Page 54 - April 2024

Q: Mr. Sexton – I have what I believe to be a handwritten copy of General and devotion to your Country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind
Order #9 from Robert E. Lee dated April 10, 1865. This is part of some and generous consideration for myself.
Civil War-era memorabilia that I have and I am inquiring if you can I bid all an affectionate farewell.
authenticate/appraise the letter. R. E. Lee General
Also in my family is the sofa where General Stonewall Jackson was laid
before he died at our once-family ancestral home, Chandler House at the There were official copies for specific corps/division commanders
Fairfield Plantation which is now part of the National Park Service. Other written by Lee’s clerk & aide-de-camp Charles Marshall and signed by
family members have a button from General Jackson’s uniform and a Lee. These are the most valuable and all are accounted for. Most are
sample of his hair. Those items were all shown in a 1959 newspaper article institutionalized, a couple sold for over $100,000 many years ago.
I sent copy. Some souvenir copies are also signed by Lee, which have sold most
recently in 2019 for $80,000. Unsigned souvenir copies written by
soldiers in the camps around Appomattox are not rare and are found
offered in archives and have been found in auction over the years,
historically clerically signed copies of general order number 9 have sold
for $1,000-$2,000. However, the most recent example to sell was
This official-looking through an online auction in Ohio, on August 5, 2023, for $3,600.
copy was written in The sofa is a wonderful relic of the war and newspaper accounts
hand by an unknown make little doubt it was in Chandler's home where Jackson was
AAG “C. Packell or
Pickett” if I am laid after he was shot and possibly died several days later. Historical
translating it correctly. furniture is difficult to value. Often furniture with similar historical
The name in the lower connections is found in an auction at a large range of prices realized.
left corner is copied Poulin auctions, Fairfield, ME, just sold a bed attributed to Robert E.
signature as noted by Lee’s time as superintendent at West Point 1852-1855. It had excellent
[signed] is of Lt. Colonel provenance and sold on November 7, 2023, for $24,675. A few buttons
Osman Latrobe, AAG from Jackson’s coat are known with no known price paid. At least a
(1835-1915), couple of hair samples of Jackson taken after his death have sold over
Longstreet’s chief of staff the years, much less so in the current market. A clipping of Jackson’s
at Appomattox. Possibly hair sold December 9, 2023, at Morphy Auction for $2,706.00, in
the unknown written another sale Robert E. Lee's hair sold for $1,476, and a sample of
was in your family.
Charles Dicken’s hair sold for $352, and a wonderful scrapbook full of
abolitionist John Brown including large clipping of his hair sold for
$3,444. The record price for hair samples was from Che Guevara which
Heritage Auctions sold in 2007 for $119,500.00.

JS: Among the most iconic of all Civil War documents is the Robert E.
Lee’s farewell address to his army of Northern Virginia, written at
Appomattox courthouse after his surrender. His poignant address is
well known among Civil War historians and aficionados.

Appomattox, April 10, 1865
After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and
fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to
overwhelming numbers and resources. I need not tell the survivors of so
many hard-fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I
have consented to the result from no distrust of them. But feeling that valour
and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss
that must have attended the continuance of the contest, I have determined
to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them
to their countrymen. By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can
return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you
the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully
performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his
blessing and protection. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy Sofa that Stonewall Jackson lay after being mortally
wounded near Chancellorsville, Virginia.

John Sexton is an independent appraiser and expert on Civil War memorabilia. He is an accredited member of various appraiser
organizations. He can be contacted at 770-329-4984. If you have a Civil War item for him to appraise, email a photo and a
description to him at: CivilWarAppraiser@gmail.com.

52 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles