VERY SCARCE DECEMBER 1861 CIVIL WAR AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY ULYSSES S. GRANT SOON AFTER ASSUMING COMMAND OF THE UNION ARMY ON THE MISSISSIPPI, PENNED BY GRANT TO QUARTERMASTER HATCH AT THE HEIGHT OF AN INVESTIGATION THAT LED TO HATCH’S ARREST, WITH GRANT REPORTEDLY BELIEVING RUMORS OF HIS DRINKING WERE SPREAD BY HATCH IN RETALIATION
GRANT, Ulysses S. Autograph letter signed. Cairo, Illinois, December 20, 1861. WITH: Portrait. No place: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, No date. Single original ivory leaf (7-3/4 by 9-3/4 inches) in manuscript on recto, docketed on verso. Matted and framed with engraved portrait on ivory cardboard stock. Entire item measures 16-1/2 by 18-1/2 inches.
December 20, 1861 Civil War autograph letter entirely penned and signed by Ulysses S. Grant soon after his promotion to brigadier general and his bold foray against Confederate forces at Belmont, this exceedingly scarce letter written to quartermaster Reuben Hatch amidst Grant’s investigation into Hatch’s conduct, ultimately leading his arrest, with Grant later said to believe “many of the stories about his drinking problems… were started by Reuben Hatch” in retaliation.
Less than six months before the date of this letter, Grant was placed in command of the Union Army on the Mississippi. With "the single gold star of a brigadier general on his shoulders… he understood almost at once that the key to winning the war was in the West, not in the East… From Cairo he could see how to win the war" (Korda, 65). That November Grant led an attack on Confederate forces at Belmont. Ultimately both sides claimed victory, but Grant, who "had been as green as his raw Illinois and Iowa volunteers…. braved the same dangers as his men and won his respect on the battlefield. Veterans at Belmont were henceforth 'Grant's men,' the core of what would soon become the Army of Tennessee" (Smith, Grant, 131). In meeting the considerable challenges of his new command, Grant heard of a Chicago newspaper alleging quartermaster Reuben Hatch, the recipient of this letter, was using his "position for personal gain… Grant ordered Capt. Hillyer, his aide-de-camp, to proceed to Chicago to investigate the allegations." Hillyer subsequently reported to Grant that Hatch had intentionally hindered his inquiry. When the report was forwarded to General Meigs, quartermaster general, he "ordered Grant to place Hatch under immediate arrest." Grant, who informed Meig in early January that Hatch had been duly arrested, reportedly "believed many of the stories about his drinking problems circulating at that time were started by Reuben Hatch," who later avoided court-martial only through the intervention of his brother, O.M. Hatch, Illinois secretary of state and a major supporter of Lincoln (Potter, Sultana Tragedy, 36). In confronting Hatch, Grant came to realize "he would never fully leave his past behind. Any time he offended someone, that someone was sure to whisper that the general was a drunkard" (Simpson, 108).
Grant's letter to Captain Hatch, written at the height of the investigation, displays a brusque manner that seems to reflect Grant's barely veiled impatience with the captain. Grant's letter reads: "Head Qrs. Dist S. E. Mo., Cairo, Dec. 20th 1861. Capt. R. B. Hatch, Dist. Capt. The bearer C.E. Atkinson complains of being detained here with nothing to do waiting for a settlement with your department if such is the case give him a settlement and let him go. U.S. Grant, Brig. Gen. Cm." Docketed on the verso: "Gen Grant Dec 20, [unclear word] to settle with E.C. Atkinson." The letter is accompanied by a handsome engraved portrait of Grant (image 2-1/2 by2-1/2 inches) centered on an ivory display card. Portrait card (6 by 8 inches) with "Bureau of Engraving and Printing" printed at lower edge. Docketed on leaf verso in an unidentified hand. Two small pieces of tape to leaf verso.
Grant's inked cursive clear and dark, light foldlines, faint marginal toning to near-fine letter; portrait fine.