Fascinating war-dated LS signed “U. S. Grant, Brig. Gen. Com.,” two pages, lightly-lined on two adjoining sheets, 8 x 10, December 22, 1861. Letter to Confederate General Leonidas Polk regarding an exchange of prisoners. In full: “I send you under a flag of truce some seventeen of the Camp Jackson prisoners who were released under the Fremont Price agreement.
These prisoners were brought here on Tuesday last and would have been immediately forwarded to Columbus, but a dispatch was sent to me purporting to be official stating that they were imposters and not the men they assumed to be. In consequence of this dispatch I had the parties arrested here and put at labor for a few hours and then sent them back to St. Louis.
It turned out however that the dispatch was a wicked hoax perpetrated by a man in St. Louis who has been detected and arrested and will be properly punished. No one regrets the occurrence more than me. Col. J. D. Webster has charge of the expedition and will receive any communication you may desire to send me.” Small separations along horizontal folds, light toning to folds, a bit lightly affecting signature, a few creases and wrinkles, and a “War Records,” stamp to first page, otherwise fine condition.
Grant’s letter references the Battle of Belmont, Missouri—often overlooked in the history books due to a modest casualty rate. However, the November 1861 fight holds the distinction of being newly commissioned Brigadier General Grant’s first battle as an independent commander. Grant demonstrated a now-famous ability to quickly respond to changing battlefield circumstances—as a premature celebration by Union forces almost ended in disaster following a counterattack by Rebel troops. Although Grant barely escaped capture, several prisoners were held. Following a snafu, Grant here informs Polk, his Confederate counterpart, of “some seventeen of the Camp Jackson prisoners who were released under the Fremont Price agreement” and being transferred “under a flag of truce.” Polk, who received this letter, had been an Episcopalian bishop appointed general by his friend Jefferson Davis. Controversy followed Polk, who had no prior combat experience and often bitterly agreed with actions taken by immediate superior, General Braxton Bragg. A participant in several major battles, he was killed in Atlanta in 1864. A Grant ‘first’ penned to a well-known Southern military force. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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