The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1881. 1st Edition. 8vo. Very Good. Item #15531
A handsome set of Jefferson Davis' essential two-volume history of the Confederacy from the Mississippian and only President to serve the CSA.
140 years later, Davis' work remains the seminal history of the CSA Government.
This particular set belonged to Talbot County, Maryland native and former Confederate Officer Oswald Tilghman, with Law-Practice ownership stamp to the front endpapers.
"Oswald Tilghman (March 7, 1841 – June 17, 1932) was an officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War; a lawyer; Maryland politician; Maryland Senator, Talbot County, (1894–96); Secretary of State of Maryland (1904–08); affiliate of the Maryland Democratic Party; author; and was active in veteran affairs.
"When the American Civil War began in 1861, he volunteered as a Private in Company B, in Terry's Texas Rangers, of the Confederate States of America army. On April 6–7, 1862, he participated in the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee and in the campaigns about Richmond, Virginia. He became a Lieutenant and served as an aide on the staff of his cousin, General Lloyd Tilghman (who was killed in front at the Battle of Champion Hill).
"On March 14, 1863, Oswald took active part, with his battery, in that led to the destruction of the United States steam frigate USS Mississippi (1841), of which Admiral George Dewey was then executive officer, when Admiral Farragut's fleet attempted to pass the Confederate batteries. For his bravery on this occasion, he was commended by Lieutenant Colonel de Gournay, who commanded the left wing of the Confederate batteries. During the Siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana, Lieutenant Oswald Tilghman commanded the Rock City artillery of Nashville, Tennessee, a heavy battery on the banks of the Mississippi River and was the only one of the four officers of that battery who survived the siege.
"Lieut. Oswald Tilghman was taken captive during May 22 – July 9, 1863 at the Siege of Port Hudson, then was held prisoner at Johnson's Island in Sandusky, Ohio for 23 months until the conclusion of the war." - Wiki
xxiii, 707pp + ads; xix, 808pp + ads. Portrait frontises, portraits, maps (some folding).
Brown cloth with gilt medallions to front boards. Square tight bindings. Clean interiors. Laid in is a letter addressed to Oswald Tilghman dated in 1916 from an acquaintance in Massachusetts along with an photographic example of an 1861 Confederate $10 bill.
Binding moderately rubbed with some edge wear. A touch of fraying to cloth at corners and spine ends. a few of the plate tissue guards lacking. Sporadic foxing, more so to outer pages.
Overall a lovely set with fantastic Talbot County, Md and Confederate Army provenance.
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