October 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, October 23rd, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/23/2012
Confederate broadside aggressively staking claim to the territory of West Virginia in 1862. In this intimidating broadside, the Confederacy appeals to the people of West Virginia, which formed its own state by seceding from Virginia after she, in turn, seceded from the United States at the start of the Civil War. Broadside entitled, ''To the People of Western Virginia'' reads in part, ''The Army of the Confederate States has come among you to expel the enemy, to rescue the people from the despotism of the counterfeit State Government imposed on you by Northern bayonets...We fight for peace and the possession of our own territory. We do not intend to punish those who remain at home as quiet citizens in obedience to the laws of the land...The Government expects an immediate and enthusiastic response to this call...'' A concluding section dated 14 September 1862 contains an update on the Confederate Army's progress in West Virginia (only days earlier they had captured Harper's Ferry), however, the state would be hotly contested until the official formation of the new Union state in 1863. Broadside is signed in print by General William Loring. Measures approximately 6.75'' x 13''. Light fading and foxing, overall in very good condition.
West Virginia Confederate Broadside -- ''...those who persist in adhering to the cause of the public enemy, and the pretended State Government he has erected at Wheeling...''
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