Henry Slocum Vows Not To Get Into Politics Only Months Before Running For Office

HENRY W. SLOCUM (1827-1894). Slocum was a Union Army General who saw action at First Manassas, Antietam and Chancellorsville, and then was a Representative from New York. LS. 3pgs. August 27, 1865. Headquarters, Department of Mississippi, Vicksburg. A letter signed “H W Slocum” as commander of the Department of the Mississippi in the early Reconstruction period. The letter primarily discusses Slocum’s unwillingness to get into politics soon after the Civil War’s end. “My dear Sir – Your favor of the 17 has just come to hand. I am sorry Jill was prevented from coming this way. Perhaps I shall take a trip to Selma next month. If so I will be able to get some information and will write you. I recd a letter last week from a friend in Syracuse proposing I should be a candidate for Sect of State & replied at once that I could not become a candidate for civil office while in my present position, and that I was under obligation to remain here for the present. I shall probably resign this fall, but do not wish to enter politics and present. I am ambitious, perhaps too much so, but am in no haste to accomplish my purpose. I can afford to wait. If it ever becomes necessary you can say in my behalf that I will not under any circumstances be a candidate for office this fall. I enclose an order which explains itself. I was a little excited when I wrote, as I considered Sharkey’s action in the matter discourteous to me. I have been fair towards him and he should at least have consulted me before taking such an important step. I think the Government must sustain me, although Sharkey pretends to have private instructions from the Prest authorizing his actions…H W Slocum”. Sharkey was provisional Governor of Mississippi William Sharkey, who attempted to establish a militia to deny blacks their newly-gained rights as citizens. Slocum stepped in to foil this effort. In terms of his stated intent not to enter politics, Slocum was not a man of his word, as he ran unsuccessfully for New York Secretary of State in the fall of 1865. He became a Congressman a few years later. The letter, on “Department of Mississippi” letterhead, is in fine condition with a small tear in the vertical fold.