Details
JACKSON, THOMAS JONATHAN, General, C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("T.J. Jackson") to Captain G.W. Cullum, U.S. Engineers, N.Y.; Lexington, Va., 26 August 1859. 2 full pages, small 4to, fold reinforced on page 1 with transparent tape (removable?).
TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE HARPER'S FERRY RAID, JACKSON OUTLINES HIS MILITARY CAREER, FOR A DIRECTORY OF WEST POINT GRADUATES
Jackson had resigned the army and become an instructor at the Virginia Military Institute and replies here to an officer preparing a directory of West Pointers: "...the only changes respecting myself...are that I was appointed assistant commissary of subsistence April 17th, 1848; that I was elected Professor of Nat[ural] and Exp[erimental] Phil[osophy] and instructor of Artillery in the V[irgini]a Military Institute March 27th 1851. My appointment as assistant commissary...I retained until I resigned from the Army February 29th 1852." Then, Jackson informs Cullum how to contact another Virginian named Jackson: "Should you desire to hear from Genl. John J. Jackson who is a graduate of West Point, his address is...Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia."
Cullum (1809-1892), was an engineering instructor at West Point and a good friend of Robert E. Lee when he was superintendent there. Cullum himself served as superintendent from 1864-1866 and edited a standard biographical register of West Point graduates (editions 1850, 1868, 1891). In the latter editions, Cullum deliberately suppresses all information on those West Pointers, like Jackson, who fought for the Confederate cause. (A letter of Lee to Cullum, 13 March 1855 was sold at Christie's, 14 May 1992, lot 99). The war was, by this date, not far off: Brown's Harper's Ferry raid took place in October, and at Brown's execution, Jackson commanded a militia regiment from the Virginia Military Institute.
TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE HARPER'S FERRY RAID, JACKSON OUTLINES HIS MILITARY CAREER, FOR A DIRECTORY OF WEST POINT GRADUATES
Jackson had resigned the army and become an instructor at the Virginia Military Institute and replies here to an officer preparing a directory of West Pointers: "...the only changes respecting myself...are that I was appointed assistant commissary of subsistence April 17th, 1848; that I was elected Professor of Nat[ural] and Exp[erimental] Phil[osophy] and instructor of Artillery in the V[irgini]a Military Institute March 27th 1851. My appointment as assistant commissary...I retained until I resigned from the Army February 29th 1852." Then, Jackson informs Cullum how to contact another Virginian named Jackson: "Should you desire to hear from Genl. John J. Jackson who is a graduate of West Point, his address is...Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia."
Cullum (1809-1892), was an engineering instructor at West Point and a good friend of Robert E. Lee when he was superintendent there. Cullum himself served as superintendent from 1864-1866 and edited a standard biographical register of West Point graduates (editions 1850, 1868, 1891). In the latter editions, Cullum deliberately suppresses all information on those West Pointers, like Jackson, who fought for the Confederate cause. (A letter of Lee to Cullum, 13 March 1855 was sold at Christie's, 14 May 1992, lot 99). The war was, by this date, not far off: Brown's Harper's Ferry raid took place in October, and at Brown's execution, Jackson commanded a militia regiment from the Virginia Military Institute.