PROPERTY FROM THE CHARLES E. SIGETY COLLECTION
[CIVIL WAR.] CLARK, John B. (1802-1885). Autograph letter signed (“John B. Clark”) to Thomas C. Reynolds (1821-1887), Richmond, 7 March 1864. 5 pages, 4to, final leaf inlaid.
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[CIVIL WAR.] CLARK, John B. (1802-1885). Autograph letter signed (“John B. Clark”) to Thomas C. Reynolds (1821-1887), Richmond, 7 March 1864. 5 pages, 4to, final leaf inlaid.
“These are extreme times.” A fascinating and detailed internal account of the workings of the Confederate government at Richmond, written to the Confederate governor of Missouri. Clark reports on the passage of a flurry of important laws: regulating the Confederate currency, an Army Act eliminating the use of substitutes, and a suspension of habeas corpus for 90-days. “The truth is something had to be done to improve our currency, or our Army could not be supported much longer.” As for the Army Act, “there is some grumbling by those who furnished substitutes, but the act forcing them in the field is so universally popular, that the poor fellows can’t find any sympathizers.” He grants that the suspension of habeas corpus was “an extreme measure, but these are extreme times.” He engages in a lengthy discussion of his eagerness to take the place of a Senator in the new Confederate Congress. His pleadings fell on indifferent ears: “Not answered,” Reynolds writes in his docket, “as I learned soon after he had violently abused me for not appointing him Senator.”
“These are extreme times.” A fascinating and detailed internal account of the workings of the Confederate government at Richmond, written to the Confederate governor of Missouri. Clark reports on the passage of a flurry of important laws: regulating the Confederate currency, an Army Act eliminating the use of substitutes, and a suspension of habeas corpus for 90-days. “The truth is something had to be done to improve our currency, or our Army could not be supported much longer.” As for the Army Act, “there is some grumbling by those who furnished substitutes, but the act forcing them in the field is so universally popular, that the poor fellows can’t find any sympathizers.” He grants that the suspension of habeas corpus was “an extreme measure, but these are extreme times.” He engages in a lengthy discussion of his eagerness to take the place of a Senator in the new Confederate Congress. His pleadings fell on indifferent ears: “Not answered,” Reynolds writes in his docket, “as I learned soon after he had violently abused me for not appointing him Senator.”