The 30 Minute Rule begins August 12 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By August 12 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
ALS, one page, 7.75 x 9.75, January 29, 1855. Addressed from “Sherwood Forest,” a handwritten letter to President Franklin Pierce, in full: “In the event the Bill for the increase of the army by the addition of 4 new regiments shall become a law, I cordially unite with his other friends in recommending for promotion 2d Lt. Wm. Lewis Cabell of the 7 Reg. U.S.A. With the Father of Lt. Cabell, at whose instance I write, I have been acquainted for 30 years, having served with him many years in the Virginia Legislature, and a sounder or purer man in all respects is not within the Vicinity of the State. I have rarely interfered with the appointing power since I left office, yet I cannot forgo the request of so valuable and esteemed a citizen as Gen. Benj. W. S. Cabell and sincerely hope that you will take occasion to gratify his wishes as well as my own in the promotion of his son in one of the new Regiments.” The mailing panel on the reverse of the second integral page is addressed in Tyler's hand, “To, The President of the U. States, Washington,” and bears a remnant of the original wax seal. In fine condition, with light staining along the bottom edge.
Written nearly a decade after leaving the White House, John Tyler appeals directly to President Pierce on behalf of Second Lieutenant William Lewis Cabell, the son of his longtime Virginia political associate General Benjamin W. S. Cabell. Emphasizing the unusual nature of his intervention, Tyler remarks that he had “rarely interfered with the appointing power since I left office.” The young officer whom he recommended would go on to a notable military career: a West Point graduate then serving in the 7th U.S. Infantry, Cabell resigned from the U.S. Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, served on the staff of General Earl Van Dorn in the Trans-Mississippi Department, rose to the rank of Confederate brigadier general, and later became a four-term mayor of Dallas, Texas. An appealing letter linking two presidents and a future Confederate general at the outset of a distinguished military career.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$75.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
Third-party authentication service applies only to signatures and handwriting, and does not cover the addition of sketches, artwork, musical quotations, etc.
