Description:

ROBERT H. HATTON
(1826 - 1862) Confederate brigadier general, he was killed in action at the Battle of Fair Oaks before his appointment could be confirmed. Very rare, important political content A.L.S. ‘Robt Hatton', 4pp. legal folio, Cage's Bend, TN, July 14, 1850, to ‘Clint', clearly a close friend by Hatton's warm, jocular tone. In small part: ‘… I got here last night from Castilian Springs [Tennessee], where I had been spending a day or two very pleasantly – saw a great many handsome ladies – in it-self a source of great pleasure to one who, like me, is looking out for a ----- a-hem!… I tried to make a speech at Gallatin on the 4th – came nearer to making a complete ‘flumix' than I have ever done before a crowd in my life. Don't expect to marry here just now, any-way. Hurrah for what I might – ought to have done!… The music, which was fine, covered my retreat – nothing lost in my ‘advance backwards', save a valuable handkerchief, which in the confusion of the moment I must have deposited between the tails of my coat, instead of in my pocket. More minute account of this engagement may be expected in my official report…' Hatton goes on to share his observations on the Nashville Convention of June, 1850, where delegates from nine slave states met to consider secession if slavery should be banned in the new territories of the expanding United States: ‘... A word of my whereabouts, since I last had the pleasure of meeting with you. – I spent nearly 2 weeks at Nashville, attending the Convention – saw a great many ‘big men' – got acquainted with some of them – found them – but men. Heard some good speaking – but more fooling, & boyish declaration. I have never seen a better looking set of men together than those who composed the late Convention (leaving out a Rash of the Tenn. Delegation) but as they were engaged in conceiving and considering absurdities from the time they met, until they adjourned, they were only to be pitied by all good citizens. There were several performances as witnessed during the progress of the Convention which if not very skillfully done were at least amusing. [Tennessee Senator] A[lfred] O. P. Nicholson, [Governor] Aaron V. Brown, & nearly all the Tenn. Delegation, turned summersets for the amusement of the other delegations & the crowd in the galleries. Their performance created a good deal of surprise & pleasure in the minds of some – mortification & regret in the minds of others. [Senator] Mr. [Robert Barnwell] Rhett of South Carolina in a speech which he has made since his arrival at home, says that the whole Tenn. Delegation wheeled into line in the course of 5 days – alias summersetted into line…' He continues to describe his recent travels and company: ‘..From N[ashville] I went to Mufreesboro stayed about a week – got acquainted with some of the ladies – the Misses Currier, Spence, Welch, Rucker, etc. etc. – desperately ‘smout' of course – Saw Miss Mary Williams of Nashville, & as she was ‘kin-folks' of ------ I was, as a matter of course, much interested…' He closes the letter with warm wishes to his close friends, and signs at the conclusion, wrapped around to the right margin of the final page, in black ink. Shows folds with some splits thereto on the second leaf, with a 2 in. tear to the bottom edge of the first page, and with notable foxing and toning overall, still in very good, easily legible condition. The delegates attending the Nashville Convention agreed to a 'concession' whereby the geographic dividing line designated by the Missouri Compromise of 1820 would be extended to the Pacific Coast. The convention adjourned without taking any action against the Union, and the issue of secession was temporarily tabled. In September, the U.S. Congress enacted the Compromise of 1850, and President Millard Fillmore signed it into law. As a result, in November a smaller group of Southern delegates met in Nashville in a second session of the Nashville Convention, this time dominated by the extremists. They denounced the compromise and affirmed the right of individual states to secede from the Union. This second session had little national impact, but the seeds continued to be sown for the American Civil War. While holding an anti-secessionist viewpoint for most of his life, Hatton would join the Confederate cause in reaction to Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of April 15, 1861, calling for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion. Hatton would form a Confederate unit, the Lebanon Blues, and would go on to serve with distinction in the Peninsula Campaign but was shot through the head at Fair Oaks in May of 1862, making his signature very rare.

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November 14, 2025 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

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