September 5-7, 2023 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/7/2023
This calligraphic handwritten broadside advertises a benefit ball to be held at White Sulphur Springs (now better known as Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia) and is signed by its sponsors in two columns, led prominently by Robert E. Lee at top right. Other Confederate notables appear on the list, such as Beauregard, whose signature appears just below Lee’s, John S. Mosby, John Bankhead Magruder, and former Governor Henry A. Wise. Lee was in residence at the resort between August 10 and August 25, 1869, the day the ball would be held to benefit the leader of the resort’s band. Not only did a photographer take a group portrait of Lee, Mosby, Magruder, Beauregard, Wise and others who signed the document during Lee’s stay, but Lee’s visit provided a chance encounter with wealthy philanthropist George Peabody, who both appears in that photo and signed this broadside just below Beauregard. Peabody, a northerner, had established the Peabody Education Fund in 1867 to promote, "intellectual, moral, and industrial education in the most destitute portion of the Southern States." This was naturally of interest to Lee as President of Washington College, now Washington and Lee. According to a 1960 academic paper on their encounter, "significant measures of educational efforts in the South are directly attributable to several informal meetings centered around Peabody and Lee during that time." By extension, these efforts contributed to reunification and postwar reconciliation. We show a copy of the photo: Peabody is seated at center, with Lee to the left. Beauregard stands behind Peabody and Magruder behind Lee. Wise stands third from right. White Sulphur Springs was renowned as a resort and could accommodate 500 visitors, providing entertainment, culture, relaxation, and the curative powers of its waters for those suffering, among other ailments, "dyspepsia, chronic hepatitis, the slow fever following remittent, bilious, or ill-cured intermittent fevers; chronic rheumatism, cutaneous diseases, uterine derangements, such as obstructed menstruation and fluor albus." The summer of 1869 was noted for the large number of distinguished visitors; the Turkish ambassador appears seated at left in the photo. Another concert reportedly benefitted a church in Lexington that counted Lee as a vestryman. The heading of the broadside reads: "FULL DRESS BALL / ON / Wednesday Evening August 25th 1869 / We the undersigned deem it proper to tender to the Prof. J.A. Rosenburger, 'Director' of the "Band" a Complimentary Benefit for his endeavors to please the visitors at the White Sul/phur Springs. / Tickets Admitting a Gentleman & Two ladies $1.00 – to be had from / the members of the Band or at the “Door.”/ Doors Open at --- 8.30 PM. // German at ---- 10.30." Below this are 2 columns of autograph signatures, 28 in the left column and 23 in the right. R.E. Lee appears at upper right, just above that of Beauregard and Peabody. The left column is topped by John Bankhead Magruder, simply as "Bankhead Magruder", followed a dozen or so signatures later by John S. Mosby. CONDITION: Excellent. Very good color with strong signatures. Framed and ready for display. A significant document for the presence of Confederate notables, links to Reconstruction and the importance of education in rebuilding the south.