Civil War-dated LS as Secretary of the Treasury, signed “S. P. Chase,” one page, 8 x 10, September 7, 1861. Addressed from the Treasury Department, a letter to Ebenezer Jackson of Middletown, Connecticut, which finds Chase refusing to protect the property of a former U.S. Navy Commodore Josiah Tattnall because he joined the rebellion. In full: “I have received your communication of the 5th instant, asking protection for certain valuables left at Sackett’s Harbor belonging to Commodore Tattnall, late of the U.S. Navy. Commodore Tattnall having voluntarily placed himself in open rebellion against and deliberately rejected the protection of his Government, I cannot interfere with the course that may be pursued at Sackett’s Harbor in reference to any property belonging to him.” In fine condition, with faint toning along the folds. Accompanied by a period engraving of Chase by A. H. Ritchie, which bears a facsimile signature.
Ebenezer Jackson, the recipient of Chase’s letter, was a former U.S. Congressman and friend of Tattnall; both men were born in Savannah. When Tattnall resigned his U.S. Navy commission at Sackets Harbor he left quickly, leaving behind some personal property. He reached out to Jackson, then living in Connecticut, for assistance in retrieving the property. Jackson, in turn, reached out to Chase and received this chilly, but direct response.
Josiah Tattnall was a senior ranking U.S. Navy officer (1795-1871) who resigned his U.S. Navy commission at the Sackets Harbor Naval Station, New York, in February 1861, after his native state of Georgia seceded from the union. Shortly thereafter he was appointed a captain in the Confederate States Navy, with the ironclad CSS Virginia becoming his flagship after the previous commander, Franklin Buchanan, was wounded. In December 1864, Tattnall was captured and taken prisoner after Savannah was taken by General Sherman’s army.
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