Nov 18, 2008 - Sale 2163

Sale 2163 - Lot 74

Price Realized: $ 900
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
"DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR" (CIVIL WAR.) Pair of war-date letters from A.W. Ellet, and related family papers. 11 letters and documents on 12 leaves; various sizes and conditions, generally strong but some with moderate separations at folds. Vp, 1861-1907
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Additional Details

At the heart of this collection are 2 Autograph Letters Signed from Ellet to his wife. Neither letter includes a dateline or salutation, but both appear to be complete. The first, apparently written in October 1861 shortly after Ellet became a captain in the 59th Illinois Infantry, expresses his wish that he could help with harvest, but "as long as I see the slightest possibility of our coming in contact with the enemy no earthly consideration could induce me to desert my post . . . death before dishonor." He adds that he was "compelled yesterday to put my first man in the guardhouse," adding that he was "very sorry to have to begin severity but it cannot be avoided always." His second letter, probably written in April or May of 1862, discusses the blood-stained cannons from the recent Battle of Pea Ridge, the court-martial of a fellow officer for the burning of Bentonville, AR, his own efforts to thwart looting by his men, his frustration in posing for a recent photograph, and more. With these 2 important war-date letters are 9 other letters and documents dated 1852 to 1907 relating to Ellet's family and war service, including Ellet's 1861 commission as an infantry captain, an 1861 letter from his son advocating for emancipation, and post-war letters and speeches on the family's war service. A complete list is available upon request.