Lot 1205
Sherman, William T. Autograph Letter Signed ("W.T. Sherman") on the day before he retired from the Army, St. Louis, Missouri, Feb. 7, 1884, 4 pp., octavo. To Mary Audenried, widow of Sherman's aide, Col. Joseph C. Audenried, whom Sherman had taken under his wing after her husband's death and, some think, to his bed. Mary had a wayward daughter, Florence, who led her on a merry chase. Sherman congratulates Mary for putting Florence in the convent at Manhattanville. In part, "…At that convent they will make her conform to their rules and will stop her correspondence with the boys….If Florence has been corresponding with some boy under cover to Miss Daisy Ricketts, I advise you to call on Mrs. Ricketts…and say to her that you expect her…to assist you in stoppping this clandestine channel of communication….It is infinitely better that she should be at Manhattanville than Washington where she would worry your life out of you. It was too bad she should have spoilt your visit to Saint Louis….With love & affection…."
President Rutherford B. Hayes wrote to Sherman in June 1880, asking him to pay a visit to Mrs. Audenried and give the President's condolences on the death of her husband. According to Michael Fellman's book, Citizen Sherman: A Life of William Tecumsey Sherman, the general and the widow became lovers within six months.
Estimated Value $700 - 1,000.
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