Civil War
1862 Superb Content U.S. Congressman's Autograph Letter Signed Regarding the New U.S. Legal Tender Act Note Bill and the Fall of Fort Donelson
February 18, 1862-Dated Civil War Period, Autograph Letter Signed "Chas. R. Train" (1817-1885), Massachusetts Congressman, Superb Civil War Content and against the U.S. Legal Tender Act, Very Fine.
Original Autograph Letter Signed measures about 5" x 8", 4 pages, Washington, D.C., from Charles R. Train, U.S. Congressman from Mass., to Judge Ebenezer R. Hoar. Great content, and nicely written on clean wove period paper. Here, Congressman Train is writing of his going to the Sanitary Commission and procuring a complete set of their tracts for Judge Hoar; the reaction in Congress to the Fall of Fort Donelson (it surrendered to General U.S. Grant 2 days before this letter was written), and argues forcefully against giving Legal Tender status to the U.S. Notes which were printed to help finance the Civil War. The Legal Tender Act made these U.S. Notes legal tender the next month. He also writes of former Sec. of War, John B. Floyd, who had joined the Confederacy and was in command of Fort Donelson. This letter reads, in full:



"My dear Judge, -- On Saturday I went to the Sanitary Commission and secured complete sets of tracts, to this time. How shall I get them to you? The mails are not always reliable. Will you rely on me for further numbers, or take your chance from the Commission. I shall be happy to serve you in either way. We were crazy yesterday on the fall of Fort Donelson. The Kentuckians & Tennesseans weeping, and the rest shouting. We feel that the back bone of the rebellion is broken, and Jeff Davis, and his associates are likely to get their deserts. If Burnside meets with no worse, Norfolk and Richmond will soon be ours, and the army opposite Washington surrounded. Floyd seems to have crowned his days with the meanest larceny of his life. He stole himself. Oh that we could give the rascal twenty four hours in the.... with thirty nine lashes well laid on. I hope that these sessions may prevent the passage of the legal tender claim of the note bill. It would seem as tho confidence should return, and place our securities at par. I am quite sure, that making the notes a legal tender, aside from its unconstitutionality, is simply an advertisement to the world, of their depreciation, and will ultimately cover us with intolerable woes. I have made the acquaintance of your classmate Hall, and like him. He was delighted to hear from you, & was much interested in hearing from his class. His colleagues speak in the highest terms of his ability & character. Shan't we see you out here this winter. Write when convenient, and believe me - Yours truly, (Signed) Chs. R. Train".
CHARLES RUSSELL TRAIN, (1817-1885), graduated Brown Univ. in 1837, Harvard Law School; Admitted to the Bar in 1841, and commenced practice in Framingham, Mass.; In Mass. House of Reps, 1847-1848; District Attorney of Mass., 1848-1854; Declined appointment to U.S. Supreme Court in 1852; Delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1856; In U.S. Congress, 1859-1863; After the war, he moved to Boston, and again served in the State House of Reps, 1868-1871, and as Attorney General of Mass., 1872-1879.



Ebenezer R. Hoar, (1816-1895), a Justice of the Mass. Supreme Court; Served as U.S. Attorney General, 1869-1870 in the Cabinet of President Grant; In Congress, 1873-1875