Autumn 2020 Catalogue

31 American Heroes & Leaders Autumn 2020 “The Russians Are Quite Out Of It And Better Stop Before The Germans Take Petrograd” 28. PATTON, George S. Autograph letter signed. Chaumont, France, September 18, 1917. Original ivory leaf (8-1/4 by 10-1/2 inches), custom cloth portfolio. $6000. Click for more info Scarce World War I autograph letter signed by Patton dated September 18, 1917, written to his father very soon after his appointment as Post Adjutant and Commander of the AEF headquarter forces in Chaumont near Paris, containing foresight about the potentially dire consequences of instability in Russia—in this letter dated less than two months before the Russian Revolution—and demonstrating his genius for both politics and military strategy by observing peace “of course would be simply a truce and the next time the allies will probably be lined up in a different way.” “Genius might be an apt word to apply to Patton” (Hassell, Patton , xvi). That legendary brilliance is already evident in this September 18, 1917 letter to his father, written soon after he was appointed Post Adjutant in command of AEF headquarter forces in Chaumont, France. Patton’s letter is important not only for its insights into his character and military training but also for revealing his attention to the consequences of an unstable situation in Russia. His letter also demonstrates the political acumen that fueled his future strategic brilliance. Photographic print (8 by 10 inches) of Patton as a three-star general—indicating it was shot after 1943—laid in. Text and signature clear and dark, faint foldlines. An exceptionally fine WWI Patton letter.