Lot 370
Confederate Broadside Resolution of Smith's Brigade. An impassioned late-war public declaration, "A Message from the Army of the Valley of Virginia," 1p, 9½"x6", "Camp of Smith's Brigade, Feb. 10, 1865." Members of Colonel Thomas Smith's Brigade, Wharton's Division, list five resolutions that they have adopted. They exhort those with "unpatriotic doubt" to stand firm in the face of adversity, and reaffirm the principles of "self-government and independence" for which "we volunteered in response to the first call of our country…." This imprint is a clear rejoinder to the unofficial Hampton Roads Peace Conference that occurred on February 3, 1865 aboard the Federal transport River Queen involving President Lincoln and Secretary Seward and three Southern commissioners appointed by Jefferson Davis to explore possible terms for a negotiated peace settlement. Rarely did soldiers involve themselves in public pronouncements pertaining to matters of policy, but the message this broadside conveys is that there is still some fight left in these Confederates, not to be confused with bravado. It is a fact that the few survivors of Smith's Brigade chose to disband in April 1865 and to go home rather than formally surrender. A rare Confederate broadside.
Estimated Value $900 - 1,100.
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