Description:

BLACK CONFEDERATE SOLDIER WRITES TO HIS MASTER
Very rare A.L.S. 1p. 4to., Petersburg, Va., Feb. 18, 1865, by slave "Aabram", dictated to and signed by a scribe and addressed to his master. In part: "...Desiring much to hear from home, I am having a few lines written to state that I am well and doing well. I am driving a wagon in a Georgia Battalion of Artillery and have been principally engaged during the winter in hauling wood. I am very well satisfied - have a good and comfortable house to stay in. I get rations just as the soldiers and draw the same [pay] they do. Give all at home my best love and tell them I am very anxious to hear from there. Tell them I dream about them frequently...Offer my kindest wishes & feelings to Mistress and accept the same for yourself....Let me know if Massa John has been home since I left...Aabram...P.S. Edmund is here with me driving a wagon also. He desires his best love sent to his wife & children...He says if his Father and Mother are willing, they can draw the money for his corn and keep it...He sends his best respects...and say [sic] Howdie to all his fellow servants...Address me in care of Maj. John Lane, Sumpter Arty Battn 3rd Corps...". One of the greatest ironies in the war was that men who sought to keep the Federal government from interfering with the institution of slavery started offering emancipation to blacks who joined the depleted ranks of the dying Confederate Army. General Lee went so far to suggest that slaves be put in fighting units. However most slaves, such as Aabram, worked in ancillary positions providing manual labor, etc. Faded with offsetting to edges, still legible and most uncommon. Ex: Christies.

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May 9, 2012 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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