Oct 10, 2019 - Sale 2519

Sale 2519 - Lot 15

Price Realized: $ 1,375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
"YOU ARE DESTINED TO ACT . . . AGAINST . . . MEXICO WITH WHICH WE ARE AT WAR" SCOTT, WINFIELD. Letter Signed and Inscribed, "Wishing you credit & honour in the expedition," as Commanding General, to 2nd Lieutenant Christopher Q. Tompkins, ordering him and his men to board the USS Lexington bound for Mexico, reminding him to cooperate with naval command, explaining that it may be necessary to build and defend a fort, and describing how to requisition supplies. 3 1/2 pages, 4to, written on a folded sheet; moderate bleedthrough throughout, minor staining at lower edge of pages 3 and 4, folds. With the original envelope, addressed in his hand and additionally signed, postmarked. Washington, 20 June 1846
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"As the commander of a company of the 3d Artillery, you have been ordered to embark with the same on board of the U.S. ship, the Lexington, . . . bound to the north-west coast of America.
". . . [Y]ou are destined to act in conjunction with the U. States naval forces in the Pacific, against the republic of Mexico with which we are at war. The commander of that squadron may desire to capture & to hold certain important points, as Monterey & towns or posts in San Francisco bay. . . .
". . . Your condition & that of your company, on board the Lexington . . . will be that of passengers, not Marines; but in the event of the ship finding herself in action, you . . . will not fail to show yourselves at least as efficient as any equal number of Marines whatsoever. . . .
"On effecting a successful landing in the enemy's country, it may be necessary . . . to erect & defend one or more forts--in order to hold the conquered place or places. . . ."
Published in Messages of the President of the United States . . . On the Subject of the Mexican War. Washington, 1848.
Christopher Quarles Tompkins (1813-1877) served as a Confederate colonel in the 22nd Virginia Infantry; he fought at Scary Creek and Carnifex Ferry in 1861 and resigned the following year.
Provenance: Property of a descendant of Christopher Quarles Tompkins.