"...the rebellion now being waged against free government..." - photo 1
"...the rebellion now being waged against free government..." - photo 2

"...the rebellion now being waged against free government..."

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$ 8 820
Auction dateClassic
17.01.2024 11:00UTC -04:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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ID 1119145
Lot 150 | "...the rebellion now being waged against free government..."
"...the rebellion now being waged against free government..."

Ulysses S. Grant, 5 September 1864

GRANT, Ulysses S. (1822 - 1885). Autograph letter signed ("U. S. Grant") as Lt. General, City Point, VA, 5 September 1864.



Three pages, bifolium, 125 x 202mm, on Head Quarters Armies of the United States letterhead (separated folds and file holes filled in with tissue, one fold impacting signature).



Grant thanks his retiring aide-de-camp for his services during "...the rebellion now being waged against free government." The general offers his highest recommendation for Lt. Orlando H. Ross, in a glowing acceptance of his resignation: "it gives me pleasure to bear testimony to the services you have rendered to the country through three years of the rebellion now being waged against free government. As Assistant Special Agent of the Post Office Dept., the Western Army was deeply indebted for the order and regularity established, more by your labor and energy than that of any other person, in conducting their Mail through a hostile country. In that capacity you excelled. It will afford me pleasure to recommend you for a similar position in the Civil service of the Government should you desire it. In all positions you have been placed in as Aide-de-Camp you have shown a commendable energy and zeal which if continued in civil life will make you friends and secure to you and family a competency through life. Bespeaking for your success and enjoyment after more than three years service in the tented field." Ross, who was also Grant's cousin, was appointed the special messenger at Grant's headquarters in 1861. Later that year, Ross would be placed in charge of military mail for the Army of the Tennessee, and in October 1862, Ross would be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 20th Illinois Infantry. Months later, he accepted a promotion to captain as part of Grant's staff, in which he served as Grant's aide-de-camp until his resignation in September 7, 1863. (Heitman)



Grant's wartime correspondence was largely impersonal and purpose-oriented; his letters seldom revealed his innermost feelings or emotions, especially during the war period. Thus, written accounts of his motivations and aspirations for fighting for the Union are very rare and moving. We could not find another example of Grant's use of the phrase "free government" during the war years, and Grant used it very sparingly throughout his life, including during his 1870 message to Congress announcing ratification of the 15th Amendment and in his 1874 Thanksgiving Proclamation. This letter appears to be unpublished and does not appear in the Grant Papers. Sold with a carte-de-visite portrait photograph.

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