EXPRESSING CONCERNS OVER GUNPOWDER SUPPLY AND POSSIBLE DELIVERY TO FORT SUMTER, as recorded in an autograph letter, signed, to Col. Edward Manigault in Charleston, S.C.

[Columbia, SC?]: undated [summer 1861]. Folio. One-page, in full: "To Col. Edward Manigault — Charleston / Of course the powder is not to be sent to Sumter or delivered except through our own officers and upon reasonable estimates -- no powder to be given to unfinished batteries, and magazines to be reported in safe order, but some powder must be immediately sent to batteries at Hilton Head & Bay point -- has any been sent? let them be prepared at any expence -- we must keep for the present 20,000 lb as reserve in Charleston. How much is in Moultrie. Please let me know. Genl. Twiggs telegraphs me from N. Orleans & begs for some, I supplied not a pound. Make any arrangement you can immediately to purchase me 50,000 lb / F.W. Pickens." Fort Walker on Hilton Head and Fort Beauregard on Bay Point, opposing sides to the entrance of Port Royal Sound in South Carolina, were constructed during the summer of 1861, fully armed and garrisoned by mid-August (though not fully prepared for battle), and then captured by Union troops during the Battle of Port Royal in early November 1861; this letter seems to have been written at the time the forts were bing constructed and outfitted, as Governor Pickens was concerned about arming Fort Sumter and other forts for the proper defense of his coastal areas. The Battle of Port Royal, one of the earliest amphibious actions by Union forces, resulted in a Union victory, the occupation Beaufort, the freeing of nearby slaves, and the establishment of a coastal post for continuing action in the area. Very good. Written on Carew Co. blue paper, some light browning around the edges and wear along left edge. (10514). Item #63989

Francis W. Pickens (1805-1867, S.C. state representative, 1832-1824, and senator, 1844-1846, U.S. House of Representatives, 1834-1843, U.S. Minister to Russia, 1858-1860, Governor of South Carolina, 1860-1862), was born to a wealthy connected family in Colleton County, South Carolina, and educated at Franklin College in Athens, Georgia, and South Carolina College in Columbia, S.C., before reading law and gaining admission to the bar in 1829. With a background in state and federal service, Pickens was elected Governor of South Carolina in time to oversee secession, demand the surrender of the forts in Charleston Harbor, sanction the firing on the "Star of the West" as it attempted to deliver supplies to the beleaguered Fort Sumter on January 9, 1861, and sanction the firing on that fort in April, 1861. Edward Manigault (1817-1874), a veteran of the Mexican War and a railroad engineer, served as Chief of Ordnance for South Carolina in 1861. He later served as an artillery officer in the regular Confederate army; his diary covering the last two years of the war was published as "Siege Train: The Journal of a Confederate Artilleryman in the Defense of Charleston" (USC Press, 1986). David E. Twiggs (1790-1862), a native of Georgia, served in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and the Mexican War, and was commander of the Department of Texas and surrendered his entire command when the Civil War broke out. On May 22, 1861, Twiggs was commissioned major general in the Confederate army and given command of the Department of Louisiana, but, given his age and infirmities, resigned and was replaced by Mansfield Lovell, October 7, returning to his Georgia home to die the next year.

Price: $2,750.00

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