Lot - A. Lincoln Signs On Day He Met With Frederick Douglas to Recruit Black Soldiers, PSA Slabbed Mint 9, Also Confederate Plot Against Union!

Abraham Lincoln
Washington, DC, August 10, 1863
A. Lincoln Signs On Day He Met With Frederick Douglas to Recruit Black Soldiers, PSA Slabbed Mint 9, Also Confederate Plot Against Union!
AES

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Endorsement Signed, to Salmon P. Chase, August 10, 1863, [Washington, DC]. 1 p., 2.675" x 4.5". Certified, graded Mint 9, and slabbed by PSA/DNA to an overall size of 4.25" x 7.25". Accompanied by a JSA Letter of Authenticity.

With this endorsement, a busy President Abraham Lincoln asks Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to listen to German immigrant Henry Charles De Ahna, who claimed to have uncovered a Confederate plot to bribe a Union cavalry officer into surrendering his entire brigade.

Complete Transcript:
"Hon. Sec. of the Treasury, please see & hear Gen. De Ahna.
A. Lincoln
Aug. 10, 1863"

Historical Background:
When Colonel Henry C. De Ahna, a German officer commanding an Indiana regiment, insisted on seeing Major General John C. Frémont on August 24, 1861, the sentinels told him he could not enter the commander's headquarters, as he was not on the approved list. When De Ahna forced his way past, Frémont had him court-martialed. De Ahna was convicted on August 31 and dismissed from the service. He appealed the conviction to the Judge Advocate General. On October 2, President Abraham Lincoln wrote on a record of the De Ahna court-martial, "Let Col. Henry Charles De Ahna, be pardoned, and restored to command of his Regiment, as suggested by the Judge Advocate, and concurred in by Lieut. General Scott." Lincoln's secretary, John Hay, recorded in his journal that De Ahna had "suffered sufficiently for having lifted his recalcitrant heel against the dignity of the General's [Fremont's] Body Guard."

Through his friendship with the Blair family, De Ahna convinced the President to nominate him for promotion to brigadier general in March 1862. On April 25, the Senate rejected the nomination. One senator even called De Ahna a "foreign adventurer." On May 13, 1862, General Frank Blair again intervened, asking Lincoln to make De Ahna a member of General David Hunter's staff. On July 29, 1863, Lincoln wrote a note to Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, "I am told our unfortunate friend, Henry Charles De Ahna, with his family, is destitute; and that he now wants a clerkship. Suppose we try to get one for him."

On Monday, August 10, 1863, the day that he wrote this letter, President Lincoln was quite busy. He met with Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas and abolitionist leader Frederick Douglas, who informed him of Douglas's plan to recruit soldiers among African Americans in the South. To a letter that Secretary of the Interior John P. Usher and Senator Pomeroy signed, explaining that "Douglass, is...a loyal, free, man, and is, hence, entitled to travel, unmolested. We trust he will be recognized everywhere, as a free man, and a gentleman," Lincoln added the powerful endorsement, "I concur." Lincoln also met with General Joseph P. Hooker, who accepted an offer of command under General George G. Meade.

At a cabinet meeting, Lincoln read a letter from New York Governor Horatio Seymour, asking that the draft be postponed in the wake of the New York City draft riots in the previous month, but Lincoln refused. He also corresponded with General William Rosecrans regarding the military situation in eastern Tennessee, with Secretary of State William H. Seward about the status of captured neutral ships in prize courts, asked Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton whether any charges had been filed against General John A. McClernand, and thanked four ladies from Philadelphia for an American flag they had manufactured and sent to him. Amidst this busy day, Lincoln met briefly with De Ahna, heard his story, and sent him to Secretary of the Treasury Chase with this note.

More than seven weeks later, after telling De Ahna to produce further proof, Chase met with him on October 1. Chase recorded in his diary that day, "Genl. D Alna called with strange story—He says a letter came from Richmond with $3000 from [Confederate Secretary of State Judah P.] Benjamin. The money was to be used by Chs d'Arnaud formerly of Fremont's staff to corrupt Col. Percy Wyndham an officer of one of our cavalry regiments & induce him to betray his command to the enemy—for which he was to receive some addl. compensation. This letter came to a Mrs Van Camp, wife of a Mr. Van Camp said to have the confidence of the Prest. And to claim to hold a license to buy cotton granted by him thro' some mistake of personal identity this letter of Benj. came to de Alna, who communicated with Hogan, a detective employed by the Treasy. Dept., who communicated it to me; and I to the Secy of War: who agreed with me that I should see de Alna and hear his story. It was little else than the above—he showed me Benjamin's note which promd compensation for ‘artillery' meaning I suppose ‘horses'—he also paid over to Hogan $2000 of the money sent by Benjamin which I directed Hogan to deposit with Jay Cooke & Co. De Alna was told to discover, if he could, what was being done in complicity with the rebels, and advise me or the Secy. of War."

On January 31 1864, De Ahna wrote to Lincoln about his meeting with Chase, "As Your Excellency probably recollects, it was brought to the knowledge of the Government several months ago, that through a singular mistake in a name, I found myself approached by an agent of the Rebel government and an offer of 50,000$ was made to me, if I would undertake to enter into a negotiation with Col. Percy Wyndham and by offering him in the name of the Rebel Government the sum of 100,000 Dollars, would succeed in persuading the said Percy Wyndham to allow himself to be taken prisoner with his whole Cavalry Brigade." He continued, "Secretary Chase received me in private at the Department and had my full statement taken down in writing in his presence by his private Secretary Mr. Plantz. The next day I was again received by appointment, but this time in presence of Mr Hogan, and was told by Secretary Chase that although he had never given such instructions to Mr Hogan, I, if I wanted to be perfectly safe would now have to go on under instructions as given me by Hogan. Having my own reasons for suspecting the latter of having foully dealt in the matter and of having impressed the Secretary with a conviction as if he Hogan had found out this plot himself and if I was his (Hogans) tool, instead of having made use of him to bring the matter to the knowledge of the Government, I refused to act with Hogan, and told the Secretary that I wished to be allowed to carry the matter through alone and wished to be alone responsible for the success.

Henry Charles De Ahna (ca. 1823-1891) was born in the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Germany) and received military training and served as an officer in the German army. De Ahna immigrated to the United States and settled in Indiana. In 1861, he received a commission as colonel of Indiana Legion volunteers and was assigned to Major General John C. Frémont's command in the Department of the West. In August 1861, Frémont ordered a court-martial of De Ahna, which resulted in his dismissal from the service. After appealing to President Abraham Lincoln, De Ahna was restored to command in October 1861. However, his unit was mustered out in January 1862, leaving him without a command. The Senate rejected his nomination for promotion to brigadier general in March 1862, and he spent the rest of the war without a command. In October 1863, he made unsubstantiated allegations to federal authorities of a Confederate plan to bribe Union officers. In August 1877, he was appointed as collector of customs for the District of Alaska, and he established his administration in Sitka in October 1877. During his brief tenure, he was the highest-ranking federal official in Alaska. His recess appointment expired in December 1877, and he was replaced in early 1878. For the next several years, he pressed claims for his expenses in relocating his family to Alaska for such a short tenure, and he received $1,500 in compensation in 1879.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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Dimensions: 2.675" x 4.5"; 4.25" x 7.25" (slab)
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Lot 66

A. Lincoln Signs On Day He Met With Frederick Douglas to Recruit Black Soldiers, PSA Slabbed Mint 9, Also Confederate Plot Against Union!

A. Lincoln Signs On Day He Met With Frederick Douglas to Recruit Black Soldiers, PSA Slabbed Mint 9, Also Confederate Plot Against Union!

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