Lot 1080
Davis, Jefferson Finis (1808-1889), Only President of the Confederate States (1861-1865), U.S. Representative (1845-1846) and Senator (1847-1851, 1857-1861) from Mississippi, Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce (1853-1857), son-in-law of Zachary Taylor. partly-printed Document Signed, one page, 8 x 9½ Richmond, September 1, 1864. Warrant to the Treasury Department, in full (underlined words in Davis’ hand):
"Richmond, 1 Sept. 1864
TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,
Sir:
"Please cause a WARRANT for the sum of one thousand dollars in gold, payable out of the Appropriation for "Secret Service" (Act of Feb. 18, 1864) to be issued in favor of Hon. J.P. Benjamin, Secretary of State, and charged to him on the books of the Treasury.
"Jefferson Davis
Pres’t C.S.A.
"Appropriation for "Secret Service" $1000
There is a small piece missing at the left edge and a 2" square cut from the upper left corner with some splitting of folds at upper right and light uneven browning of the paper. Nonetheless, a Fine and rare document mentioning the Confederate Secret Service and, because the $1,000 was specifically requested to be paid in gold, hinting at the official lack of faith in Confederate currency. Framed to an overall 23½ x 19½ with an engraved ¾-length portrait of Davis and a steel-engraved legend.
Estimate 6,000 - 8,000
This printed form was intended for State Department use but has been altered by Davis. At the top he has penned "Executive Office" above the crossed-out heading "Department of State", and below his "Pres’t C.S.A." he has crossed out "Secretary of State".
During the Civil War, a number of secret operations were mounted with various degrees of official oversight. Many of these operations involved acts that were considered by the Union to go beyond the normal conduct of "civilized" warfare. Some of the operations allegedly planned included setting fires in New York City hotels (Election Day plot of 1864), poisoning the New York City water supply, infecting Union soldiers and citizens with smallpox and yellow fever, kidnapping President Lincoln and holding him until Confederate soldiers were released and blowing up the White House. By 1864 the Confederate government was attempting to gain control over these operations. In February of that year the Confederate Congress appropriated $5 million to fund the Secret Service which was run primarily out of Canada.
In April of 1865 most of the official papers of the Secret Service were burned by Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin just before the Confederate evacuation of Richmond, and the full story of Confederate secret operations went up in flames.
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