General Winfield Scott Grants Passage To William Schley, His Family And Five Colored Female Servants Through Border States During Civil War WINFIELD SCOTT

WINFIELD SCOTT (1786-1866). Winfield Scott was an American military commander and politician that served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861. He fought in the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, MexicanAmerican War, and the American Civil War. He held anti-slavery views and supported their gradual emancipation, contributing to his loss of the presidential election in 1852 against Franklin Pierce. Despite these views, he felt that the federal government lacked the constitutional authority to interfere with the institution of slavery within states. During his time as Commanding General, he devised the Anaconda Plan, which was a strategy to blockade the South by controlling the Mississippi River to strangle the Confederacy. LS. 1pg. Washington. October 22, 1861. A letter signed Winfield Scott and H. Van Rensselaer to William Schley, granting permission to pass through troops during his trip west. Head Quarters of the Army, Washington 22 Oct. 1861. W. Schley, Esquire, of Baltimore, will be permitted to pass by our troops in Western Maryland, Western Virginia + Western Pennsylvania, going to the West, for his family, + on his return with them to Baltimore. The family consists of Mrs. Schley, Mrs. Woodville, with her two children; a white coachman + five colored female servants. The whole (eleven persons) are commended to the protection and courtesy of our troops. Winfield Scott. By command: H. Van Rensselaer Col. & Aid-de-camp". William Schley was an American politician, who was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1836, but resigned in 1837 after moving his legal practice to Baltimore. Initially a Lincoln and Union supporter, he defended President Lincolns avoidance of Maryland for saving bloodshed. However, by 1864 he had been disillusioned because of Lincolns suspension of Habeas Corpus, which he argued was unjust. At the time of this letter, Winfield Scott was Commanding General of the U. S. Army and on the verge of retirement, which would happen in November of that year. Henry Bell Van Rensselaer was a colonel and chief of staff in the Union Army under Scott. This letter was needed because Schley was travelling along the border states dividing the Union and Confederacy states which were militarized. In addition, Schley was in Maryland, a Union state, with slaves; his movement to the west could be viewed as disloyal without this clearance as he was a slaveholder. This letter is in excellent condition and includes an envelope that was free franked by Scott. Most unusual Civil War content!