Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47123

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47123

Ulysses S. Grant Letter Signed. One page, 5 x 8 inches, "Head Quarters Dep't of the Tennessee, Before Vicksburgh"; February 7, 1863. Addressed to the Commanding Officer of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, General Grant issues orders to transport a coal barge from Helena, Arkansas, to naval forces at Delta, Mississippi, and outlines the temporary assignment of infantry to serve as Marines aboard Admiral David D. Porter's gunboats. Written at the outset of the ill-fated expedition, the order set in motion the logistical preparations for the Union flotilla's slow push through the Yazoo's labyrinthine waterways. Signed, "U. S. Grant / Maj. Genl." In full:

"You will proceed without delay to Helena, Ark. and there take in tow a barge of coal, applying to Genl Gorman for the same, and return to Delta, Miss. with it.

At Delta you will remain until the arrival of four Gunboats that have been designated by Admiral Porter, when you will divide your force and send them aboard of the Gunboats, the number on each to be determined by the Navy Dep't. As soon as the expedition proceeds you will discharge the transport on which you ascend the river, and direct her to return the empty coal barge to Helena and then return to this fleet herself.

Full directions have been given the Navy Department for their guidance on this expedition.

The Infantry go to act as Marines for the occasion. The troops will be under the immediate command of their own officers, but in no instance are they to exercise control over the vessels, or dictate where they are to go or what do.

The troops are designed to give protection to the vessels on which they are, and to operate on land if the necessity arises."

After his failure to capture Vicksburg in late 1862, Grant began strategizing to weaken the Confederate stronghold's defenses. The following February, he launched the Yazoo Pass Expedition, a plan to send naval forces stationed just south of Helena down the Yazoo River waterways and move them into flanking position around the Rebel citadel. The intricate waterways of the Mississippi Delta demanded constant access to fuel, and this directive ensured that Porter's gunboats would have sufficient coal to navigate the region's channels. Although the expedition failed, the logistical lessons learned informed Grant's later and ultimately successful operations against Vicksburg.

Condition: Lightly toned with minor soiling and smoothed folds; top fold just holding; fully separated at the bottom-most fold.

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