A recently unearthed letter penned by President Abraham Lincoln has shed light on his thoughts and actions during the early stages of the Civil War. The document was sold in Pennsylvania for $85,000 by an autograph dealer, revealing valuable insights into Lincoln’s mindset at the time.
This previously unpublished letter had been held in a private collection for over a century before it was acquired earlier this year. Nathan Raab, the head of the Raab Collection, which specializes in historical autographs and documents, expressed the rarity of finding unknown letters from Lincoln in his statement on the Pennsylvania collection’s website. The letter, measuring 5 by 8 inches, was purchased by a private collector from the southeastern United States.
Dated August 19, 1861, the brief letter was addressed to Charles Ellet Jr., a prominent American civil engineer and Union Army colonel. Colonel Ellet had met with President Lincoln to advocate for the establishment of a civil engineering force. He believed that immediate action was crucial to understanding the South’s infrastructure and protecting Washington.
“So here we see Lincoln taking on an effort to document the Southern infrastructure and to exploit that information to benefit the Union and protect Washington,” commented Mr. Raab. The document highlights Lincoln’s role as commander in chief during the early months of the Civil War, which commenced in 1861 and concluded in 1865.
Mr. Raab emphasized that Colonel Ellet was a highly regarded engineer and that his correspondence with Lincoln had been digitized by the Library of Congress. In the letter, Lincoln instructed Colonel Ellet to discuss the creation of the corps with Generals Winfield Scott, George B. McClellan, and James Totten, all significant figures in the war.
The letter from Lincoln began, “You propose raising for the service of the U.S., a Civil Engineer Corps,” and sought the opinions of Generals Scott, McClellan, and Totten, stating, “I would be glad to accept one if approved by them.” Lincoln signed the letter with “yours truly,” followed by his name.
According to Mr. Raab, “we know from Ellet’s next letter to Lincoln that he took this very letter to McClellan, who refused to see him in spite of the order, physical proof, from the president.” Unfortunately, Colonel Ellet’s recommendations were disregarded by the Union Army, leading to the destruction of a fleet of Union boats by the Confederate ramming ship, the Merrimack, during the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862.
The letter fills a void in the historical record, said Mr. Raab, shedding light on an important aspect of Lincoln’s presidency. Collectors highly value presidential artifacts, with historical significance playing a significant role in determining their prices. For instance, a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation sold for over $2 million in 2012.
Interest in obscure items related to Lincoln is also notable. A lock of Lincoln’s hair, accompanied by a bloody telegram reporting his assassination, was sold for $81,000 in 2020. Another strand of his hair fetched $38,837 in Dallas in 2012.
Lincoln’s letters from the White House or Executive Mansion are particularly sought after by manuscript collectors. Bobby Livingston, executive vice president for RR Auction, stated, “Abraham Lincoln is really popular with manuscript collectors, and anything written from the White House, or Executive Mansion, is pretty special.” The recently discovered letter to Colonel Ellet is significant because it showcases Lincoln’s efforts to navigate the realms of engineering, military strategy, and politics during a critical time in American history.
Noted Lincoln historians James Cornelius and Harold Holzer both affirmed the document’s importance. Cornelius praised the letter for revealing Lincoln’s attempts to strike a balance between various demands, while Holzer lauded its significance in illuminating Lincoln’s decision-making process during a period when he was still educating himself about military tactics and strategy.
Mr. Raab revealed that the letter to Colonel Ellet was sold shortly after being put up for sale, highlighting its appeal to collectors. He remarked, “Its content was not part of the collected works, which adds to the excitement…It is the first time a collector alive today would have had a chance to own it.”
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