficulty about it…I will be obliged if you give Gen H[alleck] the facts. I will join my command on twelve hours notice, and in no event be absent longer than five days.” Intersecting folds (one vertical fold passing through a single letter of the signature), light scattered soiling, and a small tear and bit of paper loss to the left edge, otherwise fine condition.

Hayes joined the Ohio Volunteers at the start of the Civil War and was wounded five times, most seriously at the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862. His valiant leadership in battle was recognized by the people of Ohio and the Republicans nominated him to run for Congress in the 1864 election. Asked to leave the battlefield to campaign, Hayes remained true to the cause and refused, saying that an ‘officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped.’ Instead, he wrote detailed letters explaining his political positions and won the election. He was sworn into the 39th Congress in absentia on March 4, 1865, while still a uniformed officer in West Virginia. With the end of the war looming—Robert E. Lee would surrender at Appomattox just eight days after this letter—Hayes decided it was time to go to Washington to attend to his newfound responsibilities as a congressman. Hayes was granted leave for early May, which was the first time he visited Washington in his official capacity, and he was subsequently mustered out of the army on June 8, 1865. A fantastic early Hayes letter from his important transition into the political realm.