53. JUDAH P. BENJAMIN (1811-1884) Confederate Secretary of War and Secretary of State who became very unpopular for his convictions that Southern slaves should be armed to fight for the Confederacy, which of course eventually came to be. The only Jew in the Confederate Cabinet, he fled to England at war's end to avoid prosecution. War date A.L.S. "J. P. Benjamin" as Secretary of War on War Department letterhead, 1p. 4to., Richmond, Feb. 24, 1862 to Capt. Henry Cleveland in Savannah, Ga. informing him that "...no authority to raise troops in Georgia will issue from this Department, until the Governor has completed the quota of troops for the war, for which requisition has been made on that State by the President..." Very light toning at extreme margins, otherwise very good. $1,500-2,000