Letters to General William B. Franklin

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2004

William B. Franklin (1823-1903), West Point graduate and Mexican War veteran, entered the Union Army as a Colonel and left the service in 1864 as a Brevet Major General. His retirement from the military was largely the result of having officially been blamed by General Burnside for the Union defeat at Fredericksburg. In 1866, Franklin became a Vice President with Colt Fire Arms Manufacturing Co. and held this position for the next twenty years. Archive of 8 Autograph Letters Signed "A B Dyer", 31 pages, octavo and quarto, 1867-1872, Washington, D.C. to W.B. Franklin, Hartford, Connecticut. These letters to Franklin at Colt are, with the exception of the last one, penned on official War Department Ordnance Office letterheads. The main topic of discussion are patents for new firearms and this correspondence would be of considerable interest to the specialist in post-Civil War weaponry. Two of the letters also mention Gatling guns and read in small part as follows: "(6/12/67)...Benet would sell you the ammunition you wanted for the Gatling guns...The gun really has a good merit. I shall send more of them into the Indian country...(10/25/67)...Yours of the 21st is received. Hagner has the Gatling guns...". Lightly toned, overall VF.

Click on a thumbnail above to display a larger image below
Hold down the mouse button and slide side to side to see more thumbnails(if available).