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THBWilliam T. Sherman Autograph Letter Signed: “We did not dream in 1865, that we would have to apologize for our conduct in the War”
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About Auction
LiveApr 17, 2024
With nearly 900 lots up for auction, RR Auction's April Fine Autographs and Artifacts sale focuses on historic material from the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the highlights are a rare check signed by Abraham Lincoln; a significant Leon Trotsky publishing contract; important scientific letters by Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin; several remarkable naval manuscripts; and a historic letter by Martin Luther King, Jr. on the integration of higher education. RR Auction support@rrauction.com
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- Lot Description
ALS signed "W. T. Sherman," four pages both sides, 5.75 x 9.5, New Hotel Lafayette letterhead, May 5, 1887. Lengthy handwritten letter to his former aide, Colonel John Eaton Tourtellotte, informing the colonel that he sent him a copy of the American Review containing his answer to Lord Wolseley. In part: "I will return to New York Saturday and I shall be at the 5th Ave hotel making many excursions till Sept. When I go to Detroit & St. Louis for the Army meetings. My purpose is to stay at the 5th Ave hotel till Camp...is able to maintain himself and help in the office I had appointed...My mind is not changed on the subject but I say little as it only makes family troubles...I sent you a copy of the American Review...containing my answer to Lord Wolseley, which has brought on me a flood of letters highly entagonistic [sic], but I must expect the reflex from the South...but I will not police them. Everybody in New York came to me and said that somebody must answer Lord Wolesley so his assertions would not be accepted by history; that nobody was willing to undertake it and I must. At last I consented and you have the result. We did not dream in 1865, that we would have to apologize for our conduct in the War, but so it is. We won the aggression, we devastated places occupied by women (husbands & sons absent fighting with Lee & Johnston). We conquered by sheer force of brute courage, not by skill & scientific campaign & c & c. Well! We must meet this new issue and fight it out on paper—far easier than by bullets." In fine condition, with two small file holes to the left edge. The letter is housed in a handsome custom red linen portfolio, with tan morocco lettering piece on its spine.
Two decades after the war, Sherman faced a new battle—defending the Union's actions in light of a Macmillan's Magazine article by British General Lord Wolseley in his review of Robert E. Lee's memoirs. Wolseley's closing line in his article: 'When Americans can review the history of their last great rebellion with calm impartiality, I believe all will admit that General Lee towered far above all men on either side in that struggle.' As Sherman tells his former aide, "Somebody must answer Lord Wolesley so his assertions would not be accepted by history...We did not dream in 1865, that we would have to apologize for our conduct in the War, but so it is."
This fascinating content discusses his enemy Lee, the North's brutal execution of the war, and his burning of the South, events that come to life as Sherman recounts, "We devastated places occupied by women (husbands & sons absent fighting with Lee & Johnston). We conquered by sheer force of brute courage, not by skill & scientific campaign," He adds later that "we must meet this new issue and fight it out on paper—far easier than by bullets." Sherman's rebuttal was published in the May 1887 issue of North American Review. Superlative content revealing Sherman's thoughts on the Civil War. - Shipping Info
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