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Auction: 317 - The Collector's Series
Lot: 1071

Civil War: Confederate Intelligence Report. War-dated Autograph Letter Signed by the firm of "Morgan & Steele". One-page, 4to, Memphis, Jan. 7, 1862. Sent to Colonel Francis Titus, a close associate of Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest, known as the "Wizard of the Saddle" for his cavalry tactics (before the war, Forrest was a plantation owner and slave-trader, and one of the wealthiest men in the South). Titus apparently often reported to the general with intelligence information. In the letter, Morgan & Steele report on disloyal Confederates trading with the enemy. "We visited the mouth of the Red river the other day…some parties have been shipping cotton…to the Gulf of Mexico, where Lincoln's fleet is located. P.P. Walt & Co. purchased the cotton…The persons who ordered the purchase are Harris, Bercier & Co. doing business in New Orleans…" One of the strategies the South used to force recognition of its independence was to deprive the Union of access to southern cotton. Thus it was considered traitorous to trade cotton with the enemy. The iron gall ink has "burned" a few letters in the text and there is some minor uneven foxing, otherwise Very Good.

Sold for
$230