Confederate general (1835–1909), known for being the only Confederate general to fight on both sides during the Civil War. Handwritten battlefield communication, in pencil, signed “F. C. Armstrong, Brig. Gen,” on a 4.25 x 6.5 off-white sheet, no date (but written during the Atlanta campaign in 1864), written to General William ‘Red’ Jackson. In full: “What are their Infy doing. I believe from all I can learn that it rests about 1 1/2 mile below Fairburn road.” In very good condition, with expected creasing and wrinkling, scattered toning and soiling, and a small tear to left edge.
Armstrong composed this intelligence for Red Jackson, leader of the cavalry division of the Army of Mississippi. In August of 1864, Sherman’s Army was enroute to Fairburn and Jonesboro, leaving a path of destruction in their wake, sending waves of panic and uncertainty through the Confederate camps. Armstrong’s furiously scribbled note to Jackson, “What are their infy doing,” illustrates a unique note between one Confederate general to another. Armstrong’s attempt to reach out would ultimately fail, and the disastrous Atlanta Campaign would bury the Confederates. The first Armstrong we’ve ever encountered, this is an extraordinarily scarce piece of desperate battlefield correspondence. RRAuction COA.
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