Nov 18, 2008 - Sale 2163

Sale 2163 - Lot 81

Price Realized: $ 1,200
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
"MGQLL BELIOGU BILJ"--WITH TRANSLATION (CIVIL WAR--CONFEDERATE.) Pickett, George E. Coded telegraph message sent to Gen. Braxton Bragg. 2 pages on one sheet, 4.5 x 8 inches, separations at folds, cello tape repairs on verso. Petersburg, VA, 10 May 1864
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Additional Details

This desperate message was sent during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House by Maj. Gen. Pickett to Gen. Bragg. While the main battle raged in Spotsylvania north of Richmond, Bragg was on the defenses of the Confederate capitol, and Pickett's division was defending Petersburg to the south. After the fighting of May 9, Bragg began to fear a Union offensive against Richmond, and spent much of the night lobbying for reinforcements to his position at Drewry's Bluff (see Horn, The Petersburg Campaign, 22-23). Pickett was still receiving reinforcements for the defense of Petersburg and was reluctant to spare any of them, as he also expected an assault. This was the context for Pickett's coded message, which fortunately appears in a contemporary translation on the verso: "Hoke's Brigade here, all needed on this side of River, will send next troops over the river. Heavy firing at Swift Creek. Attack the enemy from your side, they are making an advance on us. One thirty A.M., Geo. E. Pickett." The message was originally dated 9 May, which was corrected to 10 May as midnight had already passed.
The message was written out by an unknown telegrapher on the printed form of the Southern Telegraph Companies in Richmond. It was written in code as received, with the last part of the message extending to the verso. The translation is in another unknown hand on verso. The message also bears 2 inked stamps noting that it had been edited for the War of the Rebellion series. The published version, however, lacks important information found in this original.