ALS
(Autograph Letter Signed). King, Rufus.
(1814-1876). May 1865. To: “My dear Field,” In
part: “I am very pleased to hear of your return from Egypt… Do you think there
is any chance of the Great Eastern
seeking to enter the Harbor… I only received a few days ago from Professor
Thomson your carte de visite… Rufus King.” Single sheet folded to make four
pages. 7-1/8 x 4-7/16 inches. Good condition.
Historical
Note:
West Point graduate 1833.
Anti-slavery advocate in 1840s in Wisconsin.
Before the war broke out in April 1861, President
Lincoln appointed King as ambassador to the Vatican. He was in New York
boarding the boat for Europe when he heard of the attack on Fort Sumter. King
rushed back to Washington, D.C., and was commissioned a brigadier general,
with responsibility over the first brigade of Wisconsin volunteers that could
be raised. He assembled them outside Washington over the summer of 1861, when
he became a close friend of President Lincoln and Secretary of State William
Seward.
King’s brigade was made up of the regiments that
would later be called the Iron Brigade. He commanded it during the battles of
Fredericksburg, Gainesville, South Mountain and Second Bull Run.
King was relieved of his command in 1863.
+After leaving the military King was reappointed
ambassador to the Vatican for four years. In 1865 he was instrumental in
capturing John Surratt, thought to be one of the conspirators in Lincoln's
assassination who had escaped to Europe. After returning to the United States
in 1867, King worked as a tax collector in New York City until his health
failed and he became an invalid. He died in New York in 1876.
King was born in New York City, New York, the
grandson of Rufus King, delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress
and the Constitutional Convention.
King was the father of Rufus King, Jr., of the U.S.
Horse Artillery Brigade in the Civil War, and General Charles King of the
Philippine-American War.
“King,
William Rufus Devane (b. Sampson Co., N.C., 1786; d. Dallas Co., Ala., 1853),
planter, statesman. Congressman,
(Democrat) Republican, from North Carolina, 1811-16; U.S. Senator, Democrat, from Alabama,
1820-44; an ardent follower of Andrew
Jackson. After competent service as
U.S. Minister to France, 1844-46, King returned to the Senate in 1848; he
resigned in 1852 after election as vice-president of the United States.” - Concise
Dictionary of American Biography, p. 527.
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