04/02/2025 General, Books & Autographs
NEW YORK, NY -- Offered in the April 11, 2025 auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps is the archive of Israel "Fighting Dick" Richardson (1815-1862), a soldier’s soldier whose military career began at West Point and ended prematurely when he was the highest-ranking Union General to be killed in the Battle of Antietam. Richardson was part of a storied generation of American career military men who met at West Point, became a fighting force in the Florida Wars and in Mexico, and were divided brother against brother in the Civil War when forced to choose the Union or Confederacy.
Present are approximately 120 letters and documents dated from the 1830s to the 1860s, as is a remarkable 300-page manuscript, being Richardson’s autobiography prepared between the Mexican and Civil Wars. But starting at the beginning, Israel Bush Richardson was born near Burlington, Vermont in 1815, and named for his Revolutionary ancestor Israel Putnam (who may have been a family friend rather than relation). Upon acceptance to the Military Academy at West Point in 1834, Richardson writes letters offering much on the daily life of cadets and the officers who educated them. But even in this early phase, Richardson's letters are serious and point to his upcoming role in the Second Seminole War as he wrote in 1837:
"There was an oration delivered here last month by Lieut. Atwood upon the subject of the battle at the Wythlacoochee. He says there have been more Cadets killed in the Florida War than in all since the institution was established..."
In early 1842, Richardson writes from Fort Stansbury, a frontier outpost near Tallahassee, and offers a long and important description of the removal of Pascofa and his Band from Florida. He describes the
"Old Chief of the hostiles, named Pas-co-fa" who is "very willing to give himself up with his people, that the war had continued long enough, that he was heartily tired of it; that he was a man of but few words, that he had but one talk to make. That he would hold this talk at Tampa whether he would go south of the line in East Fla., or go to Arkansas with all his people."
Following Florida, Richardson arrived at New Orleans in July 1845 destined for Corpus Christi Bay as the period of his Mexican War service begins:
"This bay is the mouth of the river Nueces - which river is the first one east and north of the Rio Grande. The country between the rivers is the disputed territory and the Mexicans are said to be occupying it in force."
War preparations continued throughout early 1846 and by May "our troops are all in fine spirits and eager to meet the enemy." Days later, Richardson reports having met and "completely routed his army ... Not a Mexican remains on this side of the Rio Grande. They have had a lesson they will long remember." For his brave service in the battles at Cerro Gordo and Palo Alto, Richardson not only earned the nickname “Fighting Dick” from none other than General Winfield Scott but was elevated to Brevet Captain of the regiment.
It is worth noting here that in 1851, Richardson achieved the rank of Captain in the prestigious 3rd U.S. Infantry, the oldest Regiment in the U.S. Army, first organized in 1784. Known today as the "Old Guard," the regiment's mission is to conduct memorial affairs to honor fallen comrades, including the permanent guard and wreath-laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Following the Mexican War, a period of retirement was enjoyed, but with the arrival of the rebellion Richardson organized and was made Colonel of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry, also known as "Richardson's Brigade." With war imminent, Richardson writes:
"Our army consists of ... 70,000 men in fortified positions; that of the enemy at Manassas 30,000 out of provisions and intending to attack us ... Gen. Scott wishes an attack and thinks he can finish them if they make one."
Days before the First Battle of Bull Run, Richardson is put in command of 4000 men, combining various regiments belonging to General Tyler's Division of General McDowell's Corp. Richardson was a respected soldier, who counted Abraham Lincoln among his friends:
"The President is a great friend of mine, says I am honest and faithful, and tells people that if there is to be any fighting done he expects me to be among the first - I go to call upon him occasionally, and he is always ready to see me notwithstanding the number of office seekers."
Entering 1862, Richardson is optimistic that victory could be gained in the Peninsula Campaign but laments not cutting off the enemy while in retreat. Richardson was promoted to Major General on July 4th, 1862. Knowing what is to follow, his letter to his wife Fannie Traver, a Michigan woman he had married just before departing for the Civil War, is particularly poignant. Just days before the Battle of Antietam, he writes:
"If they go there, we shall have them in front and rear, and they can never get back across the Potomac. I hear, while I am writing, a cannonade in the direction of Harper's Ferry, perhaps they are attacking our garrison there... Now it is time to end the war if the North turns out. The South are risking everything upon their army here which consists of 150,000 men.... My dear, it is now 6 in the morning and we march at 7..."
Major General Israel Bush Richardson was mortally wounded in the action along the Sunken Road also known as "Bloody Lane" during the Battle of Antietam. A shell fragment entered through his collar bone and lodged in his lung, not immediately considered a mortal wound, Richardson was carried to the back of the line and treated at a field hospital before moving to McClellan's headquarters at Pry House where he attempted to recover but infection set in. The weeks between Antietam and his death at Pry House on November 3rd, Abraham Lincoln personally visited Richardson and promised him to replace McClellan should he recover. Letters from Richardson's family report his deteriorating condition are present, including a letter from his wife. The letters from his family, whom Richardson had dutifully written for over 25 years, are poignant. Richardson was one of two Major Generals killed at Antietam and the highest-ranking member of the Union Army killed to that point.
Worthy of collector and institutional interest, the present archive offers the largest trove of papers known relating to this important and understudied American career soldier.
Auction Friday, April 11, 2025 at 10am
Exhibition April 5 - 7
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