Rawlins, John A., 1831-1869 to Mary E. Hurlbut

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GLC#
GLC05606
Type
Letters
Date
16 November 1863
Author/Creator
Rawlins, John A., 1831-1869
Title
to Mary E. Hurlbut
Place Written
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Pagination
6 p. : Height: 21 cm, Width: 13.3 cm
Primary time period
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
Sub-Era
The American Civil War

Discusses his love for her and Ulysses Grant's drinking problem. To his fiancée, with pencil lines between the pen. On Grant's drinking: "The necessity of my presence has made almost absolute, by the free use of intoxicating spirits liquors at Head Quarters which last nights developments showed me had reached to the General commanding. I am the only one here (his wife not being with him) who can stay it in that direction & prevent evil consequences resulting from it. I had hoped but it appears vainly his New Orleans experience would prevent him ever again indulging with this his worst enemy." The "New Orleans experience" may refer to the bad fall Grant took off a horse earlier that year in New Orleans.
Rawlins was on Grant's staff throughout the war, and was always his friend and supporter. He believed Grant's drinking problem to be severe, and saw himself as the only one who could protect the General and his reputation.

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