GIDEON WELLES ON FORT PICKENS AND FORT SUMTER ON THE EVVE OF CIVIL WAR. WELLES, GIDEON. 1802-187...

GIDEON WELLES ON FORT PICKENS AND FORT SUMTER ON THE EVVE OF CIVIL WAR. WELLES, GIDEON. 1802-1878. Autograph Manuscript, 'Fort Pickens. Facts in Relation to the Reinforcement of Fort Pickens, in the Spring of 1861,' being a near complete draft of the article published in The Galaxy 11, no. 1 (Jan. 1871), 44 pp, numbered 1-24 and 1-20, 4to (250 x 195 mm), [1870], in ink on lined paper, with numerous autograph additions, corrections and emendations throughout, loose leaves, some on imprinted Naval Department letterhead. Provenance: Sold Goodspeed's catalogue, 1959; sold, anonymous consignor, Christie's East, New York, November 8, 1995, lot 58. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY GIDEON WELLES FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF THE REINFORCEMENT OF FORT PICKENS, as well as the unintentional diversion of the USS Powhatan and additional supplies from the defense of Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, as the first battle of the Civil War commenced. Welles writes about the events that took place in Florida in the spring of 1861, including the political background of the secession of Florida from the Union, James Buchanan's inept policy of appeasement of secessionist states, and in particular, tells the story of two separate reinforcements of the troops at Fort Pickens as the Civil War was beginning. With Lincoln's inauguration, he inherited two military standoffs with the secessionist states. First, and most famously, was Fort Sumter at Charleston, where Confederate troops held the surrounding forts while Commander Robert Anderson and 85 troops occupied Fort Sumter, their supplies dwindling. The second standoff was at Fort Pickens, outside Pensacola, where Union troops waited off the coast to reinforce Pickens, but lacked authority to move. In this remarkable manuscript, Welles, who was the newly appointed Secretary of the Navy under Lincoln tells the detailed story of the standoff at Fort Pickens, and his dispatch of Lieutenant John L. Worden by land to Pensacola with verbal orders instructing Captain Henry Adams to help Captain Israel Vosges land his troops to reinforce Pickens, as instructed by General Winfield Scott. Worden arrived to Adams on April 12, as the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter began, marking the beginning of fighting in the Civil War. Vosges troops were successfully landed and occupied the fort, preventing the scheduled rebel attack on Fort Pickens on the 13th. In a more extraordinary tale, Welles also relates the second, simultaneous and secret, attempt to reinforce Pickens under the hand of Secretary of State Seward. Unnecessarily and irresponsibly, since Welles had already accomplished the reinforcement of Pickens, Sewall had ordered the USS Powhatan and accompanying supplies intended for Charleston and the support of Fort Sumter, diverted to Fort Pickens instead. According to the manuscript, when Lincoln got wind of the plan, understanding that the objective was already at hand, he ordered the plan reversed. However, Seward's brief counterorder issued to Commander of his expedition, Lieutenant Porter, was not heeded and the Powhatan and its necessary supplies never made it to Sumter. The Confederate army successfully took the fort, unleashing the fighting in the U.S. Civil War which would claim the lives of approximately 750,000 American soldiers on both sides over the next four years. Welles was a severe critic of Seward, both in this manuscript, and indeed throughout the administration, here noting: 'It has not been my purpose, in bringing to light certain truths connected with the destruction of the Norfolk Navy Yard, and the expeditions to Sumter and to Pickens ... to make charges, or prefer accusations against anyone ... Statement of facts may in some instances be considered unpleasant disclosures, but they are not to be classed as charges and accusations ... [And further] I, for years ... bore the blame and responsibility of these errors and failures, for which others, whose secret operations defeated my measures, were justly accountable....' Welles's account was published in the Galaxy in 1870, with 8 additional paragraphs, and excerpts from Welles's official correspondence not present here. However, the numerous and extensive revisions, additions, and deletions by Welles evident in the draft, make this manuscript an important primary document within the story of the earliest days of the Civil War. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing