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Wilson Born Collection of Military Telegraphs

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Table of ContentsSigned by Generals, Admirals, Commodores, etc.

1. 1864 U.S. Military Telegraph message signed by Admiral C. H. Davis, Chief Navy Bureau of Navigation, concerns Ironclads2. 1864 U.S. Military Telegram signed by Admiral B. F. Isherwood3. 1869 ledger sheet, Military Division of the Missouri, St. Louis, listing telegrams via Western Union Telegraph Co., to/from Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan!

Signed by Col. (later Bvt. Major General) W. A. Nichols4. 1862 U.S. Military Telegram signed by Commodore Horatio Bridge5. 1864 War Dept. Military Telegraph message signed by Col. N. P. Chipman, Prosecutor of Andersonville Commander Wirz in 1865, later first and only Congressional

Representative from Washington D.C.To/from Generals, Admirals, Commodores, etc.

6. May 1864 U.S. Military Telegram, Admiral S. P. Lee to General Ben. Butler/Iron Clads/Spotsylvania7. July 1863 U.S. Military Telegram & cover, Port Hudson, General Geo. Andrews to Col. T. E. Chickering8. 1862 U.S. Military Telegram, Commodore A. A. Harwood to Secretary of Navy9. 1863ca telegraph message to Maj. (later Bvt. Maj. Gen.) J. G. Barnard, officer in charge of fortification of Washington D.C.10. 1864 U.S. Military Telegram, Bermuda Hundred to Chief Quartermaster P. P. Pitkin at City Point

U.S. Colored Troops11. U.S. Colored Cavalry, four 1864 telegrams/New Orleans/Port Hudson/Crickmore12. 1864ca U.S. Military Telegraph covers, Colored Pioneer Regt.

13. 1867 Rio Grande Telegraph Co. telegram, Brownsville TX, 117th U.S. Colored Troops

Rare U.S. Military Units

14. 1864 U. S. Military Telegram, 4th WVa Cavalry, West Virginia Telegraph Repair15. 1867ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, New Mexico Division

Civilian Use of U.S. Military Telegraphs16. 13. Feb 1865, Four U. S. Military Telegrams to Washington regarding Soldiers to Fill NY Quotas17. Sep-Dec 1865, Forty-two U. S. Military Telegrams regarding cotton sales by Jno. A Winston & Co., Mobile/Selma/Demopolis/Uniontown, Alabama, much

interesting detail from tumultous immediate postwar period18. 12. 1866 U. S. Military Telegram, Aberdeen to Jackson, Mississippi, to State Auditor regarding State Tax on Cotton19. 1865ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, Washington D.C. to P.&E.R.R. [Philadelphia & Erie Rail Road], Williamsport, bearing 1861 3¢ 20. 1870ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, NY City to Lockport, N.Y., bearing 3¢ Banknote21. 1862–1865ca, three U.S. Military Telegraph covers bearing 1861 3¢ /St. Louis/Norwich N.Y.22. 1865ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, St. Louis to Norwich N.Y., bearing 1861 3¢ -123. 1865ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, St. Louis to Norwich N.Y., bearing 1861 3¢ -2

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1864 U.S. Military Telegraph message signed by Admiral C. H. Davis, Chief Navy Bureau of Navigation, concerns Ironclads

Letterhead of Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., at top handwritten “For U.S. Mil. Telegraph.”

April 11, 1864, message to Mrs. A. D. Frye, New York:

Please inform the Bureau when Mr. Frye is at home.

[signed Rear Admiral] C. H. DavisChief of Bureau

Red oval datestamp “U.S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH O.K.”

A. D. Frye was appointed by the Committee on the Coating of Iron Ships to supervise correction of “the inconvenience and even danger resulting from the derangement of the compasses on board of many of our iron vessels ...” (Annual Report of the National Academy of Sciences for 1863/64-1866).

Good signature piece with excellent context, ex-Wilson Born

From Wikipedia:

Charles Henry Davis (1807–1877) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. In the American Civil War, Davis was appointed to the Blockade Strategy Board in June 1861. On 15 November 1861, he was promoted to Captain. He was made Acting Flag Officer, in command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla. A day after he took command, the flotilla fought a short battle with Confederate ships on the Mississippi River at Plum Point Bend on May 10, 1862. Caught unready for battle, two of the Union ships were badly damaged and had to be run into shoal water to keep Admiral Charles Henry Davis

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from sinking. The Confederate vessels escaped with only minor damage. On June 6, his ships fought in the Battle of Memphis, which resulted in the sinking or capture of seven of the eight Confederate ships, compared with damage to only one of the Union vessels. In July, he cooperated with Flag Officer David G. Farragut in an attack on Vicksburg, Mississippi, but they were forced to withdraw. In August, he proceeded up the Yazoo River and successfully seized Confederate supplies and munitions there. After this excursion, he was made Chief of the Bureau of Navigation and returned to Washington, D.C.

On February 7, 1863, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

[Prewar] From 1846 to 1849, he worked in the United States Coast Survey on board the Nantucket, where he discovered a previously unknown shoal that had caused shipwrecks off the coast of New York. During his service to the Survey, he was also responsible for researching tides and currents and acted as an inspector on a number of naval shipyards. From 1849 to 1855 he was the first superintendent of American Nautical Almanac Office and produced the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac.

In 1854, he was promoted to Commander and given the command of the St. Mary’s. On April 30, 1857, he mediated with the Central American forces at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, the capitulation of filibuster William Walker and some 300 men, who departed in the St. Mary’s for Panama the next day. In 1859, while commanding the St. Mary’s, Davis was ordered to go to Baker Island to obtain samples of guano, becoming perhaps the first American to set foot there since it was annexed by the United States in 1857. The guano was necessary as fertilizer. Commodore William Mervine had previously been sent, but he did not land and believed the island to be inaccessible. (From evidence that was later found on the island, it had been visited prior to 1857 by whalers.)

[Postwar] From 1865 to 1867 he was the Superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory. In 1867, he was given command of the South Atlantic Squadron and was given the Guerriere as his flagship. In 1869, he returned home and served both on the Lighthouse Board as well as in the Naval Observatory. Davis died in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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1864 U.S. Military Telegram signed by Admiral B. F. Isherwood

Navy Department Bureau of Steam Engineering letterhead with message for telegraphic communication:

Navy Department,Bureau of Steam Engineering,

April 26, 1864.G. W. QuintardMorgan Iron WorksNew York

I leave for New York tomorrow morning. See me Thursday morning at home. Eight and a half, without fail.

(signed) [Rear Admiral] B. F. Isherwood

Red oval datestamp “U.S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH O.K.”

Ms. notations “18 Chg Eng Bu N D” [18 words, fee charged to Engineering Bureau], “No 10 NY,” etc.

Good signature piece with excellent context, ex-Wilson Born

From Wikipedia:

Benjamin Franklin Isherwood (1822 –1915) was an engineering officer in the United States Navy during the early days of steam-powered warships. He served as a ship’s engineer during the Mexican–American War, and after the war did experimental work with steam propulsion. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, Isherwood was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy, and so important were his services considered that the Bureau of Steam Engineering was created under his direction.When the Civil War began, the Navy had 28 steam vessels, and during the war, the number grew to 600. Isherwood conducted Admiral B. F. Isherwood

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the design and construction of the machinery necessary to accomplish this. He designed ships that were fast enough to pursue the blockade runners.

In 1863 and 1865, Isherwood published the first and second volumes of Experimental Researches in Steam Engineering, which were translated into six languages and became a standard engineering text upon which future steam experimentation was based.

Immediately upon the conclusion of the war, Isherwood was principally involved with organizing a new scientific curriculum for steam engineering at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. By 1874, naval engineers refined this curriculum to the point that it served as the model for mechanical engineering education at most American universities.

In 1869 Isherwood ran afoul of former Spitfire shipmate Admiral David Dixon Porter. During the war years Isherwood led a campaign to increase the rank and influence of engineering officers in the navy. Porter opposed this change in the service’s class structure. After the presidential inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant, Isherwood’s longtime patron, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, could no longer protect him. Admiral Porter banished Isherwood to the Mare Island Navy Yard in San Francisco.

Despite his diminished stature, Isherwood continued to produce technical innovations. In 1870 and 1871, Isherwood conducted experiments that resulted in a propeller that was used by the Navy for the next 27 years.

He was a pioneer in the production of fast cruisers, producing this class against strong opposition. Following a tour of European dockyards, he became president of the Experimental Board under the Bureau of Steam Engineering until his retirement on October 6, 1884.

Isherwood died in New York City at the age of 92.

The Navy has recognized Isherwood’s contributions in various ways. Isherwood Hall, built in 1905 on the campus of the United States Naval Academy, was the home of the Department of Marine Engineering. It was razed in 1982 to make space for the Academy’s new Alumni Hall. Isherwood’s name lives on as the new hall’s Isherwood Entrance.

The Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Isherwood Award is awarded by the Navy to recognize “innovation and expertise in the effective assessment, development, execution, or deployment of technological solutions for operational Fleet needs.”

Three U.S. Navy ships have been named for him – two destroyers named USS Isherwood and the never-finished fleet replenishment oiler USNS Benjamin Isherwood.

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1869 ledger sheet, Military Division of the Missouri, St. Louis, listing telegrams via Western Union Telegraph Co.,

to/from Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan! Signed Gen. W. A. Nichols, Asst. Adjutant Genera

The ledger sheet represents the account of all telegrams sent by the Military Division of the Missouri through the Western Union Telegraph Co. during the month of February 1869.

Note the names of senders and receivers: Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, etc. Also note R. C. Clowry, who later became President of the Western Union Telegraph Co.

Date Sender Location RecipientFeby 3 Nichols Lawrence Sheridan “ 18 Grant Washington D.C. Sherman “ 24 McKaever Ft. Hays Sherman “ 24 Grant Washington D.C. Sherman “ 27 Sherman Washington D.C. Nichols

(Grant was inaugurated President March 4, 1869.)

The cipher marks represent two telegrams sent in code from General Sherman to General Townsend.

Signed by Bvt. Major General W. A. Nichols.

Exciting piece linking three supremely important Union generalsex-Wilson Born

W. A. Nichols (1818-1869) was Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff first to General Sherman, Commander of the Missouri Division, then to General Sheridan after the latter succeeded Sherman as Commander (on March 4, 1869, the day this document was executed.) On April 8, a little over a month after signing this account, Nichols died at age 51. Sheridan issued the following obituary:

It becomes the painful duty of the Lieutenant-General Commanding to announce the death, at St. Louis, Mo., on the 8th inst., of Bvt. Major Gen. W. A. Nichols, Adjutant-General of the Military Division.

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General Nichols entered the service in 1838, and served with distinction on the Northern Frontier until the outbreak of the Mexican War.

In the War with Mexico he was made Captain and Major by Brevet for gallant and meritorious services at the Battles of Monterey and Molino del Rey, and took a prominent part in nearly all the battles in the Valley of Mexico.

Appointed an Assistant Adjutant-General in 1852, he served in that capacity in Washington City, in New Mexico, and in Texas, where he was made prisoner, and paroled by the Texan rebels [in 1861]. He served during the Rebellion as Adjutant-General of the Department of the East, and as an Assistant in the Adjutant-General’s Office at Washington, during which time he received the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel in the Adjutant-General’s Department, and was made Bvt. Brigadier and Bvt. Major General for faithful and meritorious services during the Rebellion. [A brevet was a warrant giving an officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct, but without receiving the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank.]

In 1866 General Nichols was appointed Adjutant-General of the Military Division of the Missouri, and Chief of Staff to Lieut.-Gen. W. T. Sherman, and served in the former capacity until transferred to the same position on the Staff of the Lieutenant-General [Sheridan]. In all the various and important positions in which, by his merit, he was called on to serve his country, General Nichols brought high soldierly capacity and honor. By his death the army has lost one of its brightest ornaments. To the private soldier he was a considerate friend, and to the officer a comrade whose army life was without blemish.

As appropriate to the memory of the deceased, the prescribed badge of mourning will be worn by the officers at Division and Department Headquarters for thirty days.

Grant, Sherman and Sheridan, the three iconic generals whose telegrams are listed in the account described here

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1862 U.S. Military Telegram signed by Commodore Horatio Bridge

Handwritten message for telegraphic communication:

Washington July 5, 1862Assistant Paymaster

W. H. WeldonU.S. Navy

Howard Hotel New York

Probably you will not be detached from the Bainbridge

(signed) [Commodore] H. Bridge

Pencilled “9/Chg Bu Pro & Clo” [Nine words, cost to be charged to Bureau of Provisions and Clothing]

Fancy ms. notation “H 440 PM” indicates time of sending

Good signature, ex-Wilson Born

From Wikipedia:

Commodore Horatio Bridge (1806—1893) served for many years as head of the Navy’s supply organization as Chief of the Navy Bureau of Provisions and Clothing. Appointed by his former college mate, President Franklin Pierce, Bridge held this post under various administrations, including the whole period of the Civil War.

He also had the distinction of being the first man in the Navy to employ the idea of comprehensive fleet supply. Under his direction, the systematic supply of Navy vessels on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts during the Civil War was established and carried out with conspicuous success.

He handled with great skill the responsible duties of this office. Of the skill and ability which he showed in its management, Senator James Commodore Horatio Bridge

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Grimes testified in a debate in 1865: “No Bureau of this government has been more admirably and accurately managed then the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing.” To this, Senator John P. Hale, added; “I think a great reason, and a very important one, is because there is at the head of that Bureau an honest, vigilant, and faithful man.”

During Bridge’s tenure as head of the Bureau, he made many significant innovations in the Navy’s supply system. Some of the more important ones were:

• Advertising for competitive bids became mandatory except for personal services, and except in the case of emergency.

• Preserved meats, pickles, butter, cheese, and desiccated vegetables could be bought without formal advertising and sealed bids.

• A requirement was written into the statutes which specified that “the Chief of the Bureau, also known as the Paymaster General, be appointed from the list of Paymasters of the Navy of not less than ten years standing”. This meant that for the first time it was legally impossible for the Paymaster General to be a civilian.

In 1862, the agitation against the rum ration became so pronounced that on September 1 of that year, it was finally eliminated and as a compensation, men’s pay was raised five cents a day. It has been said that the Act was responsible for the origin of the old Navy song: “They raised our pay five cents a day, and took away our grog forever.”

According to a Navy press notice, Bridge resigned his position as Chief of the Bureau in 1869. However, shortly thereafter he accepted the position as the first Chief Inspector of Clothing, which he held until the passage of the law debarring all Navy officers from active duty after reaching the age of sixty-two. He was detached from duty after serving afloat and ashore for fifty-five years.

Two US Navy ships have been named in his honor: USS Bridge (AF-1) and USS Bridge (AOE-10)

The U.S.S. Bainbridge on June 12, 1862, had captured the schooner Baigorry with cargo of cotton in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bainbridge was launched on April 26, 1842 by Boston Navy Yard and commissioned on December 16, 1842.

Recommissioned on May 1, 1861, Bainbridge sailed for the Gulf of Mexico on 21 May and cruised there until June 1862. While in the area she captured two schooners and assisted in the capture of one steamer. On August 3, 1862, she sailed from New York to join the East Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key West, Florida.

In September 1862, she was ordered to Aspinwall, Panama, where — from November 22–24 — a severe storm forced her to jettison all spars, sails, gun carriages, howitzers, shot, powder, provisions, and water. After extensive repairs she sailed for New York, arriving in May 1863. On August 21, 1863, while proceeding to her station with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she capsized off Cape Hatteras with the loss of all but one of her crew.

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5.1864 War Dept. Military Telegraph message signed Col. N. P. Chipman,

Prosecutor of Andersonville Commander Wirz in 1865,first and only Congressional Representative from Washington D.C.

War Department letterhead with message to be transmitted by telegraph:

July 29, 1864D. E. MontgomeryNavy Yard Washington

Sorry to disappoint you – cannot possibly go Mdy[signed] N.P. Chipman

Red oval datestamp “U.S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH O.K.”

Norton Parker Chipman (1834–1924) was an American Civil War army officer, military prosecutor, politician, author, and judge. At the time of this message he was a Colonel serving as Aide de Camp to Secretary of War Stanton. In 1865 Chipman won fame as prosecutor in the war crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commander of the infamous Andersonville prisoner of war camp. In 1871–5 he was the first and only Congressional Representative from Washington D.C.

Civil War Service

Having enlisted in the Second Iowa Infantry, Lt. Colonel Chipman was nearly mortally wounded and reported as dead at the Battle of Fort Donelson. In fact he survived and upon recovery was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1862. He later served as a member of General Henry W. Halleck‘s staff, then that of Gen. Samuel R. Curtis. He next became a member of the Judge Advocate General’s staff. By 1864, Chipman had moved to the War Department in Washington, D.C., as aide de camp to Stanton. Colonel N. P. Chipman

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Postwar:

In 1865 Chipman successfully prosecuted Captain Henry Wirz, commander of the Confederacy’s infamous Andersonville prison camp, where some 13,000 Union soldiers lost their lives. For his cruelties to prisoners of war and eleven homicides, Wirz was hanged in 1865. Chipman published his recollections of the famous Andersonville Trial in his 1911 book, The Tragedy of Andersonville.

Chipman was one of the founders of the Grand Army of the Republic, and served as its adjutant general. In 1868 he issued the order establishing Decoration Day, which later became Memorial Day.

After Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, Chipman served briefly as Secretary of the District of Columbia, effectively the second highest local official after the District Governor. Due to his friendship with Grant, name recognition, longer residency in the District, and his connection to the District’s government, Republicans selected Chipman over Frederick Douglass to be their nominee for the District of Columbia’s first delegate to Congress, and he handily won the election. He was re-elected in 1873, but in 1875, Congress disestablished the District’s territorial government including Chipman’s position as delegate.

In 1876 Chipman moved to Red Bluff, California, and had a long and distinguished career in California’s politics and judiciary.

Quotes

I confess, I weary of this contest year after year to obtain simple justice for the District of Columbia. I weary of the indifference of Congress. ... I weary of the abject dependence of this community and the position of obsequiousness which their agent must submit to lest he offend some congressional propriety or step upon some congressional toe. ... [speech to Congress, 1875]

Popular Culture

The story of the Andersonville trial and Chipman’s role in bringing Wirz to justice inspired the Emmy Award-winning film The Andersonville Trial (1970), directed by George C. Scott. In the film, a post-Star Trek William Shatner played Chipman, Richard Basehart played Wirz, and Martin Sheen played a minor supporting role.

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May 1864 U.S. Military Telegram, Admiral S. P. Lee to Gen. Ben. Butler/Iron Clads/Spotsylvania

United States Military Telegraph reception form, from “Agawam Deep Bottom” [Steamer Agawam, at Deep Bottom, Virginia] May 15th 1864, 10 am, S. P. Lee to Genl. [Benjamin] Butler. Long message occupying front and back of one form, continued on a second:

Your telegram received. Flag of Truce Officer Norris from Richmond told Lieutenant Lawson navy their Iron Clads will be down in a few days with Great Ramming power. Shall be ready for them. We find many torpedoes here. We want to follow up the torpedoes by the mines so don’t break them, if you can Explode them. Richmond E [“Examiner”] of 240 Saturday Genl Grant fought them a great battle on Thursday last never before such vim & bravery on our part. We captured Prisoners and artillery from them & had the most Killed and Wounded as they were behind breast works & we fought in the open field this is their account. They only claim two thousand of our wounded captured at the Wilderness no other prisoners & artillery. They say our men bayonnetted them behind their Breast works. I think they have lost largely in prisoners. It was great fighting on the part of our army. They say Gen Grant is entrenched before them & will not fall back. No fighting Friday. We are working up the river hard.

Yours Truly S. P. Lee

Here is the context. The message was sent in the midst of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 8–21, 1864.

The Agawam was Admiral S.P Lee’s flagship. Deep Bottom is the colloquial name for an area of the James River in Henrico County eleven miles southeast of Richmond, at a horseshoe-shaped bend in the river known as Jones Neck. It was a convenient crossing point from the Bermuda Hundred area on the south side of the river.

On May 5, 1864, the Union Army of the James under Gen. Benjamin Butler had disembarked at Bermuda Hundred at the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers, its objective to sever the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad.

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Shortly after this telegram was sent, Butler would commit a famous tactical blunder. After a series of inconclusive battles, on May 20 he withdrew behind entrenchments across the neck of the peninsula bounded by the two rivers. Confederate Gen. P. T. Beauregard quickly constructed the opposing Howlett Line which kept Butler’s 30,000-man force bottled up until April 1865.

U.S. Grant had engaged Robert E. Lee at the Battle of the Wilderness May 5–7, 1864, taking heavy losses [USA 17,666, CSA 7,750]. Rather than retreat, Grant advanced to Spotsylvania Court House. In an inconclusive battle, the forces of Grant and Lee battled for days southwest of Fredericksburg, May 8–21, with the Union forces again sustaining disproportionate losses [USA 18,399, CSA 9,000]. This strategy of attrition, though, ultimately sealed the fate of the Confederacy.

(This message was considered suffiently important to be included in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I—Volume 10. North Atlantic Blockading Squadron From May 6, 1864, to October 27, 1864.)

Fantastic “behind the scenes” communication involving two key Union commanders!

Ex-Wilson Born (acquired by him in 1938)

From Wikipedia:

Samuel Phillips Lee (1812—1897) was a Rear Admiral of the United States Navy. In the American Civil War, he took part in the New Orleans campaign, before commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, covering the coastlines and inland waters of Virginia and North Carolina, and finally the Mississippi River Squadron. As a cousin of Robert E. Lee, his refusal to join the Confederates demonstrated the extent to which the war had divided families. Lee married the daughter of Francis P. Blair, Sr., and their house in Washington is now the president’s official guest house.

Lee was born at “Sully” in Fairfax County, Virginia to Francis Lightfoot Lee II and Jane Fitzgerald. He was the grandson of Richard Henry Lee, great-nephew of Francis Lightfoot Lee I, brother-in-law of Francis Preston Blair, Jr., and of Montgomery Blair, and was third cousin of Robert E. Lee. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy in November 1825 and subsequently saw extensive service at sea, including combat action during the Mexican–American War and exploration, surveying and oceanographic duty. At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, he held the rank of commander and was captain of the sloop of war Vandalia in the East Indies, sailing her home on his own initiative to join the blockade of the Southern coast. Commander Lee commanded the new steam sloop Oneida during the New Orleans campaign and subsequent operations on the Mississippi River in the first half of 1862. Lee became well known in Washington society due to the influence of his wife, the former Elizabeth Blair, of Maryland.Admiral S. P. Lee in 1845 and circa 1870

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When asked about his loyalty, Lee famously replied “When I find the word Virginia in my commission I will join the Confederacy.” This quote is often referenced by historians in contrast to the actions of his cousin Robert E. Lee, to show how the war divided families.

In September 1862, Lee was placed in command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron with the rank of Acting Rear Admiral. His flagship at this point was the Philadelphia. He led this force for over two years, during which it was responsible for the blockade of the North Carolina coast and operations on North Carolina and Virginia inland waters, all areas of very active combat between Union and Confederate forces. Acting Rear Admiral Lee transferred to the command of the Mississippi River Squadron in October 1864 and led it to the end of the Civil War in 1865. His flagship during his time as commander of the Mississippi River Squadron was the Black Hawk.

Reverting to his permanent rank of captain after the Civil War, Lee extensively served in the Washington, D.C. area. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1870 and retired from active service in February 1873.

Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818–1893), American lawyer, politician and soldier, was one of the most colorful and controversial figures of the Civil War. Only the briefest summary of his career is possible here.

From Wikipedia:

Born in New Hampshire and raised in Massachusetts, Butler served in the Massachusetts legislature and as an officer in the state militia. During the American Civil War, Butler served as a major general in the Union Army, and became a despised figure in the South during the Union occupation of New Orleans. After the war, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts from 1883 to 1884.

In 1868, while serving in Congress, Butler had a prominent role in the General Benjamin Butler

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impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. As Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction, Butler authored the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, signed into law by President Grant, that gave federal authority to prosecute and destroy the Klan in the South.

Butler authored, along with Sen. Charles Sumner, the Civil Rights Act of 1875, signed into law by President Grant. This law, a final act of Reconstruction, gave African American US citizens the right to public accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, lodging, and public entertainment establishments.

Civil War

Although he sympathized with the South, Butler stated that “I was always a friend of southern rights but an enemy of southern wrongs,” and sought to serve in the Union army. His military career prior to the Civil War began as a private in the Lowell militia in 1840. Butler eventually rose to become colonel of a regiment of primarily Irish American men. In 1855, the nativist Know Nothing Governor Henry J. Gardner disbanded Butler’s militia, but Butler was elected brigadier general after the militia was reorganized. In 1857 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis appointed him to the Board of Visitors of West Point. These positions did not give him any significant military experience.

During the American Civil War, Butler served as a major general in the Union Army. His policies regarding slaves as contraband so they could be treated as free men, his administration of occupied New Orleans, his ineffectual leadership in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, and the fiasco of Fort Fisher rank him as one of the most controversial political generals of the war. Butler was the first Eastern Union General to declare runaway Virginia slaves “contraband of war”; refusing to return them to their masters. He was widely reviled for years after the war by Southern whites, who gave him the nickname “Beast Butler.” Although considered a hostile Union Army general while commanding New Orleans, Butler, through his Christian charity, made efforts to care for the poor and needy, giving $1,000 of his personal money to purchase food for those who were starving. As all business activity was shut down, Butler gave railroad and steam loading permits to operators, relieving the city of starvation. Butler received permission from the city to employ the poor to clean up the streets and under the supervision of Col. T. B. Thorpe, a million dollars of land was added to the state from the Mississippi River deposits. At the request of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, Butler was relieved of duty on January 8, 1865, having failed to capture Fort Fisher.

Fort Fisher and Butler’s Recall [Too juicy to omit!]

Butler’s status as a key political ally of President Abraham Lincoln prevented General Grant from removing him from military service prior to the presidential election of November 1864. As a prominent Radical Republican, Butler was also under consideration as a possible opponent of Lincoln in that year’s election, and Lincoln had asked Butler to serve as his Vice President in early 1864. After the election, however, Grant wrote to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in early 1865 asking free rein to relieve Butler from military service. Since Stanton was traveling outside Washington, D.C., at the time, Grant appealed directly to Lincoln for permission to terminate Butler, noting “there is a lack of confidence felt in [Butler’s] military ability.” In General Order Number 1, Lincoln relieved Butler from command of the Department of North Carolina and Virginia and ordered him to report to Lowell, Massachusetts.

Grant informed Butler of his recall on January 8, 1865, and named Major General Edward O. C. Ord to replace him as commander of the Army of the James. Rather than report to Lowell, Butler went to Washington, where he used his considerable political connections to get a hearing before the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War in mid-January. At his hearing Butler focused his defense on his actions at Fort Fisher. He produced charts and duplicates of reports by subordinates to prove he had been right to call off his attack of Fort Fisher, despite orders from General Grant to the contrary. Butler claimed the fort was impregnable. To his embarrassment, a follow-up expedition led by Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry captured the fort on January 15, and news of this victory arrived during the committee hearing; Butler’s military career was over. He was formally retained until November 1865 with the idea that he might act as military prosecutor of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

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7.

July 1863 U.S. Military Telegram & cover, Port Hudson, Gen. Geo. Andrews to Col. T. E. Chickering

United States Military Telegraph Office reception form, Department of the Gulf, July 25, 1863, from “G. L. Andrews/Brig. Gen Vols/ Comdg Post” to Col. T. E. Chickering :

You are relieved from duty at this post as provost marshall at the request of Genl Banks. The order will be sent to you.

Context: Battle of Port Hudson. In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s offensive against Vicksburg, Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. On May 27, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege which lasted for 48 days. Banks renewed his assaults on June 14 but the defenders successfully repelled them. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson surrendered, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to New Orleans. This telegram was sent from Port Hudson two weeks later. Ex-Wilson Born.

From Wikipedia:

George Leonard Andrews (1828–1899) was an American professor, civil engineer, and soldier. He was a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was awarded the honorary grade of brevet Major General.

During the Civil War, Andrews served in a number of important commands, first as the Colonel of the 2nd Massachusetts, a regiment which saw heavy action in the Battles of Cedar Mountain and Antietam, among other actions. Mentored by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Prentice Banks, Andrews became part of Banks’s staff and was assigned several command roles in the Army Department of the Gulf during the later years of the war. General George Leonard Andrews

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After the war, Andrews pursued a variety of vocations, including service as a United States Marshal, before returning to the United States Military Academy at West Point as a professor until his retirement.

District of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson

The day after the fall of Port Hudson, Andrews was assigned to organize the African-American troops in the Army of the Gulf, forming the Corps d’Afrique. Andrews was also placed in command of the Army District of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson. He retained command of the district and the Corps d’Afrique until February 1865. To recruit African-Americans, Andrews dispatched soldiers to plantations throughout his district to enlist freed slaves.

On February 27, Andrews was relieved from command of the District of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson and reported to New Orleans where he was appointed provost marshal general for the Department of the Gulf. He served as an aide to Maj. Gen. Edward Canby during the Siege of Mobile Campaign which forced the surrender of the last Confederate stronghold on the Gulf coast. For his service during this campaign, Andrews was given a commendation by Canby.

After the Confederacy’s surrender in April 1865, Andrews spent a portion of the summer as Maj. Gen. Canby’s chief of staff, then resigned his commission on August 24, 1865. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Andrews to the honorary grade of brevet major general, United States Volunteers, to rank from March 26, 1865 and the United States Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866.

After the Civil War, Andrews spent two years as a planter in Mississippi. He then moved back to Massachusetts and was a United States marshal from 1867 to 1871. He was a professor of French at West Point from 1871 to 1882, and of modern languages from 1882 until his retirement in 1892.

Fort Andrews, a fortification on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor, was named after him. Constructed in 1897, the fort held the largest garrison of any fortification in Boston Harbor in the early 20th century (two thousand troops). It was abandoned by the U.S. Army in 1946 and is currently in ruins.

Col. T. E. Chickering commanded the 41st Massachusetts. “Col. Chickering’s Battle March” was dedicated to him.

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8.

1863ca telegraph message to Maj. J. G. Barnard, officer in charge of fortification of Washington D.C.

Handwritten message:By Telegraph

Major J. G. BarnardCorps of Engineers

Chain Bridge

Your Orderly left to join you before your Telegram was received.

James Eveleth

Soon after the disastrous Union defeat at the first battle of Bull Run at the outset of the Civil War, Union commander Gen. George McClellan placed Major (later Bvt. Major General) John Gross Barnard of the Corps of Engineers in charge of constructing an extensive network of fortifications surrounding Washington, D.C.

Under Barnard’s direction, Washington became the most heavily fortified city in North America. As President Abraham Lincoln’s capital, the city became the symbol of Union determination, as well as a target for Robert E. Lee’s Confederates. As a Union army and navy logistical base, it contained a complex

of hospitals, storehouses, equipment repair facilities, and animal corrals. These were in addition to other public buildings, small urban areas, and vast open space that constituted the capital on the Potomac. To protect Washington with all it contained and symbolized, the Army constructed a shield of fortifications: 68 enclosed earthen forts, 93 supplemental batteries, miles of military roads, and support structures for commissary, quartermaster, engineer, and civilian labor forces, some of which still exist today. Thousands of troops were held back from active operations to garrison this complex. And the Commanders of the Army of the Potomac from Irvin McDowell to George Meade, and informally U.S. Grant himself, always had to keep in mind their responsibility of protecting this city, at the same time that they were moving against the Confederate forces arrayed against them.

In 1871 Barnard’s extensive report on this work was published as: Bvt. Major General J. G. Barnard. A Report on the Defenses of Washington to the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army. Professional Papers of the Corps of Engineers, Number 20.

The Chain Bridge across the Potomac was a main thoroughfare connecting Washington with Virginia. Chain Bridge across the PotomacBvt. Major Gen. John G. Barnard

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James Eveleth, Clerk in the Bureau of the Chief Engineer United States Army, was the disbursement agent for all payments related to this monumental task. This message is probably in Eveleth’s hand.

From Mr. Lincoln’s Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington. Benjamin Franklin Cooling III and Walton H. Owen II, 2009:

Chaos enveloped Washington during the weeks following the rout of Union forces at the first battle of Bull Run (or Manassas) on July 21, 1861. It became apparent to military authorities that in addition to rebuilding the army, a more elaborate system of formal protection have to be constructed for Washington. Concentration on fort construction began after Major General George B. McClellan succeeded Brigadier General Irvin McDowell as the Union army commander on the Potomac. McClellan realized that one of his most pressing demands involve the city’s immediate safety and redeployment of troops for defense and but at the same time he wanted to free his growing army for offensive field service.

Undaunted by the sizable circumference of the city, the “Little Napoleon” (as McClellan was called) enthusiastically endorsed proposals for a system of 48 forts, lunettes, redoubts, and batteries, mounting 300 guns. In August 1861 Mcclellan placed Major (later Brevet Major General) John Gross Barnard of the Corps of Engineers in charge of the construction project. Thus to this capable officer passed a task that would become increasingly costly, frustrating and too in large extent underappreciated over the course of the war. ...

The actual disbursements, both for the purchase of materials and for monthly payment of laborers and employees, were made by Mr. James Eveleth, clerk in the Bureau of the Chief Engineer United States Army, who in addition to his office as clerk, was, as long ago as June, 1837, specially appointed disbursing agent of the Engineer Department, and in that capacity has, continuously to the present time, rendered valuable services, and disbursed large sums of public money, including more than a million of dollars for the Defenses of Washington, on his personal responsibility, without having received any compensation for that, at times laborious, and highly responsible service. His own statement in reference to service relating to the Defenses of Washington may properly be quoted here:

The onerous and responsible duty of paying for all purchases, together with the monthly payments of all the mechanics and laborers and other employees, demanded every moment of my time after regular office hours not indispensable to sleep, including Sundays and nights. ... it is not to be supposed that in disbursing the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by me in small sums to large numbers of workmen at a time, and generally at night, occasional losses did not occur. ... It is a source of great pleasure for me to be able to add that every cent of the large amount (over a million of dollars) advanced to me from the Treasury has been accounted for, to the satisfaction of the accounting officers.

Eveleth was one of innumerable unsung heroes of the war.

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9.

1864 U.S. Military Telegram, Bermuda Hundred to Chief Quartermaster P. P. Pitkin at City Point

United States Military Telegraph reception form, October 2, 1864, from “Bermuda 100” to “Col. Pitkin”:

Please send me a cargo of cool as soon as possible AP Blunt

Capt & AQM [Assistant Quartermaster]

Longtime Union Army quartermaster Perley P. Pitkin was depot commander of City Point, the vast staging area for Grant’s assault on Richmond in 1864–5.

Creation of City Point. On June18, 1864, U. S. Grant ordered his Chief Quartermaster General, Brevet Major General Ingalls, to create a supply depot at City Point capable of supporting the forces participating in the siege of Petersburg. Ingalls created a depot previously unparalleled in military history, capable of supporting an army of 500,000 men.

City Point grew into an extremely efficient and diverse mini-city of over 280 buildings, providing all the support services needed to keep a world-class army combat effective. The port facilities consisted of eight wharves covering over eight acres, with warehouses totaling over 100,000 square

feet. An intricate rail network of over 22 miles spanned from the wharves to directly behind the Union lines. During the campaign, the track grew together with the Union siege lines, transporting over a half million tons of supplies directly to the combat units. City Point provided unequaled rations such as fresh meat and over 100,000 loaves of fresh bread daily. Its massive repair shop maintained over 5,000 wagons, and facilities maintained the 60,000 animals necessary to support Grant’s army. The first-class hospitals built at City Brevet General P. P. Pitkin

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Point became capable of treating 15,000 wounded with medical care unsurpassed in a field environment. For Grant to control the entire Union military machine, a highly efficient c o m m u n i c a t i o n system was created at City Point that allowed effective communication with

not only Washington, but all of the Union forces throughout the country.

The creation of City Point with its impressive support capabilities in less than 30 days represents an achievement second to none in prior military history. City Point was a credit to all who built it and made it run so effectively. A vast amount of the praise should be levied upon Brevet Major General Ingalls, the Chief Quartermaster of the armies operating against Richmond. However, the City Point depot was actually under the command of Col. P. P. Pitkin until November 7, 1864, when he accepted the position as Quartermaster General of the state of Vermont. Pitkin’s successor, Col. George W. Bradley, ably held the position of depot commander until the end of the war and the subsequent demilitarization and closing of City Point in the summer of 1865.

Bermuda Hundred. On May 5, 1864, the Union Army of the James under Gen. Benjamin Butler had disembarked at Bermuda Hundred at the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers, its objective to sever the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. On May 20 Butler would commit a famous tactical blunder. After a series of inconclusive battles, he withdrew behind entrenchments across the neck of the peninsula bounded by the two rivers. Confederate Gen. P. T. Beauregard quickly constructed the opposing Howlett Line which kept Butler’s 30,000-man force bottled up until April 1865. The request for supplies in the telegram at hand came from this bottled-up force.

Sender A. P. Blunt became by 1867 Brevet-Colonel and Assistant Quartermaster of the Army.

Lincoln visits City Point, March 1865

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Also offered is a second, earlier telegram to Pitkin, January 19, 1864, from “Hd Qrs A.P. [Army of the Potomac], to Capt. P. P. Pitkin:

Send package of stationery to Lt A F Keene AAQM 3d div 6th corps James H. Platt

In January, 1864 the Headquarters Army of Potomac was at Brandy Station, Virginia. Pitkin had long experience as quartermaster before taking charge at City Point.

Perley Peabody Pitkin (1826–1891), at the breaking out of the Civil War, at once offering his services to the government, was commissioned regimental quartermaster of the Second Vermont Volunteers, later appointed brigade quartermaster of the First Vermont Brigade. In April, 1862, he was promoted to Assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers with the rank of captain, and reported to General Rufus Ingalls, chief quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac, at White House, Virginia. The work assigned to Captain Pitkin was the receiving of supplies at the army base from the fleet of army vessels and distributing them to the several army corps. In this labor Captain Pitkin had under him over twelve hundred civilian employees at a time.

When the army was withdrawn from the peninsula he was ordered to Washington with his brigade of subordinates and thence (during the Antietam campaign) to Harper’s Ferry, where he was chief depot quartermaster in charge of all supplies for the army. This most responsible position he held at the bases of supply of the army established successively at Warrenton Junction, Falmouth, Belle Plain, and Aquia Creek, Washington, Frederick, Maryland (during the Gettysburg campaign), and Alexandria, from which point the army was supplied during the winter of 1863–4, its principal supply station being at Brandy Station, fifty-seven miles from the base, with branch depots at Bealton and Culpepper.

When General Grant’s overland campaign began in May 1864, the surplus supplies having been sent back to Alexandria, Captain Pitkin was placed in chief charge of the immense train of four thousand wagons, which carried ten days’ rations for the army, with ammunition and other supplies. While at Spottsylvania, Captain Pitkin was selected to be the bearer of despatches from General Grant to the war department, which could be entrusted only to a most responsible messenger. With an escort of regular cavalry he made the journey to Washington and back in four days, then resumed his duties as chief depot quartermaster at Belle Plain. Here, to the care of the enormous quantities of supplies provided for the further overland march of the army, were added the duties attending the arrival of thousands of recruits and reinforcements; the receipt of many thousands of prisoners, arriving from the front to be forwarded to Alexandria and Annapolis; and the care of the army of wounded and sick soldiers, on their way to the general hospitals.

Captain Pitkin moved with the supply depot, successively to Port Royal on the Rappahannock, White House on the Pamunkey, and City Point on the James, where he remained as chief depot quartermaster during the summer of 1864. July 8, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and assistant quartermaster. During this period the army numbered upwards of 100,000 men, with 50,000 horses and mules. For the subsistence of the former 100,000 pounds of bread, 125,000 pounds of meat, 10,000 pounds of coffee, 10,000 pounds of sugar, and, when obtainable, large quantities of vegetables, were furnished each day; while the latter consumed over 600,000 pounds of grain and an equal quantity of forage daily. Once in three or four months 100,000 pairs of shoes, and 200,000 pairs of stockings, and at a little longer period of time as many coats and pantaloons, and twice as many changes of under-clothing were distributed. For each periodical shoeing of the animals, Colonel Pitkin received and distributed 200,000 pounds of horse shoes.

Add to all this the care and transportation of the enormous quantities of ordnance and surgical supplies required, and it may be realized that the duties of the chief quartermaster in charge of the army base were such as could be borne only by a man of great physical vigor, as well as superior executive ability and untiring industry. They were performed by Colonel Pitkin with an ability and fidelity which won for him the unvarying commendation of his superiors. The successive commanders of the army all recognized his value, and relied on him with a confidence which was never disappointed.

In November 1864 Colonel Pitkin resigned his position in the army, to enter upon his duties as Quartermaster General of the state of Vermont. Late in November, 1864, the governor of Vermont insisted that Colonel Pitkin must return to take the important office of Quartermaster General of the state, to which he had been unanimously elected by the legislature. Greatly to General Grant’s regret, Colonel Pitkin obeyed his governor and resigned his office. He held the new office, with the rank of Brigadier General, for the six following years, and then declined a re-election.

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10.

1862 U.S. Military Telegram, Commodore A. A. Harwood to Secretary of Navy

Blank sheet with written message: Navy Yd. Washington

Augt 11 ‘62HonSecry. of the Navy

The Quarter Master U.S. Army has sent the steamer here for some temporary repairs & new rudder. Shall they be made?

A A HarwoodCommodore

Pencilled “11am” appears to indicate time of transmission.

A. A. Harwood was promoted to Commodore in mid-1862, in charge of Washington Navy Yard and Commander of the Potomac Flotilla until December 1863.

Secretary of the Navy was Gideon Welles.

The North America would be destroyed by the Confederate raider Tallahassee August 17, 1864. The Tallahassee went through the blockade on August 6, 1864 from her home port of Wilmington, North Carolina, and made a spectacular 19-day raid off the Atlantic coast as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia, destroying 26 vessels and capturing seven others that were bonded or released.

Ex-Wilson Born

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11.

U.S. Colored Cavalry, four 1864 telegrams/New Orleans/Port Hudson/Crickmore

Four telegraph reception forms of United States Military Telegraph Office, Department of the Gulf, to Major H. G. Crickmore, 4th Regiment, U.S. Colored Cavalry

The mere existence of black cavalry in the Civil War comes as a revelation. Black soldiers were often assigned non-combat tasks, such as erecting fortifications, guard or picket duties, etc. Eventually of necessity they fought as infantry, often with distinction. But cavalry?! Here are rare artifacts of what appears to have been the only black cavalry unit of the war.

1. Sept 7 1864, Baton Rouge to Port Hudson, Lt. Col. J. H. Alexander to “Maj Cirkmore (sic!) 4 Regt NY Col Cavy”:

I am on steamboat Hannibal have a wagon on the landing

Also Sept 20, 1864, receipt from E. H. Johnson, Operator, Port Hudson, for payment of $4.75 by Crickmore for two telegrams

2. Oct 22, 1864, New Orleans, from Nathaniel C. Mitchell, Maj & AAPMG, to “Maj H. G. Crickmore Comdg 4th USCC” [this is incorrect, commander was J. H. Alexander]:

Send down Col Alexander’s horses at once to me

3. Oct 26, 1864, New Orleans, C. H. Robertson, Lt. & AAQM [Assistant Quarter Master] to “Maj Brickmore (sic!!) 4th USCC”:

I have not heard if you received the documents you wrote to me for, I sent in by mail on the 10th inst directed two your Regiment let me know as soon as you possibly can if you received it

4. Nov 21, 1864, New Orleans, J. H. Alexander Lt. Col. 4th USCC to “Maj H. G. Cockmore (sic!!!) 4th USCC”:

Send ordnance papers & invoices for my signature immediately answer

All ex-Wilson Born

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Telegram 1 here reveals key information, the New York involvement in the 4th USCC: note it is here referred to as “4th Regt NY Col Cavy.” After the war H.G. Crickmore (1839-1908) became one of the most influential members of the New York horseracing world, authoring the esteemed “Krik’s Guide to the Turf,” published annually from 1876 to 1885.

The 4th USCC had previously been the 1st Corps d’Afrique Cavalry. From Wikipedia:

Corps d’Afrique

The Corps d’Afrique, one of many Louisiana Union Civil War units, was formed in New Orleans after the city was taken and occupied by Union forces. It was formed in part from the Louisiana Native Guards. The Native Guards were former militia units raised in New Orleans. They were property-owning free people of color (gens du couleur libres).

Free mixed-race people had developed as a third class in New Orleans since the colonial years. Although the men had wanted to prove their bravery and

loyalty to the Confederacy like other Southern property owners, the Confederates did not allow these men to serve and confiscated their arms. The Confederates said that enlisting black soldiers would hurt agriculture. Since the units were composed of freeborn creoles and black freemen, it was clear that the underlying objection was to having black men serve at all.

For later units of the Corps d’Afrique, the Union recruited freedmen from the refugee camps. Liberated from nearby plantations, they and their families had no means to earn a living and no place to go. Local commanders, starved for replacements, started equipping volunteer units with cast-off uniforms and obsolete or captured firearms. The men were treated and paid as auxiliaries, performing guard or picket duties to free up white soldiers for maneuver units. In exchange their families were fed, clothed and housed for free at the Army camps; often schools were set up for them and their children.

Gordon, or Whipped Peter, in uniform

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Despite class differences between freeborn and freedmen the troops of the Corps d’Afrique served with distinction, including at the Battle of Port Hudson and throughout the South. Its units included:

• 4 Regiments of Louisiana Native Guards (renamed the 1st-4th Corps d’Afrique Infantry, later made into the 73rd-76th US Colored Infantry on April 4, 1864).

• 1st and 2nd Brigade Marching Bands, Corps d’Afrique (later made into Nos. 1 and 2 Bands, USCT).

• 1 Regiment of Cavalry (1st Corps d’Afrique Cavalry, later made into the 4th US Colored Cavalry).

• 22 Regiments of Infantry (1st-20th, 22nd, and 26th Corps d’Afrique Infantry, later converted into the 77th-79th, 80th-83rd, 84th-88th, and 89th-93rd US Colored Infantry on April 4, 1864).

• 5 Regiments of Engineers (1st-5th Corps d’Afrique Engineers, later converted into the 95th-99th US Colored Infantry regiments on April 4, 1864).

• 1 Regiment of Heavy Artillery (later converted into the 10th US Colored (Heavy) Artillery on May 21, 1864).

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12.

1864ca U.S. Military Telegraph covers, Colored Pioneer Regt.

Two covers of U.S. Military Telegraph, Head Quarters Military Division of West Mississippi:

1. Addressed to “Lt. Henry Colman, Colored Pioneer Regt. Mobile Ala.”

2. Addressed to “Lieut. Henry Colman, Present” [i.e., “local” or “city”]

The Pioneer Corps were among the predecessors to the U.S. Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.).

Exceedingly rare Black History items from this short-lived unit

Ex-Wilson Born

From Wikipedia: [Pre-USCT] Volunteer regiments

Before the USCT was formed, several volunteer regiments were raised from free black men, including freedmen in the South. ...

Right Wing, XVI Corps (1864)

Colored troops served as laborers in the 16th Army Corps’ Quartermaster’s Department and Pioneer Corps.

• Detachment, Quartermaster’s Department.

• Pioneer Corps, 1st Division (Mower), 16th Army Corps.

• Pioneer Corps, Cavalry Division (Grierson), 16th Army Corps.

[A pioneer is a soldier employed to perform engineering and construction tasks. The term is in principle similar to sapper.]

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[Little appears to be known about these Pioneer Corps. The Wikipedia listings are unattributed and other websites concerning the USCT note that Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer contains no history for this unit. However the cover imprint here―“Head Quarters Military Division of West Mississippi”―is consistent with the information furnished by Wikipedia, see below.]

Right WingThe remaining division [of the 16th Corps] which did not join Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign was left to guard the Mississippi River valley. Kimball’s, Lauman’s and William Sooy Smith’s divisions were permanently removed to other corps while James Tuttle‘s division of the XV Corps and Andrew Jackson Smith‘s division of the XIII Corps were both transferred to the XVI Corps. Maj. Gen. Hurlbut assumed direct command over these divisions known as the Right Wing and participated in the Meridian Expedition in February 1864. During the Red River Campaign the Right Wing was attached to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks‘ Army of the Gulf with Andrew J. Smith in command. Tuttle’s 1st Division was now commanded by Joseph A. Mower and A. J. Smith’s division was also attached to Mower’s command. One division from the XVII Corps was attached to the Right Wing. This division was dubbed the “Red River Division” and was commanded by Thomas Kilby Smith.

The Red River Division remained in Louisiana while A. J. Smith took the rest of the Right Wing into Mississippi to protect Sherman’s supply lines during the Atlanta Campaign, defeating the Confederates at the Battle of Tupelo. Here the two divisions were commanded by Mower (1st Division) and Colonel David Moore (2nd Division) with a division of cavalry temporarily attached under Brig. Gen. Benjamin Grierson.

This unit was sometimes called “General A. J. Smith’s Guerrillas”.

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13.

1867 Rio Grande Telegraph Co. telegram, Brownsville TX, 117th U.S. Colored Troops

Telegraph reception form of Rio Grande Telegraph Co. (“KENEDY &KING. Proprietors.”) from Brownsville [Texas], March 10, 1867, to Asst Surg Norris:

Permission is granted you to go to Ringold. Come up today. I will go down in your ambulance tomorrow.

O. F. RogersAsst Surg

117th U.S.C.T.

Delivered to Dr. Norris in U.S. Military Telegraph yellow cover

On reverse of cover, penciled:

Dr. O F Rogers 117 U.S.C.T. Thanks!! But I cannot go up today will be up after being relieved by yourself or any one that is ordered to take my property &c.

Presumably this was a return message sent by Norris via telegraph.

On the telegram, ms. notation of payment that appears to read “22 < 22 (ditto) pd” perhaps indicating payment for 44 words? (We count 19 in the original message, 26 in return.)

Orville F Rogers of Dorchester, Mass., was Assistant Surgeon with 117th Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops.

The 117th USCT was organized in Covington, Kentucky, from freed slaves beginning in July 1864. As the following timeline shows, at the time this telegram was sent, March 10, 1867, it was indeed posted to Brownsville, Texas, for duty along the Rio Grande.

Timeline for 117th Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops.1864July 18 – Sep 27 Organized at Covington, Ky. Duty at Camp Nelson,

Ky. Attached to Military District of Kentucky, Dept. of the Ohio

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October Ordered to Baltimore, Md., then to City Point, Va. Siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond attached to Provisional Brigade, 18th Corps, Army of the James

December Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 25th Corps1865March 28 – April 9 Appomattox CampaignMarch 29 – 31 Hatcher’s RunApril 2 Fall of PetersburgApril 3-9 Pursuit of LeeApril 9 Appomattox Court House. Surrender of Lee and

his army.April – June Duty at Petersburg and City PointJune and July Moved to Brazos Santiago, TexasJuly Duty at Brownsville and on the Rio Grande, Texas1867August 10 Mustered out

The “Ringold” referenced in the telegram was Ringgold Barracks, upriver from Brownsville, on a high bank of the Rio Grande. The main post at Brownsville was Fort Brown.

“Asst Surg Norris” was Albert Lane Norris, Assistant Surgeon, 114th Regt. USCT. The 114th had a rather similar history to the 117th:

Timeline for 114th Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops1864July 4 Organized at Camp Nelson, Ky. Duty at Camp

Nelson and Louisa, Ky. attached to Military District of Kentucky, Dept. of the Ohio

1865January 3 Ordered to Dept. of VirginiaJanuary – March Siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond

on the Bermuda Hundred Front attached to 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 25th Corps, Dept. of Virginia

March 28 – April 9 Appomattox CampaignMarch 29 – 31 Hatcher’s RunApril 2 Fall of PetersburgApril 3 – 9 Pursuit of LeeApril 9 Appomattox Court House Surrender of Lee and his

army.April – June Duty at Petersburg and City Point attached to 2nd

Brigade, 1st Division, 25th Corps

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June and July Moved to TexasJuly Duty at Brownsville and other points

on the Rio Grande, Texas until April, 1867

1867April 2 Mustered out

Rio Grande Telegraph Co.Material of the Rio Grande Telegraph Co. appears to be exceedingly rare. We find no mention of it in the catalog for the Robert A. Siegel Galleries auction of the extensive Wilson Born collection, June 23, 2015, or indeed anywhere on the internet. “Kenedy & King Proprietors” were certainly well known: the prominent Rio Grande shippers and ranchers Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King.

Mifflin Kenedy (1818–1895) was a South Texas businessman who was a partner in ranching and steamboating of Richard King of the large King Ranch. Kenedy County between Corpus Christi and Brownsville and the city of Kenedy in Karnes County, Texas, are named in his honor.

How did their message form come to be transmitted in a U.S. Military Telegraph cover? Hopefully a future owner will have the pleasure of ferreting out the answer.

USCT trooper standing guard at pontoon bridge across the Rio Grande, Brownsville, Texas, 1866. (The bridge was reserved for military use; civilians had to rely on ferries)

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14.

1864 U. S. Military Telegram, 4th WVa Cavalry,West Virginia Telegraph Repair

U. S. Military Telegraph generic reception form, message from Weston [West Virginia], January 5, 186[4], to Lt. Thos. Bonsall PQM [Post Quarter Master]:

4th WVa C [4th Regt. West Virginia Cavalry] I cannot give forage to the telegraph Repairers. My forage was two thousand five hundred & five 2505 pounds short this must be made up to us before the 10 days expires―Send accounts of teams hired in the month of November―Please regulate the hay matter, no more should be taken from the Country.

C. F. HowesMajor

The 4th West Virginia Cavalry was enlisted in Parkersburg and Wheeling in western Virginia between July and August 1863 for one year’s service. Charles F. Howes was one of three majors. The regiment was mustered out on June 23, 1864. This dates this telegram to January 1864. On January 30, 1864, the 4th would fight an engagement at Moorefield.

Thomas Bonsall was made a recruiting officer in Hancock County, West Virginia by an order dated August 17, 1864.

Interesting content from a short-lived unit, ex-Wilson Born

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15.

1867ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, New Mexico Division

To Mrs. S. C. Paxton, “Paid,” low number 249.

Beginning in 1853 New Mexico had been militarily administered as part of Department of New Mexico, encompassing New Mexico and Arizona.

As part of a reorganization of the Department of the Pacific into the Division of the Pacific in July 1865, the New Mexico Division and Arizona Division were created, administering these Territories separately.

Ultrarare and pretty in yellow, ex-Wilson Born

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16.

Feb 1865, Four U. S. Military Telegrams to Washington Regarding Soldiers to Fill NY Quotas

1. Albany [N.Y.], February 8, 1865, to H L Brown:

Telegraph me at Ballston your lowest price for five or six three year menGeorge G. Scott

Ballston

Ms. “14 W Pd”

Pencilled “This is by Independent Line―to Washington.” At top, “US Line” written in.

George G. Scott of Ballston was a member of the Board of Supervisors of Saratoga County, N.Y., from 1860 until 1880.

H L Brown was presumably a recruiting agent.

The federal government imposed troop quotas on the states, which were apportioned to counties and towns. To induce enlistment, municipalities offered bounties, typically $300 for a three-year enlistment. By early 1865, when these telegrams were sent, the most likely candidates for enlistment were soldiers whose original enlistments circa 1862 were now ending. A likely place to find them was Washington D.C. and environs, including occupied Virginia.

Saratoga County, N.Y., evidently was falling short in meeting their quota, and here Supervisor Scott solicits Brown’s help in filling it.

2. Schenectady [New York], February 3, 1865, to Brown & Roe, City Hotel [Washington D.C.]

Expect quota reduced quarter than Galway wants one Charlton threeJH Slocum

[“than Galway wants one Charleton three” appears to be in code]

With United States Military Telegraph cover to “H L Brown City Hotel,” marked “5”

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Duplicate messages sent the same day (see text)

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3. Identical message, same day, except “Charlton” now spelled “Charleton.” Marked “15.” Both messages have notation “10” indicating number of words.

Again with United States Military Telegraph cover, now to “Brown & Roe City Hotel,” marked “15”

Was the duplicate message sent because of an inexact original addressee, a misspelling of “Charlton,” or simply in error?

4. Washington, February 3, 1865, to H L Brown City Hotel:

Meet me tomorrow at half past nine at NationalTD Curtis

This pinpoints Brown’s location as Washington.

Interesting use of military telegraph by the public, ex-Wilson Born

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17.

Sep-Dec 1865, 41 U. S. Military Telegrams regarding cotton sales by J. A Winston & Co., Mobile/Selma/Demopolis/Uniontown Alabama, much interesting detail from tumultous immediate postwar period

John Anthony Winston (1812-1871) had been Governor of Alabama 1853–5 and 1855–7. In 1844 he founded John A. Winston & Co., a cotton trading business, and eventually owned extensive property throughout the South, farmed by slave labor.

Unless otherwise noted, the messages are from Selma to Winston’s brother in law, Joel W. Jones of Mobile.

U. S. Military Telegraph forms are of seven types:

1.Generic Department of the Gulf (x13, three font types; two subtypes with letters missing)

2. New Orleans form with “Mob” or “Mobile” written over (x22, again three font types)

3. Generic form (x6)

Prewar, the price of cotton had been stable for decades at about 10¢ per lb. Restrictions on trading with the enemy caused it to skyrocket to over $1.75 in the North in 1864. With Union occupation of cotton-producing regions, it fell to about 40¢ by war’s end, more quickly thereafter, but not until 1878 was it again 10¢. In late 1865, when these messages were sent, the cotton market was booming, as mills in the East and in England were ravenously competing for the newly-increased supply. Below are some of the more interesting messages:

Date MessageSep 29, 1865 What is middling Cotton at Mobile―Please answer

Immediately Robt. HersteinSep 30, 1865 Try & get thirty two Cents for Commercial [cotton]

twenty Thousand answer immediately TK FergusonOct 3, 1865 Sent proceeds of my cotton by express need it much

please answer Immediately WE EddinsOct 7, 1865 Will your acceptance Oliver & Nunns bill protested

number Sixty one be paid on presentation MJ Wicks [from Memphis; cost “13 pd 350”]

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Oct 9, 1865 Send todays express eight thousand currency small bills without fail M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Oct 12, 1865 Telegraph balance due me can cash it here leave here soon as can hear from you can buy no cotton WE Eddins

Oct 12, 1865 When can you send account sales & balance of the ninety one bales want to leave soon as possible answer WE Eddins

Oct 13, 1865 JH Franklin & Co wish you to attach on Cotton Shipped by them per “Effie Dean” for amount of draft unpaid M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Oct 14, 1865 What is gold worth have drawn Seven thousand remit close M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Oct 14, 1865 Hardys order releasing your cotton sent by mail Petters & and Dawson

Oct 17, 1865 Shipped you by “Tunney” twenty six bales ship to Liverpool sent me twenty five Hundred dollars today answer VH Bender

Oct 18, 1865 No Remittance from you today Bender says get fifty Cents or send it to Liverpool Remit Class & small bills Drawn ten Thousand cotton shipped M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Oct 19, 1865 Shall I pay fifty two cents for fifty bales middlings tax paid WA Kelly

Oct 20, 1865 I have sold Colonel Stoddard Hundred & Sixty bales cotton will you accept his draft for that amount MW Creagle answer immediately [from Demopolis]

Oct 22, 1865 Send ten thousand dollars City Bank New Orleans answer immediately M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Nov 1, 1865 Insure for French Naborz twenty one bales cotton by [steamer] “Nyansea” M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Nov 6, 1865 Get Bunker Insure at his office all Cotton Down River for Moore & Aiken [Joel W. Jones in Selma to Jno A. Winston, collect!]

Nov 9, 1865 Sold fifteen thousand dollars Green Jones & Co. New York immediately answer M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Nov 11, 1865 Get Bunker Insure at his office all Cotton Down River for M. Smith or for L P Walker I start on first boat [Joel W. Jones in Selma to Jno A. Winston, collect!]

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Nov 14, 1865 Send fifteen thousand five days sight Green Jones & Co. New York, five thousand City Bank New Orleans per Express get a J Ingersoll & Co. hold funds deposited by Herstein to Credit Barry & Co his Drafts to us protested M. J. A. Keith &Co.

Nov 23, 1865 Gents I hereby defy you that I have attached fifty one bales 1.411 home Cotton marked MYI on Steamer “Clara Dunning” Consigned to you. You will hold said cotton subject to my order Answer immediately M Dedman

Nov 24, 1865 I shipped on [steamer] “Montana” twenty one Nov from Selma Seventy four Bales Cotton ans M. Smith [from Demopolis]

Nov 24, 1865 Shipped by [steamer] “Dunning” twenty six bales diamond G class it & ship to Liverpool for my acct. C. Gilman

Dec 6, 1865 Get as much advance as possible on Baker Cotton & ship to Liverpool Thos K Ferguson

Dec 26, 1865 Insure for me today seventy seven bales Cotton averaging five hundred twenty pounds shipped to your House Reply the rate JJ Pleasants Receiver of WW & LAM Horton Estate [from Uniontown, “20 280 pd”]

Notated “Entd at Citizens Mutual Ins Co. down all rivers at $200 per bale JAW” [thus 38.5¢/lb]

For the messages from Selma the telegraph rate can be deduced: $1 for the first ten words and 8¢ per word thereafter. The messages from Demopolis [20 words, $2.80] and Memphis [13 words, $3.50] were considerably more.

With financial success, John A. Winston enjoyed a long political career in Alabama. A Jacksonian Democrat, he was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1840, then the State Senate in 1843. He represented Alabama at the 1848 Democratic Party convention in Baltimore and at the attempted secessionist convention in Nashville in 1850. He was considered a strong southern rights advocate when he was elected governor in 1853. In 1855 Winston was re-elected by a narrow margin over a Know Nothing Party candidate. Though he was unable to secure a U.S. Senate seat after the expiration of his governorship in 1857, Winston remained active in state and local politics, most notably

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as a participant in the 1860 Democratic National Convention. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Winston joined the 8th Alabama Infantry as a colonel, though he resigned in 1862. After the war, he participated in the Alabama constitutional convention in 1865, and in 1867 was finally elected to the U.S. Senate, but was disenfranchised when he refused to take the oath of allegiance.

Winston was known for his fiery temper. In 1842 he married Mary Longwood. The marriage was a troubled one, and

in 1847 a cuckolded Winston shot and killed Mary’s lover, Dr. Sidney S. Perry of Gainesville. Winston escaped punishment on claims of self defense, but his marriage never healed and the couple divorced in 1850. His speeches were short, bold, and incisive, while he had decided powers of satire and ridicule. As governor, Winston encouraged public education and signed a bill in 1854 creating Alabama’s public school system. He was not so generous, however, regarding state support for public transportation, particularly where the railroads were concerned. Winston vetoed over thirty bills and became known as the “veto governor.” Although he was opposed to transportation funding in principle, Winston’s actions were also guarded by the state’s indebtedness due to the failure of the state bank. As a soldier he was a stern disciplinarian, and not popular with his men.

In 1858 the legislature changed the name of Hancock County to Winston County in his honor.

Finally a U. S. Military Telegraph message from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to M. L. Fletcher, Nashville:Telegraph back to Geo W. Norvell Comr that securities ample is given in

Nelson’s case about his cotton Saml. B. Nelson

It may seem puzzling that military telegraph facilities were used to transmit a message between civilians with no military implications. However, Alabama was under strict Federal Occupation, with military facilities throughout the state. Evidently the army placed its telegraph facilities at the disposal of the public. Note the service was not free!

Governor John A. Winston

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18.

1866 U. S. Military Telegram, Aberdeen to Jackson, Mississippi, to State Auditor regarding State Tax on Cotton

U. S. Military Telegraph generic reception form, Aberdeen [Mississippi] to Jackson, January 26, 186[6]

To T. T. Swann, [State] Auditor:

Where merchants have paid a special tax on merchandize under act November sixteenth (16) Eighteen Sixty five (1865) levying a special tax on Certain persons & property are they Entitled to a credit on state tax & what kind of an Endorsement necessary. Answer fully.

S. C. Anderson―Tax Collector

Ms. “43 pd 422” [43 words, cost $4.22]

T. T. Swann has been elected State Auditor Dec 2, 1865. Jackson was (and is) the state capital.

The Act mentioned in the message, “An act levying a Special Tax upon certain persons and property ...,” had been approved by the Mississippi legislature November 16, 1865, and placed a state tax of $2 per bale on cotton.

It may seem puzzling that military telegraph facilities were used to transmit a message between civilians with no military implications. However, Mississippi was under strict Federal Occupation, with military facilities throughout the state. Evidently the army placed its telegraph facilities at the disposal of the public―or at least of state officials. Note the service was not free; $4.22 was charged!

Excellent Mississippi Reconstruction item, ex-Wilson Born

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19.

1865ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, Washington D.C. to P.&E.R.R. [Philadelphia & Erie Rail Road], Williamsport,

bearing 1861 3¢

Nice use of military telegraph by the public, ex-Wilson Born

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20.

1870ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, NY City to Lockport, N.Y., bearing 3¢ Banknote

Nice use of military telegraph by the public, ex-Wilson Born

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21.

1862–1865ca, three U.S. Military Telegraph covers bearing 1861 3¢ St. Louis/Norwich N.Y.

Ex-Wilson Born

1. St. Louis to Mrs Geo. H. Brown, Norwich, N.Y.

Excellent condition

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2. Norwich, N.Y. to Mrs Geo. H. Brown, St. Louis

1862 cancel date

3. St. Louis to A. C. Latham, Norwich, N.Y.

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22.

1865ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, St. Louis to Norwich N.Y., bearing 1861 3¢ -1

Scarcer use of military telegraph by the public, ex-Wilson Born

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23.

1865ca U.S. Military Telegraph cover, St. Louis to Norwich N.Y., bearing 1861 3¢ -2

Scarcer use of military telegraph by the public, ex-Wilson Born