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Confederate General Appointed by President Jefferson Davis “James Simons” Signature with an Anthony Carte de Visite

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JAMES SIMONS (1813-1879). First Confederate General Appointed for the Confederacy by CSA President Jefferson Davis; South Carolina Brigadier General of militia Commanding on Morris Island during the bombardment of Fort Sumter; he resigned his commission following an argument with Governor Pickens.

April 1841-Dated, blank wove sheet of period paper Signed, “James Simons - April 1841”, measuring 9” x 8”, 1 page, no place, folded, plus a CDV by Anthony, both Very Fine. This lot also includes a nice Carte de Visite of Simons shown in his Civil War Confederate military uniform in a chest-up pose with brown ink “Genl. Simons CSA” on the lower albumen photo image below the portrait and has a maker, Anthony printed backmark, further identified in another hand “Gen Simons - S.C.” (2 items).
James Simons (1813-1879) of Charleston, SC, was a lawyer, legislator and militia officer. He served as a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia. He was speaker of the SC house when the War began.

In March, Brig. General P.G.T. Beauregard was appointed the first general officer of the CSA by Jefferson Davis, and shortly thereafter he took control of South Carolina forces in Charleston, but the main force on duty in the harbor appears to have been state militia.

The Confederacy was seizing all Federal assets within its borders, and it was assumed that eventually Fort Sumter would be evacuated. However, since Maj. Robert Anderson had not received orders to do so, he stayed at the newly-constructed fort at the mouth of the harbor to which he had moved his troops from Fort Moultrie the day after Christmas (1860).

After ongoing, and very gentlemanly, negotiations, bombardment of Fort Sumter began on April 12th. At some point, a shell hit the flagpole at the fort, and a fire began in the officers' quarters.

General James Simons sent Colonel Wigfall, one of Beauregard's aides who was on duty on Morris Island, and private Gourdin Young to the fort to ascertain whether Major Anderson was surrendering, which, of course, he eventually did. In Beauregard's report to headquarters dated April 27th, 1861, he acknowledges General Simons and his troops on Morris Island several times.

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