Framed Jefferson Davis Signed Letter, Mexican-American War

Lot description

Framed letter signed by Jefferson Davis (Mississippi, 1808-1889), datelined "Saltillo (Mexico), 29th March 1847. My dear Genl., I have just read with great pleasure the copy of your letter to Genl. Gibson, which you did me the honor to send me this evening. I shall review the circumstances and respond in my next letter. Yours respectfully, Jefferson Davis." At the time of this letter Davis, a graduate of West Point, and then a U.S. Congressman representing Mississippi had taken a leave of absence from his congressional office and was serving in the U.S. Army as Colonel of the First Mississippi Regiment. He commanded troops at the Battle of Buena Vista in February, 1847. Davis later served as the U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1847-1851, the 23rd U.S. Secretary of War 1853-1857, U.S. Senator, Mississippi, 1857-1861, and President of the Confederate States, 1862-1865. The portrait of Davis included in the frame is a copy of a 1863 painting by John Roy Robertson (British American, active 1857-1884). The verse "Truth crushed to earth like a seed will rise again" is from the 1839 poem "The Battlefield" by William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) and was used in speeches by Jefferson Davis and, ironically, in speeches by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At frame verso is a C.O.A. from Antiquities International, Las Vegas and "Ink and Document Analysis" authentication by GFAA #6158. The letter approx. sight 4.5"h, 8"w, frame overall approx. 24.25"h, 22.75"w, 5.3lbs Provenance: Treasures from the vaults of a Dallas designer