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Ransom, R. (Robert) (1828-1892) to Lawrence O'Bryan Branch

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02459.27 Author/Creator: Ransom, R. (Robert) (1828-1892) Place Written: Fort Wise, Colorado Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 11 January 1861 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 21.6 x 26.4 cm. Order a Copy

Captain Ransom writes to Branch, a United States Representative from North Carolina, Ransom's home state. Reports that there has been no mail for two months, but the previous day, received shocking news (possibly referring to secession of several southern states): "The news which has reached us startles the most lethargic. Before what are we standing? I dare not answer it to myself... Let me now add that should our state need my services, I beg you will offer them, to be used by her in whatever way may to her seem best."

Fort Wise was on the Arkansas River east of Pueblo, Colorado. The fort was named after the Governor of Virginia (Henry Wise) in hopes that he would stay with the Union. When Virginia joined the South, Fort Wise was renamed Fort Lyon, after the first Union General killed in the war. In 1861, Branch became a general in the Confederacy. By 11 January 1861, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama had seceded. North Carolina seceded 20 May 1861.

Ransom, R. (Robert), 1828-1892
Branch, Lawrence O'Bryan, 1820-1862

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