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The Raab Collection

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During the Mexican War

During the Mexican War, President James K. Polk Appoints a Future Civil War Notable a Quartermaster in the Army (The appointee, Langdon C. Easton, would be General William T. Sherman?s Quartermaster General in the Victorious Georgia Campaign of 1864)

James K. Polk Acquired directly from the descendants and never before offered for sale?Letters and documents of Polk from the Mexican War have become quite scarceLangdon C. Easton graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1838. He served in the Florida and Mexican wars, and during the Civil War. He was Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Cumberland from December 1863, until May 1864, and of the armies commanded by Major General William T. Sherman from May 4, 1864, until the war?s end, being present during the operations of the campaign from Chattanooga to the taking of Atlanta, and subsequently at the capture of Savannah. On the march from the latter city to Goldsborough, NC, and thence to Washington, DC, via Raleigh and Richmond, General Easton acted in the same capacity. During the war he was brevetted major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and brigadier general, "for distinguished and important service in the quartermaster's department in the campaign terminating in the capture of Atlanta, Georgia," and major general, March 13, 1865, "for meritorious service during the war." After the war he remained in the regular army, serving as quartermaster with the rank of colonel.Document signed, with an eagle, stars, flags and cannon, Washington, March 24, 1847, naming Easton assistant quartermaster general with the rank of captain, effective the third day of March, 1847. The document is countersigned by Secretary of War William Marcy. This was the very post Easton had wanted, as he had just the month before written a friend, ?I shall be very disappointed if the war terminates without my having a hand in it. My best chance for advancement would be to obtain the appointment of Captain and Assistant Quartermaster".Letters and documents of Polk from the Mexican War have become quite scarce, and those documents making interesting appointments even more so.
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Future President Benjamin Harrison is Moved by a Letter From His Grandfather

Future President Benjamin Harrison is Moved by a Letter From His Grandfather, President William Henry Harrison, to Help a Man Get a Federal Appointment (?The letter from General Harrison which he will show you will explain to you the interest I take in his case.?)

Benjamin Harrison Before he was elected president, a man approached Harrison asking him to use his influence to get him a job in a customs house. Harrison sympathized with him, because Harrison?s grandfather, President William Henry Harrison, had a relationship with the man?s father.Autograph letter signed, on his law office letterhead, two pages, Indianapolis, May 27, 1881 to William H. Robertson, Collector of the Port of New York, the most important and powerful customs house in the nation, asking that a friend be made a Watchman of a Customs House. ?Mr. W.H.H. Lucker of Middletown, New York, wrote you a year or more ago & enclosed a letter from my Grandfather (President Harrison) to his father, which interested me to [act] on his behalf. I do not know him personally but he says he can furnish you with the best evidence of his character from people in Middletown. He desires to get a place as Watchman about the customs house and if he gives you evidence of his personal fitness, I would be much obliged if you can give him a place. The letter from General Harrison which he will show you will explain to you the interest I take in his case.?A very uncommon association piece linking the two Harrison presidents, Benjamin and William Henry.
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  • $2,500
The Very Day that England Declared the War Over

The Very Day that England Declared the War Over, the American Revolution Over, France Officially Calls Off Operations Against the British and Orders French Forces to Return Home from the Colonies (England and France had signed preliminary peace articles 2 weeks prior; Spain recognized American independence the day before this letter)

A bookend to the war for American independence: Thus ended successfully a war in which the French had been instrumental in gaining American independence??The ratifications [of the Treaty of Paris] having been exchanged, all dispatch must be made for the return of the troops, supplies and vessels of the army of M. the Comte d'Estaing. It is the intention of the War Department to bring to Provence all the troops who have departed??Despite discussions of a full alliance, French assistance to the fledgling United States was limited in the early years of the American Revolution. French Foreign Minister the Comte de Vergennes finally decided in favor of an alliance when news of the British surrender at the Battle of Saratoga reached him in December 1777. Vergennes, having heard rumors of secret British peace feelers to the United States, wanted to put a stop to that and offered the U.S. an official French alliance. On February 6, 1778, Benjamin Franklin and other two Americans commissioners, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane, signed a Treaty of Alliance and a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France. The Treaty of Alliance contained the provisions the U.S. commissioners had originally requested, but also included a clause forbidding either country to make a separate peace with Britain. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce promoted trade between the United States and France and recognized the United States as an independent nation.On May 4, 1778, the alliance between France and the new United States of America became effective. The Americans had high hopes for this venture, but those hopes were initially dashed. The French sent a fleet under Admiral d?Estaing in the summer of 1778; but after failing to encounter the British in the Chesapeake Bay and making unsuccessful moves at New York and Newport, it abandoned the offensive. However, the French were determined to play a role in the outcome of the American War and planned to send a significant number of troops and ships for the next campaign. Count Rochambeau was appointed to command of the army that was destined to support the Americans, and on May 2, 1780, he sailed for the U.S.Washington eagerly anticipated the active intervention of the French, and their hoped-for imminent arrival. He planned a joint Franco-American late- summer campaign against British-held New York, and in expectation of his ally?s arrival set about making sure that all of his preparations were complete. William Dobbs was an expert pilot qualified to guide navies into port. On July 2, 1780, Washington called Dobbs to headquarters for consultations on issues of navigation with a large navy. In a letter to Rochambeau, General Lafayette described the discussions at headquarters, saying of Dobbs and a colleague, ?The two persons?who will go aboard your ship?are best known for their integrity and ability? But there was still no sight of the French and no way for them to receive such communications.On July 11 came the momentous news: the French had been sighted in American waters. At about the same time, Rochambeau landed on American soil, disembarking at Newport, Rhode Island. The 1780 offensive against New York did not materialize. But in 1781, Washington?s vision of the Franco-American juggernaut finally took shape. By September 28, the combined armies with the French fleet - some 16,000 troops - had arrived in Virginia, where the army set up camp outside the British defenses at Yorktown and the French fleet blockaded the port so the British could not leave nor receive reinforcements. Just three weeks later, the siege of Yorktown ended with the complete surrender of the British. As a result of this catastrophe to their arms, Britain would sue for peace; the war was effectively over. So Washington?s dream - that the arrival of the French would make the difference and secure American independence - became a reality.The year 1782 saw the approach of a general peace. Franklin rejected initial peace overtures from Great Britain for a settlement that would provide the thirteen states with some measure of autonomy within the British Empire. He insisted on British recognition of American independence and refused to consider a peace separate from France, America?s staunch ally. Franklin did agree, however, to negotiations with the British for an end to the war. Joined by John Adams and John Jay, Franklin engaged the British in formal negotiations beginning on September 27, 1782. Two months of hard bargaining resulted in preliminary articles of peace in which the British accepted American independence and boundaries, resolved the difficult issues of fishing rights on the Newfoundland banks and prewar debts owed British creditors, promised restitution of property lost during the war by Americans loyal to the British cause, and provided for the evacuation of British forces from the United States. The preliminary articles signed in Paris on November 30, 1782, were only effective when Britain and France signed a similar treaty, which French Foreign Minister Vergennes quickly negotiated. France signed preliminary articles of peace with Great Britain on January 20, 1783, and a formal peace - the Treaty of Paris - would be signed on September 3, 1783. In the eyes of the world, the United States was officially in existence.The Comte de Estaing commanded the French Navy in America. At Savannah on October 9, 1779, he attempted a surprise assault on the western fortifications, but deserters had alerted the English, who repelled the combined American-French force with heavy casualties. Estaing was wounded in an arm and leg. The French vessels divided up, and d'Estaing sailed to France. He arrived there in December just in time to enjoy the celebrations for his victory at Grenada. In July 1780 Estaing was sent to Cadiz, a staging point in Spain, to command a joint French-Spanish amphibious expedition. Its object was set as British Jamaica, but the signing of the Peace Preliminaries on January 20, 1783, ende
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Future President William McKinley Urges High-Tariff Advocate the American Protective Tariff League to Keep Active and Vigilant in the Cause (?It has been of great service in the past and it has greater opportunities for the future; and its cooperation was never so much needed as now. Do not relax in a single particular. The cause is worthy of your best efforts??)

Future President William McKinley Urges High-Tariff Advocate the American Protective Tariff League to Keep Active and Vigilant in the Cause (?It has been of great service in the past and it has greater opportunities for the future; and its cooperation was never so much needed as now. Do not relax in a single particular. The cause is worthy of your best efforts??)

William McKinley Starting in the Civil War, protection was the ideological cement holding the Republican coalition together. High tariffs were used to promise higher sales to business, higher wages to industrial workers, and higher demand for their crops to farmers. Democrats said it was a tax on the little man. Bliss was a successful wholesale merchant and Republican Party operative, and was a founder and first president of the American Protective Tariff League, which was campaigning to convince the American voter of the advantages of a protective tariff to labor and the industries of the United States. McKinley would run for president on a high tariff platform a few years later. Bliss declined to run as McKinley?s vice president in 1900 but had served in his cabinet as Secretary of the Interior until 1899.In this letter, McKinley writes his future Secretary of the Interior Cornelius Bliss concerning the American Protective Tariff League. Typed Letter Signed ?W. McKinley, Jr.? December 7, 1892, to prominent Republican politician Cornelius Bliss. ?I am very glad to learn that the Tariff League is to continue its work. It has been of great service in the past and it has greater opportunities for the future; and its cooperation was never so much needed as now. Do not relax in a single particular. The cause is worthy of your best efforts, and the approval of the people is sure to come.? McKinley added the ?Jr.? to his signature all his life until the death of his father in a few weeks before this letter. Apparently he stopped using it either shortly after this or may he have signed it this way out of habit so soon after his father?s death.
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Napoleon on the Defining Character of a Great Leader: "it is advantageous for the good of the service to be liked." (A powerful and emblematic statement

Napoleon on the Defining Character of a Great Leader: “it is advantageous for the good of the service to be liked.” (A powerful and emblematic statement, the first we have seen, of the General and then Emperor who defined an era and earned the love of his fighting men)

Napoleon Bonaparte He aims to build back the Navy after the defeat of the Trafalgar Campaign and worries about saboteurs in Bordeaux?A letter never before offered for sale, acquired from the direct descendants of the recipienthttps://vimeo.com/916159720?share=copy?Napoleon?s appeal to his men is legendary. More than almost any other person, he embodied the nationalism of the 19th century; his soldiers revered him and for generations after he was studied for his populist leadership. He was a man of the people. Many books have been written on this subject, movies produced, tracking his magnetic and popular character. Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke for many when he wrote of Napoleon, in his essay focused on the General, "Among the eminent persons of the nineteenth century, Bonaparte is far the best known and the most powerful; and owes his predominance to the fidelity with which he expresses the tone of thought and belief, the aims of the masses of active and cultivated men."Zacharie Allemand was a French naval man who won great victories for Napoleon but did not endear himself to his superiors or the sailors under his command. After attacks in the Atlantic on British outposts, he returned to Brest, one of the main French naval ports and, upon his arrival there, he was relieved of duty for "brutality towards his crews" and "rudeness towards his passengers". He was reinstated and eventually earned a larger command and operated a major Atlantic campaign as a diversionary affair to the Trafalgar campaign, which ended without the loss of a single ship in his fleet. This is now referred to as "Allemand's expedition" of 1805. In spite of complaints against his character, he was made Rear Admiral in January 1806.Napoleon was intent on laying low the British. His defeats at sea had made him all the more certain that the Atlantic venue must not be ignored. He had major ports for his fleet at Brest, Rochefort and the Gironde, in Bordeaux, where there were frigates under construction, among them the Penelope. The Battle of Trafalgar had seen the loss of 20 ships, more or less, and well over a thousand sailors. Napoleon was anxious to see a return to strength of his fleet.General Mouton, the Count of Lobau, was a prominent general and later Marshall of the Empire for Napoleon. Mouton means "lamb" in French, the source of Napoleon's now famous statement on Mouton: "My lamb is a lion." Napoleon valued Mouton to the extent that for his great Russia campaign he made him senior aide de camp. In 1806 Mouton was a Brigade General. He would remain in Napoleon's service until the end of the Empire, during which time he showed himself to be forthright, direct (?he's no fawner?, Napoleon is noted to have said) but also disciplined, loyal, meticulous and highly organized. He was at Austerlitz with Napoleon and was charged with the preparation of the campaigns in Spain (1808), Russia (1812), Germany (1813) and Belgium (1815). Napoleon also wrote ?Mouton is the best colonel to have ever commanded a French regiment.?Letter signed, St. Cloud, August 14, 1806, to General Mouton, Compte de Lobau."General Mouton, I desire that you speak with Rear Admiral Allemand. He is too harsh. His captains and officers do not like him and they leave him. Attempt to make him understand that it is advantageous for the good of the service to be liked."Go see the site at Rochefort. Things go slowly there. How many vessels will we be able to send to sea this year? When will the vessel now in the armament (for fitting) be able to go to harbor?"Go to Bordeaux. Examine the most of the Gironde and visit the batteries. Visit Blaye [up the river from Bordeaux]. Observe the spirit of the inhabitants of Bordeaux. I have heard from people who have assured me that there are malevolent actors in this town."Visit the three frigates which are in Bordeaux. When can we launch them to sea? The Penelope - when will she be completed?"Never before offered for sale, acquired in the US from the direct descendants of the recipient residing in the states.
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  • $33,000
Charles DeGaulle

Charles DeGaulle, Leader of the Free French, Sends the Gratitude of the French People to Allied Commander in Italy General Harold Alexander on the Taking of Rome (Taking Rome gave hope to the French. ?I send you, in my name and the name of the French Armed Forces, my strong and cordial congratulations on your great victory in Rome. I beg you to convey these sentiments also to Generals Clark and Leese.?)

Charles de Gaulle ALSs of DeGaulle from during World War II are extremely rare, this being our first everThe Allies? northward advance up the Italian peninsula to Rome was an important part of the plan to create a southern front and draw German troops to Italy to oppose them, even as the landing on D-Day approached. This would also liberate portions of Italy, and make the reclamation of France all the more likely. To bypass the German line in their way, the Allies landed some 50,000 seaborne troops, with 5,000 vehicles, at Anzio, only 33 miles south of Rome, on January 22, 1944. The landing surprised the Germans and met, at first, with very little opposition; but the force at Anzio spent so much time consolidating its position there that the Germans were able, with their reserves, to develop a powerful counteroffensive against it on February 3. The beachhead was thereby reduced to a very shallow dimension, while the German defenses at Monte Cassino held out against a new assault by Mark Clark?s 5th Army.British general Harold Alexander decided to shift most of the 8th Army, now commanded by General Sir Oliver Leese, from the Adriatic flank of the peninsula to the west, where it was to strengthen the 5th Army?s pressure around Monte Cassino. The combined attack, which was started in the night of May 11?12, 1944, succeeded in breaching the German defenses at a number of points between Cassino and the coast. Thanks to this victory, the Americans could push forward up the coast, while the British entered the valley and outflanked Monte Cassino, which fell on May 18. Five days later, the Allies? force at Anzio struck out against the Germans; and by May 26 it had achieved a breakthrough. When the 8th Army?s Canadian Corps penetrated the last German defenses in the Liri Valley, the defenses began to collapse. Concentrating all available strength on his left wing, Alexander pressed up from the south to effect a junction with the troops thrusting northward from Anzio. The Germans in the Alban Hills could not withstand the massive attack. On June 5, 1944, the triumphant Allies entered Rome. The next day, the Allies landed in Normandy on D-Day.Charles de Gaulle was head of the Free French and based in London. To him, the taking of Rome had a three-fold benefit - it would strengthen the Allied grasp in southern Europe, weaken the Germans, and make a liberation of France more possible.DeGaulle must have been elated, and this gave hope to the French. He wrote Alexander to congratulate him. Autograph letter signed during the war, London, start of June 1944, to General Harold Alexander. ?I send you, in my name and the name of the French Armed Forces, my strong and cordial congratulations on your great victory in Rome. I beg you to convey these sentiments also to Generals Clark and Leese.?ALSs of DeGaulle from during World War II are extremely rare, this being our first ever. And with this content, it?s a true treasure.
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  • $8,500
In Office Just Weeks

In Office Just Weeks, President Harry Truman Laments the Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ponders His New Responsibilities (He also has high hopes that the conference meeting to form the UN will result in ?a true charter of human freedom and security?)

Harry Truman On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in Georgia. Harry Truman, along with an entire nation, was stunned by Roosevelt?s unexpected passing. Truman, in particular, had little contact with Roosevelt since becoming FDR?s third Vice President in January 1945.Truman had spent his time as Vice President in his constitutional role of presiding over the Senate, and on that day a call came from the White House to go immediately to its Pennsylvania Avenue entrance. Truman was met by Eleanor Roosevelt and told the President had died. When Truman asked what he could do for Mrs. Roosevelt, she replied, ?Is there anything we can do for you? You are the one in trouble now.? Within minutes, the White House press agency sent out an official bulletin at 5:47 p.m., that President Roosevelt had died two hours earlier from a cerebral stroke. Chief Justice Harlan Stone was then called to the White House to issue Truman?s presidential oath of office in the Cabinet Room.At 7 p.m., Truman convened his first Cabinet meeting, which was a short session. But after the meeting, War Secretary Henry Stimson pulled President Truman aside to tell him about a secret project about a ?new explosive of almost unbelievable destructive power.? Two weeks later, Truman would be fully briefed on the Manhattan Project and the United States atomic program.One hour later, the White House issued a brief statement from President Truman. "The world may be sure that we will prosecute this war on both fronts, east and west, with all the vigor we possess, to a successful conclusion," Truman said. The White House also said that a conference in San Francisco to organize the United Nations would be forthcoming.Only twelve days later, on April 25, 1945, as Allied victory in World War II drew close, representatives of the member states met in San Francisco to write a treaty for a postwar UN that could arbitrate international disputes without conflict and prevent another world cataclysm. President Truman said to the opening of the conference, ?The world has experienced a revival of an old faith in the everlasting moral force of justice. At no time in history has there been a more important Conference, or a more necessary meeting, than this one in San Francisco, which you are opening today. On behalf of the American people, I extend to you a most hearty welcome.? On June 26, fifty nations signed the new United Nations Charter,Typed letter signed, on White House letterhead, Washington, May 22, 1945, to Hugh Moore, president of the Dixie Cup Company and Americans United for World Organization, lamenting FDR?s death and saying he has high hopes for the conference forming the UN.?I am indeed grateful for your letter of April thirteenth with its pledge of patriotic support in these difficult times. It means much to me to have this assurance as I enter upon the responsibilities so suddenly thrust upon me by the death of my lamented predecessor.?It is a source of strength and courage also to know that AMERICANS UNITED will work unceasingly to the end that San Francisco may fulfill the aspirations of our people for a true charter of human freedom and security."A moving letter by the new president on his assumption of office, and showing his interest in international cooperation.
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Spectacular Henry Clay Autograph Letter Saying He Fears for the Country After the 1828 Election of His Great Foe Andrew Jackson (??It has filled me with awful apprehension?the remaining energies of all of us should be directed in our respective spheres whatever they may be

Spectacular Henry Clay Autograph Letter Saying He Fears for the Country After the 1828 Election of His Great Foe Andrew Jackson (??It has filled me with awful apprehension?the remaining energies of all of us should be directed in our respective spheres whatever they may be, to avert any calamity which may be impending over us, in consequence of the event ?Still there is hope while there is life, or liberty.?)

Henry Clay Henry Clay was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 elections. He helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser" and was part of the "Great Triumvirate" of Congressmen alongside fellow Whigs Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun.Autograph Letter, Washington, Feb. 7, 1829 to former War and Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford. ?Your favor of the 24th January has been recd. Mr. Olin has been nominated as secretary of legation to London. I have not yet learned the fate of the nomination, nor can I venture to tell you what it will be. A majority of the Senate it would seem is resolved to act only on those nominations of the President which it thinks proper. Whether this unconstitutional rule will be applied to the case of your friend, so as to defeat his nomination, is to be seen. As to the termination of the contest for the presidency to what the close of your letter you advert, it is now useless to speculate on causes which might have prevented the particular issue. A much more interesting inquiry is, as to the consequences of it upon our country and its institutions; upon the present generation and posterity. Although it is not my habit to look too steadily at the gloomy side of the picture, I own to you that it has filled me with awful apprehension. Still there is hope while there is life, or liberty. And the remaining energies of all of us should be directed in our respective spheres whatever they may be, to avert any calamity which may be impending over us, in consequence of the event. With kindest regard.?Very good, the signature on the letter is cut off, but the signed free frank still remains. Andrew Jackson and Clay had hated each other for years and Clay lost the presidency to him in the election of 1832. In a letter to then Sec. of State Martin Van Buren in 1825 Crawford had expressed disappointment that Stephen Olin had not been made secretary of legation to London. It is to him the letter refers.
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Harry Truman Relates the Role He Played in Establishment of the United Nations (?I ordered the United Nations Conference to take place. That order was made on the evening of April 12

Harry Truman Relates the Role He Played in Establishment of the United Nations (?I ordered the United Nations Conference to take place. That order was made on the evening of April 12, 1945. I opened the Conference with a message, and I closed it with a speech. I dedicated the United Nations Building in New York, and just a short time ago I appeared in San Francisco to make a Tenth Anniversary speech.?)

Harry Truman Never before offered for sale; An extraordinary letter on the part he and the United States played in the birth of the UNA wartime Declaration by United Nations initially was signed by representatives of the United States, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union; over the course of the war, 21 other Allied nations joined this group. On April 25, 1945, as Allied victory drew close, representatives of the member states met in San Francisco to write a treaty for a postwar UN that could arbitrate international disputes without conflict and prevent another world cataclysm. President Truman said to the opening of the conference, ?The world has experienced a revival of an old faith in the everlasting moral force of justice. At no time in history has there been a more important Conference, or a more necessary meeting, than this one in San Francisco, which you are opening today. On behalf of the American people, I extend to you a most hearty welcome.? Americans followed news of the proceedings in San Francisco with intense interest.On June 26, 50 nations signed the new United Nations Charter, the founding document of the largest international organization in world history. In a preamble and 19 chapters, the Charter lays out the rules and structure of the UN and describes how the body works for global peace, security, and human rights. President Truman closed the United Nations Conference on that day with hope for the promise and possibility of the new international organization: ?Upon all of us, in all our countries, is now laid the duty of transforming into action these words which you have written. Upon our decisive action rests the hope of those who have fallen, those now living, those yet unborn ? the hope for a world of free countries ? with decent standards of living ? which will work and cooperate in a friendly civilized community of nations. This new structure of peace is rising upon strong foundations. Let us not fail to grasp this supreme chance to establish a world-wide rule of reason ? to create an enduring peace under the guidance of God.?On July 2, President Truman brought a copy of the Charter into the Senate and gave a plainspoken yet heartfelt address urging ratification. Truman - once a senator himself - reminded Congress that the people of the world were watching them. ?For they look to this body of elected representatives of the people of the United States to take the lead in approving the Charter?and pointing the way for the rest of the world.? The stakes were high, Truman noted. Twice in the past 30 years, the world?s leaders had failed to avoid bloodshed. ?This Charter points down the only road to enduring peace,? Truman proclaimed. ?There is no other.? On August 8, after the Senate ratified the United Nations Charter, President Truman signed it and the United States becomes the first nation to complete the ratification process and join the new international organization. Other nations followed suit, and the Charter went into effect on October 24, 1945.President Truman was thus instrumental in the commencement of the United Nations. Here is his description of his part in establishing the organization.Typed letter signed, on his letterhead, Kansas City, November 11, 1955, to Hugh Moore, president of the Dixie Cup Company and a supporter of the United Nations, describing his part in the formation of the organization and hoping its fundraising campaign will be successful.?In reply to your letter of the fifth, I am inclined to go along with you on a contribution to the campaign fund for the United Nations Tenth Anniversary, but I just can't afford it. I now belong to the great army of the unemployed, and the calls on me for this sort of thing are so great that it is impossible to meet them.?If you remember, I ordered the United Nations Conference to take place. That order was made on the evening of April 12, 1945. I opened the Conference with a message, and I closed it with a speech. I dedicated the United Nations Building in New York, and just a short time ago I appeared in San Francisco to make a Tenth Anniversary speech. I am reminding you of all these things to show you in what high regard I hold the United Nations and I sincerely hope that your Tenth Anniversary campaign with be a success.?Fascinating, this being the only letter of Truman articulating his part in the establishment of the United Nations that we can recall seeing.
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President Gerald R. Ford is Grateful for a Senator?s Support in the Mayaguez Incident

President Gerald R. Ford is Grateful for a Senator?s Support in the Mayaguez Incident, One of the Major Events in Ford?s Presidency (He explains the reason he took military action against the Khmer Rouge)

Gerald Ford ?We attempted to achieve the return of the ship and its crew through diplomatic channels. When no response came from the new Communist Government in Phnom Penh, I found it necessary to take strong military action.??This is considered as the last military action in the Vietnam WarThe fall of Saigon in April 1975 was nearly contemporaneous with the installation of another communist government in the region ? that of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. A brief operation the next month between the United States and Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia - the Mayaguez incident - stemming from a hostage situation, would be the final combat action of the Vietnam War.On May 12, 1975, a Khmer Rouge patrol boat approached the U.S.-registered container ship SS Mayaguez near the uninhabited Cambodian island of Poulo Wai. The communist gunboat forced the Mayaguez to stop via warning shots, and Khmer Rouge fighters then boarded the American vessel. The U.S. and the Khmer Rouge used different measures for how far territorial waters extended. Claiming that the Mayaguez had been sailing in Cambodian waters, the Cambodians seized the ship and took its captain and 39 crew members hostage. SOS signals sent from the Mayaguez and an initial U.S. report on the situation reached Washington, D.C. by the afternoon of May 12.The next day, U.S. Navy P-3 reconnaissance aircraft located the Mayaguez, which had been moved to Koh Tang, an island around 30 miles from the Cambodian mainland. Plans for a U.S. rescue operation were immediately put into motion, and Koh Tang was put under constant surveillance, with the resultant sinking of Khmer Rouge patrol boats that fired on U.S. aircraft. A two-pronged rescue operation was developed: U.S. Marine units would board the Mayaguez with support from the frigate USS Harold E. Holt, while a separate U.S. Marine detachment would undertake an armed assault on Koh Tang. Both actions would begin early on the morning of May 15.The boarding operation was a success, but U.S. personnel quickly discovered that the Mayaguez had been abandoned. U.S. attention shifted to the landing operations on Koh Tang, where Khmer resistance was proving to be much stiffer than anticipated. Three of the five helicopters in the initial U.S. landing were shot down, with two crashing on the northeastern beach of the island and one crashing into the ocean around a mile offshore. By the time the first assault wave was completed, eight of the nine U.S. helicopters had been destroyed or disabled, but 131 Marines and 5 USAF crewmen had been successfully landed on Koh Tang.Around three hours after the operation had begun, the situation with regards to the hostages from the Mayaguez developed rapidly. A fishing boat waving a white flag approached Koh Tang and was intercepted by the destroyer USS Henry B. Wilson. Aboard was the crew of the Mayaguez; the ship?s captain reported that the Khmer Rouge moved them to another island the previous day, briefly interrogated them, and then freed them. The crew?s captors hoped that this would encourage the U.S. to call off bombing runs on ports and naval bases on the Cambodian mainland, which began on the morning of the 15th.Typed letter signed on White House letterhead, Washington, May 21, 1975, to U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia. ?In looking through the Congressional Record of May 15, I note that you had issued your statements on May 13 and May 14 dealing with the SS MAYAGUEZ seizure. As you know, we attempted to achieve the return of the ship and its crew through diplomatic channels. When no response came from the new Communist Government in Phnom Penh, I found it necessary to take strong military action. Your second statement in support of that action is deeply appreciated.?This is our first letter of Ford about this incident. It is interesting to see that Ford gives his rationale for his actions, hoping to gain support in the Senate.
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  • $3,000
Original

Original, Unpublished Notes for Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia, Prepared for the Invasion, from the Archives of Napoleon’s Senior Aide de Camp Charged with Planning that Invasion (Sent at Napoleon’s direction to General Georges Mouton, the remarkable, 14-page manuscript gives directions to a prospective invading army, listing populations, topography, opportunities for provisioning, bridges to cross, etc.)

Napoleon Bonaparte It is based on an 1809 intelligence operation that Napoleon commissioned to chart Persia, Russia and the steppes?A remarkable and apparently unpublished manuscript documenting Russia and its environs in the early 1800s, fascinating for that purpose as well?Acquired from the direct descendants and never before offered for sale"Resistance could only result in the burning by the assailant of a large part of the wooden houses of Moscow"?"Minsk is a town of 10,000 inhabitants of which two thirds are Jewish."?https://vimeo.com/916160568?share=copyIn 1803, Camille Alphonse Trezel obtained the rank of lieutenant in the corps of topographical engineers. The next year he was promoted to assistant engineer geographer. After the Polish campaign, as a lieutenant, he was appointed acting aide to General Gardanne, in the embassy of France to Persia. He was commissioned at this time by Napoleon to take extensive notes, topographical, geographical and otherwise of Persia and its environs. On his return, he came through Russia. On his return to France, he was promoted to Captain in late 1810 / early 1811 and assigned as an aide-de-camp to General Armand Charles Guilleminot; he became lieutenant-commander in 1813. Napoleon aimed to defeat not only Russia but England, and the latter in part through India. Trezel and Gardanne in 1809 were tasked to survey the vast regions that would have to be crossed and to probe the dispositions of the populations, and as evidenced here, did so.Trezel's notes on Persia are published and important primary resources for the period and region. We found no record of the publication of his notes on Russia.In May and June 1812, Napoleon turned to mapping the pending invasion of Russia and finding the correct route. He had few great options. As the published papers of Napoleon state, "Despite the efforts of his geographical engineers, Napoleon never had good maps of Russia throughout the campaign. To compensate for this shortage, the Paris topographical office should have drawn large numbers of the few available maps and given them to the corps commanders. This was not done on the scale that the emperor wanted.? He complained during this stretch that he needed more routes to Russia, that one would not suffice for planning, and he wrote to Generals Clarke and Berthier complaining on this subject.On June 24, 1812 Napoleon commenced his famed campaign in Russia, ordering his Grande Arm?e, the largest European military force ever assembled to that date, into Russia. The enormous army featured more than 500,000 soldiers and staff and included contingents from Prussia, Austria, and other countries under the sway of the French empire. The campaign would be characterized by the massive toll on human life: in less than six months Napoleon lost near half of his men because of the extreme weather conditions, battle, disease and hunger. On both sides, nearly a million soldiers and civilians died.General Mouton, the Count of Lobau, was a prominent general and later Marshall of the Empire for Napoleon. Mouton means "lamb" in French, the source of Napoleon's now famous statement on Mouton: "My lamb is a lion." Napoleon valued Mouton to the extent that for his great Russia campaign he made him senior aide to camp. In 1806 Mouton was a Brigade General. He would remain in Napoleon's service until the end of the Empire, during which time he showed himself to be forthright, direct (?he's no fawner?, Napoleon is noted to have said) but also disciplined, loyal, meticulous and highly organized. He was at Austerlitz with Napoleon and was charged with the preparation of the campaigns in Spain (1808), Russia (1812), Germany (1813), and Belgium (1815). Napoleon also wrote ?Mouton is the best colonel to have ever commanded a French regiment.? In 1812 Mouton took an active part in the planning and enacting of the Russian campaign. When Napoleon left the army during the retreat and returned to Paris, Mouton accompanied him.Manuscript, in the hand of an intelligence officer, likely from the topographical department, from the Library of Georges Mouton, no date but likely late Spring 1812. The manuscript notes the position of Trezel as Captain and aide to camp for Guilleminot, a position Trezel effectively occupied between 1811 and 1812. It appears to be a shortened version of the report from the 1809 intelligence operation that Napoleon commissioned. Our gratitude to the Fondation Napoleon for their generous assistance."Notes on the Route from Warsaw to Moscow by Tykoezinn frontier of the Grand Duchy [of Warsaw] (47 leagues), Grodno (77 leagues), Mir (133), Mink (158), Orzay (208), Smolensk (237) and Moscow (333). Extracts from a voyage made in July 1809 by Captain Trezel, aid de camp of General Guilleminot."The following are quotes from the report:"The country between Warsaw and Moscow can be divided in three distinct parts separated from each other by large rivers or by old political limits recent changed by a great usurpation but which remains in the hearts of the inhabitants of old Poland."The first part enclosed by the Vistule and the Niemen has 77 leagues of length, and the Neiman has 77 leagues of length. The route that goes through it passes by a good number of little towns, among them, the towns of the route that goes through it passes by a good number of little towns, among them, the towns of Siroska, Pultuska, Ostrolenka, and Byalistok are the largest."?"The second from Grodno to Orzay has 125 leagues. It includes old Palatinate of Troki, Minsk, part of that of Vitebsk, all the high parts of the Niemen and also those of the Dnieper to the right bank of the Pleure beyond which starts the Russian government of Smolensk. The route passes by the towns of Norogrodek, Mir, Minsk, Barisow, Toloezinn, Orzay and Doubrovka."The third part between Smolensk and Moscow is entirely in old Russia. It's length by the route is 131 leagues. One finds in succession, the towns of Dorogouer, Viarnie, Gradsk, and Moyaiska
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The Unpublished Love Letters of a World War II B-17 Bomber Pilot

The Unpublished Love Letters of a World War II B-17 Bomber Pilot, the Flying Fortress, to His Wife (Approximately 115 letters from the front line pilot to his new wife, awaiting the birth of their child, touching on life in camp, missions he flew, his hoped for survival, and their love)

Americana Including his photo of her he kept while he flew, along with a dollar bill, separated at the start of his missions, half given to a friend, united only on their mutual survival?He flew 35 missions from the Bury St. Edmunds camp in England, to all over Germany[embed]https://vimeo.com/902085165?share=copy[/embed]?World War II remains the most momentous war in history, with over 50 million people dying in a struggle that, in Europe and the Pacific, lasted over a decade. The warring nations threw everything and everyone they had into the conflict, and it so absorbed the young adults in the United States, who fought and brought victory, that those who were in their 20s and 30s then are known as the Greatest Generation.J. Andrew Smith, Jr. was a young pilot from Goldsboro, NC. With the outbreak of the war, he entered pilot training and was assigned to the 94th Bomb Group, which flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign and served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization throughout the war. This unit was primarily based out of Bury St. Edmunds. Among the units composing the 94th was the 331st corp. Prior to D-Day in Jun 1944, it helped to neutralize weapon sites, airdromes, and other military installations along the coast of France. On June 6, it bombed enemy positions in the battle area to support the invasion of Normandy, and struck troops and gun batteries to aid the advance of the Allies at St Lo in July and at Brest in August. It covered the airborne attack on Holland in September and hit marshalling yards, airfields, and strong points near the combat area during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945. It bombed transportation, communications, and oil targets in the final push over the Rhine and across Germany.Smith arrived in the UK in the summer of 1944 and began flying missions in October. He flew 35 missions, all over Germany, as the pilot of his B-17 crew. He and his crew named their bomber 'Roll me over'. His was dangerous work.Prior to heading to the UK, he married his sweetheart, Hilda. When he left for the UK, she was pregnant with what would be their first child, a girl.From mid 1944 to his return in April 1945, he carried on a near daily communication with his wife in loving, tender correspondence that spoke to their relationship, their yet-to-be-born child, and daily life at camp in Bury St. Edmunds. They also spoke of the war and the dangers he faced. Many in his position did not return. At the start, he split a dollar bill for a fellow pilot, and they promised to be put it back together should they both survive. That, his prayer card and a photograph of his beloved wife were kept in his pocket as he flew and are all part of this archive.The archivePhotocopy of a manuscript map (original not surviving) of the military arrangement at Bury St. Edmunds, Station 468;His military identification card, signed by him;Official list of his "Operational Missions" - all over Germany - from October 1944 till April 7 1945. This speaks to the dangers he encountered flying in distant and perilous airspace.A handful of telegrams, including his announcement to his wife of the end of his tour, dated April 9, 1945. "Job completed - Am very thankful"His social security cardMaterials kept on his during his bombing tours: Two photographs of Hilda, his wife, including at last one carried on him during this flight; Prayer sheet; Dollar bill torn in half and shared with a friend to be united upon their joint survival in the war.The lettersA handful of letters from 1942 and 1943. Including:June 18, 1943 - "I think we will ship out the first of next week so if there is a break in my letters to you you will know that I'm on shipment. It's no telling what we will step into when we get to pre-flight. Only about 80 of us have gotten our classification, out of those are 5 bombardiers and 4 navigators. The seat pilot."July 1, 1943 - "Before the war everybody was happy, because life was peaceful, no boomtowns, or army camps or war war industries to hamper normal life. But now look at this country - lovers separated, people leaving their homes to go work in war industries."80 letters from 1944. The letters begin with him in training (Blytheville, AR), encouraging his wife to buy wedding bands for their marriage. He discusses his training.- February 28: "I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much unhappiness before your Mother agreed to the marriage. We were always meant to be man and wife and the day is so near now."- March 1: "We graduate in 11 days. We have lots of flying to do yet. We go on a cross country tonight down to Little Rock Ark. over to Batesville Miss and back here." This mission would be eventful. On March 2, he writes that his plane malfunctions and goes into details about how and what reports he made to his superiors. He considers himself lucky to be alive.The letters skip to September, where he finds himself in Rapid City. Much discussion of camp life and bomber training. He discusses who he wants in his bomber and in which position.He gets a planeSeptember 23 - "I was assigned a nice new B-17 to be my little airplane for a while so you see your old man got a fine airplane. We can stay happy and love each other so much. You can have our baby and stay healthy and strong and I can help fight this damn war for you and junior and come back to you and never let you leave me again."In late Sept, he leaves the states for England. On October 2, he writes from Iceland. On October 6, he arrives in England. "I might go into town tonight but I don't know yet if I can get a pass. All they have got is places they call pubs where they sell nothing but hot beer. Can you imagine that?"There is near daily discussion of camp life, censoring letters of his soldiers and other events.October 14 - "Some day when our kid grows up to be a man or woman, I pray to God that he will never have to go through what we are going through now. It's going to
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President Monroe Gives His Nephew Advice on Life

President Monroe Gives His Nephew Advice on Life, Career, Education, Residence, and Retirement in a Remarkable Letter to the Boy?s Mother (He also states his own plans for his impending retirement from public service: “I shall reside with my family on a farm, about 35 miles above their city, in a high and very healthy country, where the land is good and the neighborhood very respectable.”)

James Monroe He would have written sooner except he was ?engaged in important duties arising from the late adjournment of Congress.???Some plan ought to be adopted with a view to his future station in life, and on this subject I will communicate to you, freely, my sentiments. Having an increasing family, the improvement of their property for their own comfort and the education and advancement of their children, should be their great object. In fulfilling this, duty, your wishes and happiness should be consulted, and respectful attention should also be paid, to those of his aged parents, one of whom, his father, is very infirm, and subject to occasional attacks which menace his existence.??This is the longest Monroe ALS as President that we can recall seeingJames Monroe?s mother died in 1772, and his father two years later. Though he inherited property, including slaves, from both of his parents, the 16-year-old Monroe was forced to withdraw from school to support his younger brothers. He was therefore experienced in guiding and giving advice to youths. One of these brothers was Andrew Augustine Monroe, who married in the 1790s, and in 1799 named his only son after his brother ? James. When in 1805 the elder James Monroe came into sole possession of his uncle?s valuable estate, he gave management of the estate to his brother Andrew, who lived at the 6-room overseer?s house from 1808 to 1817. James continued to feel responsibility for young family members, particularly so in James?s case, as the lad had little schooling and was ill-disciplined by his parents.James Monroe the elder was U.S. Ambassador to France during the Napoleonic Era, and was governor of Virginia in 1811. But he left that year when, in April 1811, President James Madison appointed him Secretary of State in hopes of shoring up the support of the more radical factions of his Democratic-Republican Party. From 1814-1815, Monroe also served as Secretary of War. In 1816 Monroe was elected President of the United States, and took office on March 4, 1817. He served for eight years, a period known as the Era of Good Feelings.At the young James?s desire, his powerful uncle had him appointed to the West Point Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1815. In the army, he served as aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott. After that he moved to New York and became a politician, serving in Congress during the Van Buren administration. He hob-nabbed with the rich and prominent in the city, such as the Schermerhorns, and his grandson married Theodore Roosevelt?s sister (who was also the aunt of Eleanor Roosevelt).When Monroe was Secretary of State, he wrote his nephew a letter giving him advice, moral, philosophical, and practical. The letter may seem stern to us today, but would not have seemed so at the time. And the fact that he wrote it at all shows that a bond of affection existed, as well as real interest in the boy?s welfare.Autograph letter signed, as President, Washington, 18 June 1824, to Mrs. George Douglas, mother of his nephew's wife, apologizing for the delay in replying to her letter due to important duties arising from the later adjournment of Congress. ?I have had the pleasure to receive your letter of the 10th of this month, and should have answered it sooner had I not been much engaged in important duties arising from the late adjournment of Congress. Although | have always taken a deep interest in the we/fare of my brother and his family, and this youth, his son, has been raised in a great measure, under my care, yet I took no part in promoting his marriage, or in any concern connected with It. With your sons &daughters who were here, we were much pleased, seeing that they had been well educated, and of your character & merit, we had formed the most favorable opinion, as well from what we heard from others. As the proof afforded, by the education of your children, & the care which you had taken on their property, since the death of their father. As James was young and inexperienced, & had little more than his profession, indeed | may say that alone, | saw no objection, to any settlement, which might be made of his wife?s property, calculated to secure it to them & their children, which should not degrade them both. On this subject I took no part, while a restraint seemed necessary, I advised him to remain in the army and was very glad that its duties permitted his establishment at the arsenal, as they would be near you, he would have an honorable occupation, be aided in his expenses by his pay, and would commence house keeping in a small house, and on a scale of economy which might be useful to them through life.?I think that the time has arrived when some plan ought to be adopted with a view to his future station in life, and on this subject I will communicate to you, freely, my sentiments. Having an increasing family, the improvement of their property for their own comfort and the education and advancement of their children, should be their great object. In fulfilling this, duty, you your wishes and happiness should be consulted, and respectful attention should also be paid, to those of his aged parents, one of whom, his father, is very infirm, and subject to occasional attacks which menace his existence. To separate himself altogether from them would be a degree of unkindness which you could not approve. And to them, it would also be agreeable to become acquainted with his children. I do not think that he ought to remain longer than a year more in the army. The peaceful state of the country does not require it, and the duties of the military profession would occupy too much of his time, as to prevent the adoption of any fixed plan for the improvement of their property for his own advancement in life, and for the education and advancement of their children. An establishment in the city of New York would in my opinion not be advisable, even if their property was worth double what it is. He was brought up to no profession, bu
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The Early Days of Japanese - American Relations: President William McKinley Officially Authorizes Implementation of One of the Early Treaties Between the Two Countries

The Early Days of Japanese – American Relations: President William McKinley Officially Authorizes Implementation of One of the Early Treaties Between the Two Countries, Dealing With Intellectual Property (This is the first treaty authorization document between the United States and Japan that we have had, or in fact have ever seen)

William McKinley Japan started emerging into the modern world with the accession to the throne of the Meiji Emperor in 1868. The country quickly began to modernize and industrialize, and one aspect of this was to protect intellectual property. In 1884, a trademark law was promulgated. The Patent Monopoly Act came the following year, and protection for designs was passed in 1888. These were authorized by the Meiji Emperor, who lived until 1912.After years of contention, the dawn of the 20th century saw U.S. and Japanese interests aligned. Both nations supported the idea of an ?open door? for commercial expansion in China. After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904?05, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt would act as a mediator at Japan?s request, and the two sides of the conflict met on neutral territory in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In the same year, U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft met with Prime Minister Katsura Taro in Japan. The two concluded the secret Taft-Katsura Agreement, in which the United States acknowledged Japanese rule over Korea and condoned the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902. At the same time, Japan recognized U.S. control of the Philippines.The first treaty, a general one of Comity and Commerce, took place in 1854. But more formal relations were required to protect mutual interests. The two nations sought to regularize business relationships, and an important aspect of that was to provide for mutual protection of intellectual property. In 1897, a treaty was negotiated with the United States to that effect. The treaty was negotiated, ratified by the Senate on February 1, 1897, and ratified by the Meiji Emperor of Japan on March 6. 1897.Just days later, President McKinley finalized the treaty process. Document signed, Washington, March 9, 1897, ordering implementation of the treaty between the United States and Japan regarding patents and trademarks. Specifically, President McKinley authorizes and directs the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to ?my Proclamation of the Convention between the United States and Japan concluded January 13, 1897, for the immediate reciprocal protection of patents, trademarks and designs.?This treaty, from the ?honeymoon? period for U.S./Japanese relations, did not last long. By the time Theodore Roosevelt left office, tensions were already beginning to arise.This is the first treaty authorization document between the United States and Japan that we have had, or in fact have ever seen.
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Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan, in a Handwritten Letter as President, References Moses’ Parting of the “Red Sea” (He jokes that he would wear rubber shoes, since “the bottom may still be wet”)

Ronald Reagan He awaits a report on the Communist government in China?An increasingly rare and insightful unpublished ALS of Reagan as President, which also shows how he handled his correspondence, offered for sale for the first time hereRonald Reagan is closely associated with his strong Christian faith. He knew the Bible and believed in it. He used the symbol of the parting of the Red Sea with some frequency in speeches before and during his presidency.Douglas Morrow was a Hollywood screenwriter and film producer. He earned an Academy Award for his script for 1949?s The Stratton Story, a biography of baseball player Monty Stratton, who was disabled in a hunting accident. Reagan played the lead role in the film, and the men stayed close. Morrow?s other films included Jim Thorpe ? All-American and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. He also wrote for a number of television series.Autograph letter signed, November 10, no year, on White House letterhead, to "Dear Doug." "Just have a few minutes between chores and this is easier than waiting for the chance to dictate."Just give me an "overnight" on the Red sea but bring your rubbers; the bottom may still be wet"I'll await your China report - in the meantime thanks for your kind words. Nancy sends her regards and give our best to Margot." Signed "Ron."This unpublished letter was acquired from the Morrow descendants and has never been offered for sale.
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Original Autopsy Report and Unpublished Lab Notes from the Assassination of the Fallen President McKinley: From the Desk of a Surgeon Who Performed It (His Original Manuscripts and Newly Discovered Notes Helping to Show What Killed the President)

Original Autopsy Report and Unpublished Lab Notes from the Assassination of the Fallen President McKinley: From the Desk of a Surgeon Who Performed It (His Original Manuscripts and Newly Discovered Notes Helping to Show What Killed the President)

William McKinley The Final Bacterial and Chemical Autopsy Report ruling out initial infection and poisonPreviously unknown to exist and never before offered for sale, it is accompanied by an archive including the surgeon's manuscript notebook, with revisions and notes, documenting his work to determine McKinley's cause of deathThis archive contains the momentous news conveyed to the nation of the likely cause of McKinley's death, which included neither poison bullet nor infection at the original wound site: "Bacterial infection was not a factor in the production of the conditions found at the autopsy."This material, which is part of a larger archive of relevant letters and printed material, has been with the descendants of the surgeon, Dr. Herman Matzinger, since its creation and has never been offered for sale.[embed]https://vimeo.com/895978507?share=copy[/embed]On Sept 6, 1901, President William McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition being held in the Temple Of Music in Buffalo, New York. Leon Czolgosz waited for hours to assassinate McKinley. He had a pistol in his hand wrapped up in cloth to hide it. When Czolgosz got to McKinley he put out his hand and shook hands with McKinley and then pulled the trigger twice at close range. One bullet bounced harmlessly off his sternum and did not enter his body. The other entered the left upper quadrant of his abdomen, piercing the front and back walls of the stomach.A team of doctors was hastily assembled. Dr. Matthew Mann took the lead in bringing McKinley to the hospital and operating on him. McKinley survived the operation and appeared to be getting better but on the 12th or so began to deteriorate. He died on Sept 14, 1901. Mann had decided to leave the bullet in the body, did not clean the wound and sewed up McKinley using decidedly non surgical techniques. Later, Mann was called on to give reports of McKinley?s last words. He said that McKinley repeated portions of the hymn ?Nearer, my God, to Thee.??On the morning of September 15, 1901, McKinley?s body lay in state and was viewed by thousands of mourners until midnight, when the horse-drawn hearse bore the casket to Union Station. The body was kept overnight at the White House where it again lay in state. A special train then took the President?s remains to Canton, Ohio, McKinley?s home, the night of September 17. The funeral was held on September 19.McKinley did not have a Secret Service agent with him. When he was shot, he became the last president to walk through a crowd of people without a member of the Secret Service by his side.The days and weeks after McKinley's death brought an onslaught of critics from prominent medical schools and practices, doctors criticizing the skills of the attending professionals. And a rumor developed and spread rapidly that the nature of the wound and prolonged death, and evidence of infection, meant that the assassin had put poison on the tip of the bullet, killing McKinley by the use of a topical agent.Today, it is believed that McKinley died from pancreatic necrosis, a condition which is still difficult to treat today, and which the surgeons of McKinley's time could not have treated or prevented. An infection developed later along the bullet pathway and around the pancreas. But they knew none of that at the time.A formal, official report was commissioned by the medical professionals at the behest of the government; and it would be broken into two parts. This would be the official report of the assassination of President McKinley, the last such presidential death for more than half a century until John F. Kennedy. The first part was the account of the shooting and surgical operations, lasting until his death. This primarily involved Drs. P. M. Rixey, Matthew D. Mann, Herman Mynter, Roswell Park, Eugene Wasdin, Charles McBurney, and Charles G. Stockton, McKinley's attending physicians.The second part, which was widely anticipated and came later, consisted of the autopsy and the bacteriological report, which would do much to shed light on the cause of death and whether foul play was involved.Drs. Harvey Gaylord and Herman Matzinger conducted the autopsy together. Dr. Matzinger alone conducted the analysis of the bacteria and other materials taken from the wound of President McKinley. The day of his death, Dr. Mann and the other physicians took samples from the wound and sent them to Matzinger. They also sent Matzinger samples from the weapon and bullets.From September 14 through September 30, Matzinger set about his task, analyzing the results of bacteriological results of his experiments, breaking his work into component parts. He looked at the surface samples taken from the wound, injecting elements of it into rabbits and a dog; he looked at the samples taken from the bullets; and he looked at the blood samples. There were of course other elements he considered.At the turn of the month, he sent his final report to his colleagues, and it contained the famous statement that left no doubt: there was no poison; and it would not be so easy to call this a bacterial infection; indeed no surface wound evidence existed to point to that. In a line widely published in newspapers, he wrote that "bacterial infection was not a factor in the production of the conditions found at the necropsy."The reports filed by Drs. Gaylord and Matzinger consisted primarily of the statement recounting the autopsy of President McKinley and the Report on the Bacteriological Examination.The archiveThe archive consists of the retained material of Dr. Matzinger, his original report with his edits, the final submitted, his notebook used during the examination of the materials, his analysis of the factors that caused the death of the president, and other germane information. The archive came to us directly from the Matzinger heirs and has never before been offered for sale.The surgeons attending the body of the ailing McKinley send samples to Matzinger to understand what is going on with him
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Longtime Quartermaster General Thomas S. Jesup Writes the Commander of Fort Armstrong

Longtime Quartermaster General Thomas S. Jesup Writes the Commander of Fort Armstrong, Iowa About the Construction of a New Barracks (He criticizes the project, saying ?the house that was authorized by the former and erected by the latter is entirely without authority would not be tolerated in any other service??)

Thomas S. Jesup With the pacification of the Indian threat in Illinois, the U.S. Government ceased operations at Fort ArmstrongThomas Sidney Jesup was a United States Army officer known as the "Father of the Modern Quartermaster Corps". His 52-year (1808?1860) military career was one of the longest in the history of the United States Army. In 1836, while Jesup was still officially Quartermaster General, President Andrew Jackson detached him first to deal with the Creek tribe in Georgia and Alabama, and then to assume command of all U.S. troops in Florida during the Second Seminole War (1835?1842). His capture of Seminole leaders Osceola and Micanopy under a false flag of truce provoked controversy in the United States and abroad.Fort Armstrong was one of a chain of western frontier defenses which the United States erected after the War of 1812. It was located at the foot of Rock Island, in the Mississippi River near the present-day Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. In 1832, the U.S. Army used the fort as a military headquarters during the Black Hawk War. It was normally garrisoned by two companies of United States Army regulars. With the pacification of the Indian threat in Illinois, the U.S. Government ceased operations at Fort Armstrong and the U.S. Army abandoned the frontier fort in 1836.Letter Signed, 2 pages, Quartermaster General?s Office, Washington, November 20, 1834. ?The case of the erection of new quarters at Fort Armstrong in obedience to your reiterated order to the assistant quartermaster at that post, having been submitted by the third auditor to the secretary of war for his decision was referred to me and in relation to which I made the following remarks, viz. ?It will no doubt be remembered that the designated last year for an amount sufficient to cover the expense of new quarters directed by order of Lieutenant Colonel Davenport and to construct additional quarters and barracks at Rock Island and that the amount was stricken out of the estimate in the House of Representative. In examining the accounts therefore for the expenses increased in building it was found that the authority required by the regulations was wanting and hence my remarks on the accounts. General Atkinson might have authorized and Lieutenant Colonel Davenport have erected a palace with as much propriety as the house that was authorized by the former and erected by the latter is entirely without authority would not be tolerated in any other service that can - it is not the amount in this case but the principle which is objectionable but as it is believed the regulations will correct such irregularities in future and as the appropriation for the quartermasters department will bear the expenditure I recommend that the accounts be allowed. Th. S. Jesup, QMG 18 Nov. 1834,? has been endorsed by the Secretary of War ?Allowed?.
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A Great American Literary Manuscript: the Complete Conclusion

A Great American Literary Manuscript: the Complete Conclusion, Signed and Dated, of Book 4 of Washington Irving’s The Life of Washington (“In the volumes here concluded, we have endeavored to narrate faithfully the career of Washington from childhood”)

Washington Irving He states his goal and strategy in writing this great work, this being the conclusion as sent to the printer?Other manuscripts of Washington Irving are unsigned and fragmentary and situated in the middle of other sections, making this unique in our experience. It is signed, complete as a section, and a great summation of Irving's work and intent.?Washington Irving, Literary Giant and First American Professional Author & Biographer[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://raab-collection-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204112756/Untitled-5.mp4" poster="https://raab-collection-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204112751/Screen-Shot-2023-09-28-at-1.30.13-PM.jpg"][/video]?For Washington Irving, telling the story of George Washington was a lifelong passion. Irving?s mother named the future writer after Washington and took the boy to the hero?s first inauguration in 1789, where the President supposedly blessed him. It is said among the first things Irving ever wrote was on George Washington, whose biography he hoped one day to write.Washington Irving?s career as a writer started in journals and newspapers. He published Salmagundi (1807-08), and from 1812 -1814 was an editor of Analetic Magazine in Philadelphia and New York. In 1809 appeared Irving?s comic ?A History of New York?, by the imaginary Dietrich Knickerbocker, who was supposed to be an eccentric Dutch-American scholar. The book became part of New York folklore. Irving?s success continued with ?The Sketch Book?, a collection of stories that included the short stories for which he is so well known, ?The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? and ?Rip Van Winkle? The success of these stories allowed him to become America?s first professional writer, earning his living from the craft of literature.In 1828 he wrote his notable biography of Columbus, ?The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,? which led the Spanish to elect him to the Royal Academy. In 1842 President John Tyler appointed him Ambassador to Spain, and he served in that position until 1845.After returning from Spain, Irving researched and wrote his great 5 volume magnum opus, his immortal ?The Life of George Washington?, which was published from 1855-59. He died just a few months later. It is perhaps the first great American biography and he the first prominent American biographer. As such it deserves a place in the literary history of the United States.Irving?s Assessment of Washington and the Revolution:_The Complete Original Manuscript For the Concluding Remarks of Volume 4Washington: ?He fought for a cause, but not for personal renown.?Here he provides his assessments of Washington the man, Washington the leader, the Revolutionary War and the American cause. It is a virtual guide on how to view these, full of insights and valuable perspectives.Autograph Manuscript Signed of this entire conclusion, at once both literary and biographical, sent by Irving to Putnam and retained by the latter. ?In the volumes here concluded, we have endeavored to narrate faithfully the career of Washington from childhood, through his early surveying expeditions in the wilderness, his diplomatic mission to the French posts on the frontier, his campaigns in the French war, his arduous trials as commander-in-chief, throughout the Revolution, the noble simplicity of his life in retirement, until we have shown him elevated to the presidential chair, by no effort of his own, in a manner against his wishes, by the unanimous vote of a grateful country. The plan of our work has necessarily carried us widely into the campaigns of the Revolution, even where Washington was not present in person; for his spirit pervaded and directed the whole, and a general knowledge of the whole is necessary to appreciate the sagacity, forecast, enduring fortitude, and comprehensive wisdom with which he conducted it. He himself has signified to one who aspired to write his biography, that any memoirs of his life, distinct and unconnected with the history of the war, would be unsatisfactory. In treating of the Revolution, we have endeavored to do justice to what we consider its most striking characteristic; the greatness of the object and the scantiness of the means. We have endeavored to keep in view the prevailing poverty of resources, the scandalous neglects, the squalid miseries of all kinds, with which its champions had to contend in their expeditions through trackless wildernesses, or thinly peopled regions; beneath scorching suns or inclement skies; their wintry marches to be traced by bloody foot- prints on snow and ice; their desolate wintry encampments, rendered still more desolate by nakedness and famine. It was in the patience and fortitude with which these ills were sustained by a half-disciplined yeomanry, voluntary exiles from their homes, destitute of all the ?pomp and circumstance? of war to excite them, and animated solely by their patriotism, that we read the noblest and most affecting characteristics of that great struggle for human rights. They do wrong to its moral grandeur, who seek by commonplace exaggeration, to give a melodramatic effect and false glare to its military operations, and to place its greatest triumphs in the conflicts of the field. Lafayette showed a true sense of the nature of the struggle, when Napoleon, accustomed to effect ambitious purposes by hundreds of thousands of troops, and tens of thousands of slain, sneered at the scanty armies of the American Revolution and its ?boasted allies.? ?Sire,? was the admirable and comprehensive reply, ?it was the grandest of causes won by skirmishes of sentinels and outposts.??In regard to the character and conduct of Washington, we have endeavored to place his deeds in the clearest light, and left them to speak for themselves, generally avoiding comment or eulogium. We have quoted his own words and writings largely, to explain his feelings and motives, and give the true key to his policy; for never did
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