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(GEN. GIDEON PILLOW AND HIS MEXICAN WAR INTRIGUE) $500.00 60078-25 Son of General John Davis, a Pennsylvanian, a colorful character who fought in two wars, served as a United States Attorney, published prolifically, and succeeded in business. Superb content war-date A.L.S. of WILLIAM W. H. DAVIS as Lieutenant in 1st Massachusetts Infantry, 2pp., 4to., Amazoque, Mexico, Dec. 1, 1847, to his father from the front. In part: "... tomorrow we reach Puebla...then the whole Division f six Regiments, takes up the line of march for the city of Mexico. There is no signs of peace. It is thought that when Gen [Winfield] Scott receives his reinforcements he will move further to the interior... We heard from the city [New Orleans] two days ago. Gens Pillow & Worth were under arrest, & Gen. Twiggs is on his way to Vera Cruz as its Governor. What has been the cause of all this no one knows...". What Davis did not know was that Gen. Gideon Pillow had published a letter in the New Orleans Delta under the nom-de-guerre LEONIDAS crediting himself for crucial American victories, credit which rightfully belonged to Winfield Scott. When Scott discovered Pillow's ruse, he arrested and held him for court-martial. Pillow only escaped a court-martial because Maj. Archibald W. Burns, Pillow's regimental paymaster, took the blame. Included with the lot is a letter from Burns shedding light on his motivation, a war-date A.L.S. "A. W. Burns", 3pp., 4to., Camargo, Mexico, Nov. 20, 1846, to NJ Congressman George Sykes. In part: "...I beg leave to enclose to your care a letter from Br Genl G J Pillow U S army on my behalf to the President of the United States, and to ask the favor of you...Immediately upon my arrival at this post, I became acquainted with Gen. Pillow and have had frequent intercourses with him personally and officially...a warm and [?] friend..." Burns also sets forth the army's upcoming movements south, noting: "...the next big fight I think may be looked for at San Luis Potosi and our men are ready and eager for it...they did not participate in the fall of Monterrey...I indulge the hopes that the 'Stars and Stripes'...may yet proudly and gallantly wave over the 'Halls of Montezuma'..." Much more fine content. Both letters are very good. The verso of the Davis letter was used as a cover, and includes a New Orleans stamp cancel dated Dec. 30 and a black "10" postmark. Davis would return to New Mexico in 1853 as the territory's United States Attorney and eventually published El Gringo: New Mexico and Her People, his memoir of the experience.

(MEXICAN WAR EPIDEMIC) $100.00 60078-53 A.L.S., "Rosario G. del Campillo", 3pp, 4to, Guanajuato, May 2, 1848, in Spanish to Demetrio Montes de Oca. Campillo describes the disease breaking out in the city of Jalapa after the fighting had ceased, in part: "...over two thousand Americans in Jalapa, sick and scattered throughout the inhabitants...". Due to the outbreak of disease, del Campillo escaped with her children to: "...save them from the consequent contagion...". Fine with superb penmanship, minor folds. Includes a transmittal cover stamped with a black "3" and a stamp cancel from Orizava on May 2.

(A NO-WIN WAR WITH MEXICO) $400.00 60078-16 Fine content A.L.S. of HENRY M. BRACKENRIDGE (1786—1871), American writer, lawyer, judge, and Congressman from Pennsylvania, 2pp., 4to., Tarentum, Pa., Oct. 12, 1846 to James Causten (husband of Dolley Madison's niece, Anna) about the impossibility of avoiding or winning a war against Mexico. In part: "...The prospect of peace with Mexico is at an end. Boone knows better than S'ta Anna and Almonte the impossibility of our carrying on a war of conquest, without a large standing or regular army. A guerilla war will now begin, our troops will never penetrate beyond Monterey [sic], if so far. We will be compelled to fall back upon the Rio Grande and here will be a line of two thousand miles to keep up, not to speak of California... The clouds are gathering fast over the country. Pray God that they may be scattered by the rays of peace...". Brackenridge astutely assessed the difficulty of defending a vast and porous border and the difficulties in securing the Californian flank when the territory was not yet a state. American military planners dealt with this reality by pursuing a strategy of offense, taking the fight to Mexico on their own ground and winning crucial victories at places like Saltillo, Buena Vista, and Chapultepec. Boldly signed, very good.

(MEXICANS FIGHT INDIANS IN 1848) $325.00 60078-26 A.L.S. "Antonio Perez", 2pp., 4to, San Fernando, Mexico, Feb. 8, 1848, in Spanish, a message from Perez to Jesus de la Garza regarding Indian skirmishes. In part: "...I as well as the officers of the company I had the pleasure to lead, are filled with the greatest satisfaction to see that the operations of the Division under your worthy command were received with jubilation by the authorities...". Even while the Mexican government fought Americans in 1848, they still had to contend with raids by roving bands of Lipan Apache Indians, and formulated the Division against Barbarous Indians [Legion contra los Barbaros] to battle them, in which Perez once led the Second Company. Minor folds with slight foxing along the folds and age toning, else fine. Lot also includes a similar letter, A.L.S. "Perfecto Flores", 1p., folio, San Ildefonso, Jan. 25, 1848, a letter from Flores to de la Garza commending him for subduing the "...barbarous Indians of the North...", a mission in which Flores was second-in-command. Flores later earned infamy and the loss of land in Mexico for murdering his own brother with a machete. Minor folds, else fine.

(WARTIME MEXICO'S RUINED FINANCES) $300.00 60078-12 HUGH MCCALMONT (1809-1887) Wealthy London stockbroker who donated much of his estate to city hospitals, having seen the great European cholera epidemic of 1832 ravage friends and family. Superb content A.L.S., "H. McCalmont", 4pp., 4to., Mexico City, Feb. 15, 1832, a report to his father on their business affairs in the midst of the war-torn Mexican economy. In part: "...The revolution has not been terminated so quickly as I then supposed it would be... Santana [Santa Ana] is still at the head of affairs in V [era] Cruz-- a considerable number of troops are at Pucute threatening an attack but nothing has yet been done... In business-- I am sorry... considering the times however really we should not complain... we have a good deal of money but the Exchange is very bad. What we have down is at 43 1/4...". McCalmont's letter contains several other interesting notes, including a trip he planned to take with a Dr. Beales, in part: "... Dr Beales... having some business in the North-- about some Grant I believe-- was looking for a companion...". Dr. John Charles Beales was a famed empresario (land speculator) and the grant McCalmont refers to is Beales' unsuccessful 1832 attempt to colonize Texas with a 55 million-acre grant from Mexico-- preceding Moses Austin. McCalmont also makes comments on the 1831 Baptist War, a slave uprising in Jamaica violently repressed by authorities: "...I think some of those Gentlemen have something to answer for in what has happened at Jamaica...". Moderate folds with minor holds at head of folds, age toned, else fine.

(AMERICAN PRIVATE IN MEXICAN WAR) $350.00 60078-11 Superb content war-date A.L.S. from soldier William A. Campbell, 4pp., 4to., Island of Lobos, Feb. 22, 1847, relaying to James Clarke of Greensburg, Pa. the conditions of his encampment and other war news. In part: "...On Sunday 14 Feby. we landed on this Island... Our journey over this stormy water was rendered doubly unpleasant by the number of men aboard, being nearly four hundred, and the terrible storms which we encountered... This Island is in the Gulf seven miles from the mainland... the 'Cambria Guards' is anchored out, and has one or two cases of smallpox... if Jimmy Polk, and Congress were compelled to live as we do, they would soon bring the war to an honorable close... I learn that Genl. Scott has arrived here with five regiments of troops and that we will leave in a few days for Vera Cruz...". General Winfield Scott and Commodore David Conner had chosen Lobos Island as an ideal gathering point for a Vera Cruz invasion after Scott learned that the English had frequently used the island for their smuggling operations. Campbell also judges his Pennsylvania Regiment as superior to the Mississippi and other troops he has seen: "...the men of the South cannot be compared with the men of the North, in any respect. The regiment from Miss has lost over one hundred and fifty men from disease... our Regiment has lost five or six only and they were killed in different ways...". Campbell fought for Pennsylvania's Second Regiment, mustering in as a private from Westmoreland County, and grew up in Greensburg. According to local records, Campbell returned from the war very ill and died shortly afterwards. Verso used as a cover, stamp canceled at New Orleans on March 1, with a black "10" postmark. Age toned, minor folds with a small seal tear on third page not affecting signature, else fine.

U.S. NAVY SHIPS AT PEARL HARBOR $1,500.00 44573-1 An exceptional and rare collection of fifty postal covers canceled aboard vessels present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Many of the covers also bear images of the vessel or patriotic vignettes, all are pre-war. Among the vessels represented are the USS ARIZONA (strike a bit light), USS ANTARES, USS CALIFORNIA, USS CASSIN, USS HONOLULU, USS MARYLAND, USS MEDUSA, USS MONAGHAN, USS OKLAHOMA, USS NEW ORLEANS, USS PENNSYLVANIA, USS RALEIGH, USS SOLACE, USS SHAW, USS TENNESSEE, USS UTAH, USS VESTAL, USS WARD, USS WEST VIRGINIA and others. Overall fine condition. EBAY 1200

(MEXICO'S FINANCES ARE RUINED) $225.00 60078-55 A.L.S. of "Juan Mateo Garcia", 2pp. 8vo., Nuevo León, May 8, 1847, a letter from the district judge to his friend José María Parás, the first constitutionally elected governor of Nuevo Leon. Garcia comments on the taxes levied and other strains inflicted by the occupying American army, in part: "...it is, in truth, very disagreeable. . .To what state our political upheavals, which for so many years have devoured our country, have led us!". Ink show-through from verso, else very good.

(CHASING MEXICAN WOMEN AT THE BORDER) $250.00 60078-21 Good content A.L.S. by Texas soldier William Beggs, an enlisted man, 3pp., folio, Camp G. W. F. Wood, Texas, Oct. 18, 1857 to his friend J.A. Richards at Camp Duncan, Texas. The army established Camp Wood by the Nueces River in Texas at the site of an abandoned San Lorenzo mission in order to take the fight closer to the home of marauding Indians. Beggs tells Richards he is stationed "... in the wilderness of the living..." and spends the majority of his letter discussing his personal and professional pursuits. In part: "...glad to hear that your health was improving, and I hope in the course of a few weeks you will be able to 'duty' around... and let the Mexican ladies go to H-ll; for my own part, I think I have got quite enough of such cattle; but still, you are aware that I always had a liking for the 'beauties' while I was in Eagle Pass, and I hoped they learned me a 'lesson' which I will not soon forget. But let the Mexican women go to the Devil... I understand, from good authority, that we are also going to get twenty horses for the use of this Post... and I 'calculate' or 'reckon' we will have great times, charging through the bushes after the 'Injuns'...". Tears at top corners not affecting text or signatures, blank bottom of second page gone, else very good.

(THE FRENCH MOVE INTO MEXICO PRECEDING MAXIMILIAN) $175.00 60078-7 War-date A.L.S. "L. Bellinger", 2pp. 4to, Monterrey, Mexico, Sep. 5, 1865, to his father in Eagle Pass, Texas. Bellinger, an American expatriate living in Mexico as an entrepreneur, informs his father of the business situation in Monterrey, noting that everything from hotels to commodities like corn meal are failing in price. Bellinger's note includes a crucial observation about a group of Frenchmen planning to purchase a local hotel. In part: "...Mr. P is trying to close the hotel... He as many others feel confident that that a war with the U.S. is inevitable and near at hand... Some French were in the house the other day and spoke as if they intend to take it for a hospital...the most of the Americans have left". Bellinger here is referring to France's intervention in Mexico as part of the "Maximilian Affair". When Benito Juarez stopped paying interest to foreign countries in 1861, France invaded with Great Britain and Spain. France, partly to take advantage of Mexico's abundant mines, attempted to create a proxy monarchy with the Emperor of Austria's brother, Maximilian, on the throne. France was emboldened to do so because the United States was too embroiled in its Civil War to utilize the Monroe Doctrine and intercede. However, that situation changed in 1865 when the Civil War ended; Gen. Philip Sheridan was ordered to secretly drop arms along the Rio Grande for Mexican units, and to begin patrolling the Texas border. Napoleon III fled and Juarez executed Maximilian. Minor folds with a small tear and holes at top right, age toned, else fine.

WORLD WAR I ARCHIVE OF CAPT. CHARLES A. WILLIAMS $400.00 50960-1 A fine war-date letter archive of Capt. Charles A. Williams, Ordnance Department who served in Europe from December 1917 through the summer of 1919, mainly in France. Williams entered the service as a Lieutenant due for the Intermediate Ordnance Depot #4 located at Camp Foecy in the city of Tours (one of roughly 25,000 American troops), and left the service with captain's bars. The lot consists of 36 letters written between December 15, 1917 and July 7, 1919, 134 pp., most accompanied with an envelope canceled by the Army Postal Service. The correspondence is entirely written to Williams' mother, and details the adventures of a barrel-chested Brooklynite seeing Europe for the first time from the relative safety of the rear, and provides interesting insights both into Williams and a United States at war. Williams' tour was mainly one of safe minutiae, in part: "[December 15, 1917] ...I sleep on my cot for which I had no trouble obtaining a nice mattress and pillow on memorandum...am in a small wooden hut...", but at least part of Williams clearly itched for battle: "[February 13, 1918]...my hopes are high and it looks as though the way might be opening up for me to get where I can feel that I am taking a little personal thrust at the enemy...". Williams never saw the enemy, but did have several scrapes with danger, including when lightning struck his arms depot and started a gasoline fire, in part: "[July 18, 1918]...by the time I covered that short distance the men were all at the spot with their firefighting apparatus, but the gasoline was shooting flames and the place was a roaring furnace...". The highlight of Williams' tour of duty was his selection to help run the United States' Army of Occupation, headquartered in Antwerp: "[May 6, 1919]... this Antwerp job is the best thing that has happened to me yet in the Army...". Perhaps most interesting historically is Williams' impression of African American enlisted troops stationed at the depot, in part: "[March 31, 1917]...It certainly seems as though the South must have sent all her sons over here... There is a contingent of negroes here... They are a labor company and handle heavy artillery ammunition, and you should see how gingerly the handle the big ones...". The lot includes several relics, including Williams' circular dog tag, captain's bar, and collar decorations, as well as a 22" x 15" flag (red background with white middle square adorned with central blue star), the official menu for "Christmas Day 1918" at the Officers' Mess, several 3" x 5" b/w photographs of damaged buildings in Tours, and a 1918 YMCA 3 ?" x 4 ?" Christmas Card, with a printed inscription: "A thousand leagues separate us, but do not divide our Christmas Day", boldly signed "Charlie". Usual toning and folds, else overall very good to fine condition .

(GOEBBELS, JOSEF) $70.00 27646-1 (1897 - 1945) Nazi Minister of Propaganda with Hitler from the earliest days, a master of manipulation of the masses who took his life and those of his family members in the last days of the war.A printed Nazi broadside measuring 24" x 17", ca. early 1940s, titled "Dr. Goebbels schreibt in der letzten Folge der Zeitschrift 'Das Reich' Der Optik des Krieges...". Very good condition.

(MEXICAN WAR COMMISSION REQUEST) $200.00 60078-32 Fine content A.L.S., "J. L. Beck", 1p., 4to, Richmond, Sep. 3, 1847, a letter from a Kentucky resident to President James K. Polk on behalf of one Andrew Burnam. In part: "...I would beg for your favorable consideration... asking the appointment of Dr. Andrew Burnam as Surgeon to one of the Regiments of Volunteers now being raised in this state... I believe that those who are now volunteering to go to Mexico, would prefer him to any other physician in this District... Having just returned from the Army in Mexico, I know something of the arduous duties a Surgeon has to perform there, and speak advisedly when I say that Dr. B. is well qualified to perform those duties...". Lot includes a transmittal cover addressed to Polk bears a "FREE" stamp and stamp cancel at Richmond. The letter has minor folds and blue ink stain slightly affecting text, else very good.

(SAC AND FOX INDIANS) $200.00 60078-45 A.D.S. "John Beach", 1p. legal folio, Iowa Territory, Sep. 26, 1842, an invoice for repair of the Sac and Fox Agency's Council House, countersigned by JOHN CHAMBERS. In part: "...For materials required in repairing the Council House at the Sac & Fox Agency for us of the Commissioner in negotiating the treaty of 1842...". John Beach, an Army officer during the Black Hawk War, held the last position as US Indian Agent to the Sac and Fox tribes of Iowa, while John Chambers served as governor of what was then the Iowa Territory. The Sac and Fox Agency endeavored to bring modern farming practices to the Indians, and introduced "mission schools" that enforced Christianity on the tribes and forbade their native tongues. On October 11, 1842, Beach, Chambers, and the agency held a Council Meeting in the repaired meeting house and enacted a treaty gaining most of Iowa. In part: "...The confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes cede to the United States, forever, all the lands west of the Mississippi river, to which they have any claim or title, or in which they have any interest whatever...". Minor folds and foxing, else fine.

ZHUKOV, GEORGI K. $325.00 28545-1 (1896 - 1974) Soviet Field Marshall, perhaps the greatest general of World War II, he survived crushing poverty and Stalin's purges to command the Russian armies at the monumental battles of Moscow and Kursk, and in the taking of Berlin.Rare A.L.S. 1p. 8vo., [Moscow, 1967] to his publisher Viktor Vrohkin. Zhukov's tells his publisher that he is forwarding some additions to text for a chapter of his memoirs, and asks for two copies, presumably of proofs, stating that one set is destined for "the museum in Berlin". Fine.

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