THREE ANTEBELLUM LOUISIANA ALS - U.S. SENATORS JOHN SLIDELL & PIERRE SOULE

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Item Code: 490-6563

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This item consists of three letters, on two pages—in ink on light blue paper, 8” x 10. Exhibits fold-marks, else VG.

One page, dated “Nouvelle Orleans 5 March 1848” features two notes. The upper note, addressed to M. E. Lapiere, signed by P. A. Bertrand, is written in French and pertains to a position in the U.S. mint soon to be vacated by Col. M. Riddell, and desired by Bertrand.

Written in English, the lower note, addressed to Lapiere, is a response to the above by prominent Lousiana politician John Slidell informing that he prefers Bertrand for the mint position over another applicant—M. Bargaro—and gives his reasons.

Text:  “My dear Lapiere,  _____ Bertrand has just informed me that he was an applicant for

the place of M. Riddle at the mint. Some months since I joined in the recommendation of another person. I think M. Bajaro, having been informed that his effort has not been acceptable to the offices of the mint. M. Bajaro is a stranger to me while Bertrand is an old friend. I need not state that I put my interest in Bertrands application. / Yours Faithfully / J. Slidell.”

On the undated reverse is a letter of nine lines, written in French, addressed to “mon cher monsieur Lapiere.” signed by Pierre Soule—”P. Soule”--a Lousiana U.S. Senator at the time. Since the opening line ends with the name “Bertrand,” and the letter contains no other name, it can be assumed that the gist of the note pertains the mint appointment and that Soule was in accord with John Slidell’s preference of Bertrand.

***

John Sliddell is known to history as one of the two Confederate diplomats (the other being James Mason) whom the U.S. Navy abducted from the British steamer Trent in the Bahama Channell while on their way to conduct negotiations with the French and British. The infamous “Trent Affair” brought the U.S. and Great Britain to the brink of war, before being diffused by Secretary of War Seward.

Born in 1793, Slidell was a New Yorker who moved to New Orleans when young, becoming a prominent and prosperous attorney and  fervent southern nationalist in the process. Elected to Congress he moved up the U.S. Senate mid-1850s. Although failing to gain French recognition of the Confederacy as a diplomat, he did manage to obtain a sizable Confederate loan. Never returning to America, he lived on in in England til his death in 1873.

Born in France in 1802, Pierre Soule was the son of one of Napoleon’s generals who emigrated to New Orleans in the 1820s. Entering politics as a States Rights Democrat, he entered the U.S. Senate in the late 1840s and later served as minister to Spain, attempting to negotiate the sale of Cuba under President Pierce, must to the annoyance of the Spanish government, to whom he soon became persona non grata. Although initially a southern “fire eater,” by the time of the Civil War he saw secession as a doomed proposition. Nonetheless, he returned to Europe as a Confederate agent, and back home later served on Gen. Beauregard’s staff in the defense of Charleston. He died in New Orleans in 1870.

An excellent Louisiana CW collectible, featuring two prominent antebellum politicians (& unsuccessful Confederate diplomats). [jp][ph:L]

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