Nov 18, 2008 - Sale 2163

Sale 2163 - Lot 86

Price Realized: $ 1,320
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
HOT GOSSIP FROM GENERAL POLK'S AIDE (CIVIL WAR--CONFEDERATE.) Richmond, William B. 2 letters to Alexander H. Polk. 6 pages, 13 x 8.5 inches, on 2 sheets * 4 pages, 10 x 7.5 inches, on one sheet. Letters have several closed tears in text area, and some separations at folds with very slight loss of text, but are completely legible. Np, 1863
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Col. William B. Richmond and Capt. Alexander Hamilton Polk (1831-1872) were both aides-de-camp on the staff of Alexander's father Gen. Leonidas Polk. These two personal letters offer great insights into the internal politics of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee during the heart of the war.
The first letter, dated 1 April 1863, offers extensive commentary on the Battle of Stones River, mocking the accuracy of the official reports on both sides. Braxton Bragg's insults to his subordinate John C. Breckinridge have been "understood here as an open war between every Kentuckian and the commanding general." Richmond also gossips about the marriage and name change of colorful Confederate spy W. Orton Williams, noting that a colleague "had hopes of the race of d--d f--s expiring till Williams married."
The second letter was written 29 August 1863 during the Chickamauga Campaign. Richmond describes in great detail the controversy over charges filed against Gen. Thomas Hindman, and concludes with notes on troop movements as the Army of the Tennessee stalked the Union troops through the mountains outside Chattanooga: "The enemy are supposed to be moving up the river on the opposite side. Crittenden's Corps is supposed to be nearly all near Blythe's Ferry. The balance of Rosecrans' army are thought to be near Bridgeport & Stevenson."
Capt. Polk survived the war, but Col. Richmond died three weeks after the second letter, at the Battle of Chickamauga.