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Lot 159
MacArthur, Douglas & 42nd Infantry Collection. Collection of correspondence and ephemera pertaining to the 42nd Infantry ("Rainbow") Division, organized on Long Island in 1917, with Colonel Douglas MacArthur as Chief of Staff of the Division. The collection, housed in a notebook, belonged to Kenneth Sutherland, a member of the 42nd Division., secretary of the Rainbow Division Veterans, and editor of the Division's publication, "Reveille."
The jewel of this collection is a Typed Letter Signed "Doug. MacArthur" on "War Department/ Office of the Chief of Staff" letterhead, 1p, 9"x7", Washington, D.C., 1932 Aug. 19. Responding to support from members of the 42nd who had spoken out against critics of his role in the eviction of the Bonus Marchers, MacArthur writes to Sutherland: "My dear Sutherland: Thank you very much for your fine note of August 17th I appreciate it more than I can say. As you can well imagine, the situation at Washington constituted a very poignant chapter for me. When the Nation calls upon me to perform a duty there can be, of course, no question in my mind as to my complete and immediate response. It will always be a matter of unending satisfaction to me that the results were accomplished with the minimum of friction and without bloodshed. In the performance of my official duty I am indifferent to criticism, but it warms my heart indeed to know that at least some of the men with whom I fought and bled in France have appraised the situation at its true value…."
The Bonus Marchers were a group of more than 20,000 veterans from World War I who marched on Washington in the spring of 1932 to demand passage of a bill that would provide for immediate payment of their World War I bonus. A bill passed in 1924 called for every veteran to receive an additional dollar for every day served, but payment was not due for 20 years, and with the onset of the Great Depression, many of the men needed their money immediately. When the Senate defeated the bill, the marchers refused to go home, and on July 28, President Hoover ordered the army, under the command of General MacArthur, to evict them from the empty government buildings and open fields that they occupied. MacArthur ordered their camps set on fire and the army drove them out of the city. Hoover and MacArthur were much criticized for their treatment of the veterans.
Other letters in this collection are: a 1932 TLS from Major General George E. Leach in support of MacArthur's actions; a 1931 TLS with Christmas wishes from MacArthur to the men of the Rainbow Division; two 1932 letters (TlsS) to Sutherland from Father Francis P. Duffy, who served as 1st Lt. and chaplain of the legendary 69th Infantry (part of the 42nd Div.), a 1935 TLS to Sutherland from French General Henri Gouraud (commander of the French Fourth Army on the Western Front during WWI), enclosing a photo (signed by Gouraud) of himself with MacArthur; a 1931 TLS from poet Burr McIntosh, enclosing a re-worked version of his poem, "The Doughboy"; and a 1933 TLS on New Yorker letterhead from author Alexander Woollcott regarding a transcript of a Father Duffy broadcast.
Ephemera includes: a silk 11 ½"x17 ½" 48-star flag with a 1924 booklet on flag etiquette; various items for Rainbow Veterans' events, a 10 ¾"x8" piece of leather (from a courier bag?) stamped "42", and a booklet with organizational and divisional insignia of the A.E.F. during WWI.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 5,000.
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| Realized $1,725 |
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