Beschreibung:

Andrew Johnson draft copy of an autograph letter
Polk" as President. One page, n.p. [Washington, D.C.], June 12 1846. Housed in a custom tooled leather chemise. Letter: 10"H x 8"W; Chemise: 10.5"H x 12"W. The letter asks Secretary of War William L. Marcy to forward copies of General Zachary Taylor's battlefield reports to the House and Senate, "Should there not be duplicate copies of Genl. Taylor's Reports, that one may be sent to each House? It strikes me it would be proper. If you think so, will you have a second copy prepared, before 12. O, clock that I may send the message to day." PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Parke Bernet: January 25, 1979, Lot 144 ("American Historical Documents, Autograph Letters and Manuscripts: The Nathaniel E. Stein Collection"). Christie's New York: March 27, 2002, Lot 68 (Sale 1032, "Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents"). From the Collection of Sam Wyly, Dallas, Texas. NOTE: The annexation of the Republic of Texas as a state in the union in 1844, angered Mexico. The new state's vague southern border became the center point of dispute, with the Mexican government asserting that the border lay at the Nueces River and the United States claiming a line 150 miles south along at the Rio Grande. President Polk, an enthusiastic supporter of Manifest Destiny, sent a force of 4000 troops under command of General Zachary Taylor to the banks of the Nueces River. On April 25, 1846 Mexican cavalry attacked a group of United States cavalrymen in the disputed zone, killing about a dozen. The Mexican Army laid siege to an American outpost along the Rio Grande. Taylor dispatched reinforcements and was able to defeat the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Polk told the U.S. Congress that the "cup of forbearance has been exhausted, even before Mexico passed the boundary of the United States, invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil." Two days later, on May 13, Congress declared war, despite opposition from some northern lawmakers. Abraham Lincoln, a freshman congressman from Illinois, dramatically challenged Polk to prove his claim that American blood had been spilled on American soil. The detailed reports referred to in Polk's letter are of the operations between the American and Mexican forces at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.