INVITING A FELLOW OFFICER, MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE, TO JOIN HIM FOR SUPPER, ALONG WITH GENERALS JAMES LONGSTREET AND SIMON B. BUCKNER ON OCT. 5, 1863, IN AN AUTOGRAPH LETTER
[near Chattanooga, TN]: 1863. Single sheet, 19 x 24 cm., folded, a one-page note in pencil, approx. 65 words, signed by Preston. Addressed on one side "Immediate & Private- Major Gen'l. Breckenridge," and additionally signed by Preston. Old fold lines, paper strip glued to the blank verso, else very good, legible.
Preston's invitation, dated 2 pm, Oct. 5, reads, in part: "I have a leg of mutton, & Generals Longstreet & Buckner at 5 to 6 o'clock - Can you come over at 5- If you have any loaf sugar or brown bring some & we will have punch. It is necessary to cheer if not inebriate after the exhausting battle of to-day...." At the time, Confederate forces were laying siege to the city of Chattanooga where the remains of Gen. Rosecrans' Union forces had retreated following the Battle of Chickamauga. Preston is more likely to be referring to the "battle" Gen. Braxton Bragg's senior generals were engaged in to try to oust him. On Oct. 4, twelve of them signed a petition, possibly authored by Buckner, requesting that Jefferson Davis remove Bragg from his command. Bragg had made enemies of several of them over the years, and Chicamauga furthered their anger. He refused Longstreet's request for reinforcements for his advance against Union Gen. George Thomas during the battle and Nathan Bedford Forrest's request to follow and destroy Rosecran's army. He had relieved Generals Leonidas Polk and Thomas C. Hindman of their positions following the battle for what he considered their delays in following his orders. Bragg's failure to pursue the enemy allowed them to regroup and fortify their positions at Chattanooga ultimately allowing them to withstand the siege.
When Jefferson Davis arrived in Tennessee on Oct. 9 to visit the Army, he heard the subordinates' complaints but opted to keep Bragg in his command. Forrest then refused to serve under him and took a command in Mississippi. Longstreet was sent to try to recapture Knoxville before returning to Virginia to serve with Gen. Lee. Breckenridge, who at one point considered challenging Bragg to a duel, transferred to the Trans-Allegheny Department. Buckner went to the Trans-Mississippi Department and became chief of staff to Edmund Kirby Smith. William Preston, a Kentucky native, became the Confederate government's Minister Plenipotentiary of Mexico in 1864.
Following Gen. Grant's successful relief of Chattanooga, Bragg tendered his resignation to Davis on Nov. 29, 1863 who this time promptly accepted it. He was replaced by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. [see: James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom," (Oxford Univ. Press, 1988) and Edwin Kennedy & Jerry Morelock's essay on Bragg, "The Most Hated General of the Civil War Won Chickamauga But Ended up Losing His Command," (Civil War Magazine, 2019)]. Item #70235
Price: $1,250.00