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Robert E. Lee Issued Pass in the Hand of W.H. Taylor for A.B. Laurence at Appomattox Court House. ...
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Description
The pass issued to the Chief Quartermaster responsible for providing rations to Lee's army at Appomattox
Robert E. Lee Issued Pass in the Hand of W.H. Taylor for A.B.
Laurence at Appomattox Court House. One page, 7 ¾ x 5 ½ inches;
"Camp Army, No[rthern] V[irgini]a;" April 10,
1865. Walter H. Taylor, Assistant Adjutant General and serving as
Robert E. Lee's secretary, writes a pass: "[Pleas]e pass Col.
A.B. Laur[ence] [Q.M. A]rmy of the James, at will... By
order of General R.E. Lee. W.H. Taylor, A.A.G." (Portions in
brackets are lacking.) At the bottom, Laurence has written:
"'Pass' given to me by Robert Lee at his Headquarters 'in the
woods' near Appomattox Court House Va. After presenting the 30000 -
rations for his army with compliments of General U.S. Grant - USA -
A.B. Laurence / Chief Qr Mr Army of James."Grant's donation of rations to feed Lee's troops is one of the most famous incidents to be remembered of the surrender. In his Memoirs, Grant writes, "Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true." The story of Grant providing sustenance to the starving men under Lee's command is one that is founded in fact and the pass offered here records the event for posterity.
Grant describes it in this way: "General Lee, after all was completed and before taking his leave, remarked that his army was in very bad condition for want of food, and that they were without forage; that his men had been living for some days on parched corn exclusively, and that he would have to ask me for rations and forage. I told him 'Certainly.'"
Colonel Michael Morgan was directed to provide the rations (Grant's Memoirs state that Lee asked for provisions for "About twenty-five thousand"), and in turn Morgan tasked the Army of the James. This was a logistical decision, as the Army of the James was in a position to quickly provide the necessary supplies, a significant undertaking headed by Laurence.
A remarkable artifact from Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, Laurence's note provides a contemporaneous description of how the pass signed by Taylor was given to him by General Lee himself, and references the 30,000 rations gifted to Lee's army by General Grant - a first hand eyewitness report of Grant's empathy and magnanimity toward Lee and his army that became legendary and is uniformly depicted in history books describing the surrender.
Taylor's writing is faint, which is due to his use of gunpowder ink which was all that was available to him and not fading. Laurence's note is added contemporaneously and remains bold. A portion of the paper has been added, affecting the text of Taylor's pass. However, it remains a significant artifact as it is an official document written at Appomattox directly relating to the surrender.
Condition: Restoration joining all pieces of the pass visible on verso along the folds. Paper has been added at top left affecting several words of Taylor's holograph.
Reference: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume Two.
Auction Info
2024 April 5 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6285 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
April, 2024
5th
Friday
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