Fabled Confederate ranger (1833–1916) whose guerrilla band specialized in attacking and disrupting Union supply lines. He earned the nickname ‘The Gray Ghost’ for his clandestine and highly effective attack tactics. Exceptional ALS signed “Jno S. Mosby,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, December 1. Letter to “Chinn.” In full: “There is a telegram from Richmond in today’s Chronicle stating that the 2d. Auditor (who I believe is Frank Ruffin) published a letter in yesterday’s Dispatch in wh. he goes for ‘the Sheriff’ about his negro policy, inviting Fred Douglas to the White House & c. Please send me a copy of it. I expect to start for Washington Feby. 1st & to go by way of Indianapolis & shall tell Ben Harrison to keep you in & save the country. The election returns from Va. are very significant & show that Mahone led the party to defeat. In nine Congressional districts Harrison made an average gain of 850 votes on the vote of 84. In Mahone’s district he lost over 3000 of wh. 1192 are in Petersburg & Dinwiddie—Mahone’s home. If Harrison had held the Republican votes of Petersburg he wd. have been elected. I do not credit the talk of being counted out in Va. of course there was a certain amount of cheating there—as there was here & everywhere else. I intend to advise Harrison to make test cases & appoint some negro Postmasters in Boston & other places. The North in fact never has accepted the Constitutional amendments—a doctor ought to be willing to take his own medicine. I don’t know any man in Virginia fit to go into Harrison’s Cabinet except Judge Hughes & I have written to him urging him to appoint him. Tell Beckly I am sorry he got on the wrong side this time. Write me all the news—such as I do not see Snowden’s bloody shirt paper.” A short postscript reads, “Does the ‘returning board’ still meet at the P.O.” Partial separations along horizontal mailing folds and hinge, and scattered toning and soiling, heavier to first page, otherwise very good condition.
Even while fighting as a Confederate general, John Mosby disapproved of slavery—he fought the Union only out of loyalty to Virginia. After the war he became an active Republican, working to bolster the South’s standing in the nation. With the passing of the Reconstruction amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1875, black Americans were given equal rights under the law. But as Democrats regained power in the 1880s, the support for civil rights dwindled and racial tensions began to flare. In the election of 1888, Mosby supported Republican Benjamin Harrison (running against the incumbent democrat Cleveland) who advocated for federal education funding and legislation to protect voting rights for African Americans. Discussing Harrison’s standing in Virginia, using former Confederate and then-Senator of Virginia William Mahone, who worked closely with African-Americans and poor whites in his state, as a comparison, Mosby addresses the importance of integrating blacks in the government. He points out the hypocrisy of the Northern abolitionists who called for change and yet failed to hire blacks in their own cities: “I intend to advise Harrison to make test cases & appoint some negro Postmasters to Boston & other places.” An incredibly scarce letter from the controversial Confederate veteran, determined to put civil rights into action in the post-Reconstruction United States. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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