"TAKE SOME OTHER BOAT!": AUTOGRAPH LETTER WRITTEN BY GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL FRANCIS HERRON IN JUNE 1863 AT THE HEIGHT OF THE CIVIL WAR

GRANT, Ulysses S. Autograph note signed. No place, June 18, 1863. Single unlined sheet, measuring 7-1/2 by 4-1/2 inches; matted and framed with photograph of Grant, entire piece measures 18 by 14 inches.

Autograph letter to General Francis Herron, dated June 1863, explaining that the Empire City was already in use as an ordnance boat and instructing him to find another boat for supplies, written entirely in General Grant's hand and signed by him.

The letter, dated "June 18th 1863"—at the height of the Civil War—and written entirely in Grant's hand, reads: "Gen. Herron. The Empire City is used as an ordnance boat. Take some other boat for Army [?] supplies! U.S. Grant. Maj. Gen." General Herron, the youngest of his rank during the Civil War and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, entered the Civil War with no command (and indeed no military) experience. His military service involved a devastating injury from Confederate artillery; nearly a year as a POW; and leading 6,000 troops on a 3-day forced march in order to reach Northwest Arkansas in time to save General Blunt from disaster and ultimately take Northwest Arkansas. "Herron was transferred to command of the Army of the Tennessee on 11 June 1863 and sent to aid Major General U. S. Grant at the siege of Vicksburg. There his division occupied the extreme left wing of the Union army, and with the city's capitulation on 4 July, Herron was appointed as one of the three generals to take possession of the city" (ANB). Interestingly, the Empire City was nearly destroyed in April 1863 in a Confederate bombardment that ended with its fellow steamer, the Tigress, underwater. Steamers—heavily used by the North for carrying everything from troops to agricultural supplies—were a favorite target of the Confederacy. Thus, the damage to the Empire City was an immediate priority. By the time this letter was written, the Empire City was repaired and back in action at Vicksburg. Herron's attempt to commandeer the boat was likely no surprise to the cranky General Grant; the loss of boats like the Tigress had placed a strain on the Union fleet, hence Grant's inability to part with the Empire City and his forceful directive to Herron. Friction aside, the triumph at Vicksburg was the pinnacle of the Civil War for Herron. He ended his service in Texas and Louisiana, where he could later be found serving as a U.S. Marshal and then Secretary of State. By 1877, he had made his way to New York City, where he ended up living in a tenement, ultimately dying in abject poverty and ending up buried in a pauper's grave.

Minor smudging and faint creasing to letter. Near-fine condition.