(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Pair of letters regarding enslaved laborers on the defenses of Charleston--one endorsed by General Beauregard. Manuscript letters, one signed by South Carolina Governor Milledge Bonham, and the other with the docketing signature of General P.G.T. Beauregard; folds, minimal wear. Charleston, SC, 25 and 26 July 1863
The port city of Charleston, SC was essential to the Confederate cause--and enslaved labor was essential to protecting it. These letters were written just a week after the city's Fort Wagner nearly fell to the glorious assault of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
In the first letter (one page, 7 3/4 x 6 inches), Georgia Governor Milledge Bonham writes an Autograph Letter Signed to General P.G.T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate defenses of South Carolina: "There is much complaint from various quarters that the Negros are not kept at labor and do not accomplish what they should. . . . Allow me to suggest Major Willis, who seems to be energetic, & others be assigned to the duty of assisting Major Echols, whose time must be too much occupied to give his . . . attention." Charleston, SC, 25 July 1863.
General Beauregard forwarded the letter to Major William H. Echols, chief engineer on the defenses, who addressed these concerns in a letter to Brigadier General Thomas Jordan, who served as Beauregard's chief of staff (2 pages, 10 x 8 inches): "In reply to Gov'r Bonham's letter . . . respecting the complaints of the working of the Negroes, &c, I have to state that very few overseers came down with them. . . . I asked several of the owners who brought them down about the overseers, and they replied that they could not be spared from home. . . . What is needed most to overcome the difficulty are experienced managers to follow the Negroes closely to see that each individual does his duty." This is a secretarial copy of the original Echols letter, with docketing signed by General Beauregard himself two days later: "Resp'ly referred to His Excellency Gov'r. M.L. Bonham, for his information. G.T. Beauregard, Gen'l Com'd'g." Charleston, SC, 26-28 July 1863.
