"I GOT A BAD FALL WHICH SHOULD HAVE BUT DID NOT HURT ME. TOO OLD AND TOUGH": TYPED SIGNED LETTER FROM PATTON TO HIS SISTER REGARDING TRAVELING AND COMPETING IN HORSE SHOWS, ACCOMPANIED BY THE ENGRAVED STERLING SILVER TROPHY PRIZE BOWL HE WON AT THE 1934 CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL HORSE SHOW

PATTON, George S. Typed letter signed. WITH: Engraved sterling silver prize bowl trophy . Fort Meyer, Virginia, May 29, 1933. Single sheet of cream letterhead measuring 6 by 7 inches. WITH: Sterling silver price bowl trophy measuring 9 inches in diameter and 4-1/2 inches in height.

Original 1933 typed letter written by George S. Patton to his sister and childhood best friend Nita and signed by him concerning his travels to compete in horse shows and discussing several of their friends and neighbors, including fellow West Point graduate Col. Toddy George, his uncle, Billy Wills, and his childhood nurse, Mary Scally, accompanied by an engraved sterling silver prize bowl he won in 1934 for riding Wild Ben at the Cherry Blossom Festival Horse Show.

The letter, typed on Patton's personal letterhead and dated "May 29 1933," reads: "Dear Nita: I have been rather bad about writing lately and am sorry I cant plead excess businness for while I am as usual much occupied I have realy nothing important to do. I think I wrote you that we did nothing in the National Capital Horse Show. In the Front Royal Show we did very well and I got a bad fall which should have but did not hurt me. Too old and tough[.] Toddy George and I are leaving Wednesday Morning for two shows at Tuxeado and West Point we will be gone a week I hope he breaks his neck bit he wont. I have finished my boat all except some few jobs of painting and will launch it when I get back from W.O. on the 7th. How is Uncle Billy Wills and Mary Scally also give my love to Mary Post. I am sorry about her loss and would have written a dozen times but simply cant find the words with which to start. If I were there I could talk all right. She and Henry were so particularly nice at the time of Papa's death. Give her my love. We are all well. With lots of love your devoted broth. {signed] GS Patton Jr."

Although he earned a reputation as an avid letter writer, Patton nevertheless had great difficulty with spelling and sentence construction (evident in this letter). He struggled to learn how to read and write as a child and did not attend formal schooling until the age of 11. Historians have postulated that he may have had dyslexia. This letter shows a certain looseness he often displayed in corresponding to family such as his sister Anne "Nita" Patton. Nita was quite possibly Patton's closest friend as a child and she was often his playmate for games such as sword-fighting and war. As they grew up, the pair remained close. In fact, Nita became romantically involved with General Pershing, Patton's superior and mentor. Marriage seemed sure to follow. However, Pershing was so changed by the trauma and triumph of World War I that he lost interest in Nita and broke off their relationship. Patton, of course, had an active social life beyond Nita and this letter discusses several of his friends. Here, Patton is seen humorously wishing ill on Colonel Charles Peasley "Toddy" George, one of Patton's fellow West Point attendees. The son-in-law of Hoover's Vice President, George was on the 1928 U.S. Olympic Riding Team and undoubtedly showed the notoriously insecure Patton an uncomfortable level of competition. Also mentioned in the letter are Uncle Billy Wills (Patton's uncle by marriage, who held the distinction of patching Patton up when he lit himself on fire after filling a lamp with gasoline instead of kerosene) and Mary Scally (his childhood nurse and a devout Irish-Catholic who lived with Nita for much of her life).

The letter broadly concerns Patton's equestrian accomplishments, which were considerable. On April 20, 1934, the Washington Post wrote that, at the Cherry Blossom Festival Horse Show, "The horsemen's parade was brought to a close by six hunt teams of three horses each, ridden in hunt colors. The Cobbler Hunt, of Delaplane, Va. was represented by Col. George S. Patton, Mrs. Patton, and their daughter, Beatrice—always a familiar little group at the Virginia horse shows and hunter trials… The excellent hunter of Col. Patton and family… were foremost among the performers." Major Patton had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on March 1, 1934.

The letter is accompanied by an engraved sterling silver trophy prize bowl won by Col. Patton at the 1934 Cherry Blossom Festival Horse How. The impressive 9" diameter bowl, which weighs over a pound, is engraved "Cherry Blossom Festival Horse Show, National Capital 1934, Hunter Class 1st prize, Presented by Hotel Powhatan, Won By Wild Ben, Ridden By Colonel Patton." Recently from the family of George S. Patton, Jr.

Letter and signature fine, slight smooth denting and pinpoint tarnish to bright and handsome silver trophy bowl (occurred while in possession of Patton family).