Sep 28, 2023 - Sale 2646

Sale 2646 - Lot 98

Unsold
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(CIVIL WAR--CONFEDERATE.) Papers concerning the restoration of General Philip Roddey's citizenship, and his post-war life. 27 letters, receipts and documents, plus printed ephemera, in two folders; a few of the later items mounted on thin paper, otherwise minimal to minor wear. Various places, May 1865 to 1925
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Additional Details

Brigadier General Philip Dale Roddey (1826-1897) was perhaps the last Confederate general in the east when he surrendered the remnants of his Department of Northern Alabama on 17 May 1865 (see preceding lot). These papers document his parole, the restoration of his citizenship rights, and his return to civilian life. They begin with two military orders forbidding his request to visit Louisville ten days after his surrender: "The terms . . . do not permit him to go anywhere but to his home, and there to stay" (27 May 1865).

Most important is Roddey's Autograph Letter Signed to President Andrew Johnson, dated Tuscaloosa, AL, 13 June 1865: "Believing it to be your intention to pardon such officers (now excepted) as have acted honorably during the war, I most respectfully submit this, my application to become a citizen of the United States." He offers three Union generals as references, "all of whom have served in the vicinity of North Ala. where I have been stationed almost continuously since my connection with the Confederate Army. The absolute necessity of my engaging in business to support my family (now without means) induces me to urge your early attention."

This is followed by a letter from Joseph C. Bradley of Huntsville, AL to President Johnson, 21 July 1865, noting that "many Union men have been murdered in the department of Gen'l Roddy, and him & his officers should free themselves from these crimes before clemency is extended." He offers the names of five local Union men who can offer "strict justice" to Roddey's application.

The application was still pending on 15 January 1866, when Governor Patton of Alabama wrote to Roddey: "I would advise you to see the President in person, and represent to him the great embarrassments under which you labour without his executive pardon." Roddey's pardon documents, bearing secretary of State Seward's stamped signatures, dated March 1866, are included.

Among the postwar papers, we find a letter from former Confederate colonel Josiah Patterson dated Memphis, 22 March 1886, complaining that the reputations of their unit's officers have suffered over the years, and proposing a business reunion of the department, in hopes of launching a book project. Other letters and documents relate to Roddey's cotton trading from 1865 onwards, plus two letters to his daughters dated 1900 and 1925 discussing his war service.