Description:

WILLIAM PORCHER MILES
(1822 - 1899) Confederate Congressman and military officer, served as a colonel on Beauregard's staff, and prior to the war was mayor of Charleston. Rare, fascinating content war date A.L.S., 3pp. 8vo., Richmond, March 4, 1864, to South Carolina governor Milledge Luke Bonham (1813-1890) discussing a RUMOR THAT CONFEDERATE CABINET MEMBERS ARE FIXING THE COTTON TRADE. In part: '...I send you a letter from Major Bayne, in charge of the general subject of the exportation of Cotton, which I think will be satisfactory. Upon the receipt of your telegram, I immediately took it to him and begged him to give me an explanation of the matter. I have perfect confidence in his statement and do not think there is any reason to suppose that any insidious distinction has been made between any of the states...Messrs. Furman and Porter...have (especially the former) got the impression, certainly erroneous, that Mr. [James] Seddon has somehow or other played false with them. It is a pity that none of us know the connection of the Navy Dept. with the matter. Mr. Seddon should have mentioned it... allow the state a share of such trips as the War Dept. controlled...we were, and not unnaturally, under the impression that the War Dept. controlled the entire matter as it did at the beginning...It seems strange that the Gov't agents at Wilmington...should not have explained to Mr. Furman that Wilmington and not Richmond decided whether a particular trip was the property of (or could be assigned by) Mr. Mallory or Mr. Seddon...Poor Garnett!... It has been a terrible blow to me indeed...' Slightly toned with scattered foxing, else fine. 'Major Bayne' refers to Thomas L. Bayne who was the head of the Bureau of Foreign Supplies, a Confederate agency established in the last year of the war, that was responsible for purchasing and exporting cotton to fund the war effort. 'Furman and Porter' were likely plantation owners or cotton traders. This letter implies rumors were present in the late stages of the war that Confederate officials, such as Secretary of War James Seddon and Secretary of Navy Stephen Mallory, were able to control which cargos of cotton received naval escorts, and thus put themselves at a tremendous advantage over competitors. The cotton trade was the South's largest stream of revenue, and all members of the Confederate elite likely did everything in their power to stay wealthy through the years of war. Seddon himself was a planation owner and had a large stake in the trade. Finally, 'Garnett' likely refers to Muscoe Garnett (1821-1864) a Confederate Congressman from Virginia who died a few weeks prior to this from typhoid fever.

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August 25, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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