Executive Council Chamber, Columbia, S.C., November 5, 1862… this is the actual copy that South Carolina Governor Pickens was given by Asst. Adj. Gen. Clifton H. Smith to file. It is a note (copied by Smith) from James Chesnut, Jr. (famous author Mary Boykin Chesnut’s husband), who was with the South Carolina Department of the Military. Chesnut sends honorable J. H. Sass, the Chairman of the Gunboat Commission, the proceeds of the Executive Council.
The Executive Council who’s Secretary B. F. Arthur:
“Resolved that the resolution of the 8th ulto. appropriating $50,000 from the fund received from the Confederate Government for the Chicora be affirmed and that said amount be placed subject to the draft of the Gunboat Commission in Charleston, and that it be considered by the Governor & council a claim on the Confederate Government to be settled hereafter.”
The Confederate Government had pledged $50,000 for the Chicora and it had not been paid. The South Carolina Military Council desired “to know why it is that the Government at Richmond is not ready to pay for the Chicora”.
For the South Carolina or Confederate Navy enthusiast, here is a great piece that could be framed-up with a photo of the Chicora. It is on legal sized paper measuring 8 ½ x 14 inches, written in nice dark ink. The paper has toned quite a bit with slight loss at the edges, but makes a fine presentation!
#HC42 - Price $995
Bottom half of front:
Back side of document: