This letter is dated Charleston, 4 October 1861. Wilmot G. De Saussure is writing to Governor F. W. Pickens regarding the payment of a contractor constructing the new State Capitol building in Columbia. At this time De Saussure was Secretary of the treasury of South Carolina. Prior to his appointment as Secretary he served as Colonel, leading his regiment in the occupation of Fort Moultrie and the bombardment of Fort Sumter at the beginning of the war. In 1862 he was appointed Brigadier General after serving as Secretary of the Treasury. In 1863 he commanded the Charleston defenses during the Union siege of the city and led his men in opposing Union General William T. Sherman’s march through the Carolinas. So, he faithfully served the Confederacy all four years of the war until the surrender in 1865.

Condition of the letter is excellent… truly beautiful stationery and easily read ink writing. De Saussure’s house can still be viewed on Charleston’s Battery. This letter was purchased by us in the famous auction of the Governor Pickens letters. It is one we kept for our private collection because De Saussure is quite scarce and the stationery is magnificent… and proud South Carolina was using a lot of marble for their Capitol!