Lot
2638 
Confederacy, Ripley, Roswell, Brigadier General, C.S.A. Partly printed lettersheet "Ordnance Bureau/Charleston, S.C. February 1861/Invoice for Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, turned over by E. Manigault, Col. Ordnance, State of South Carolina, to Col. L.M. Hatch Q.M. Genl. for transportation to Lt. Col. R.S. Ripley, Fort Moultrie, Sullivan Island.", signed: "E. Manigault, Col. Ordnance"Docketed on reverse: I certify that the Ordnance & Ordnance Stores included in the written Invoice were issued and received at ports under my command on the dates specified. Much was expended during operations against Fort Sumter. What remained was taken up and continued on the regular Ordnance Returns. Charleston, South Carolina, December 12th, 1862, signed R.S. Ripley, Extremely Fine, a very rare & historic document.
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
Roswell Sabine Ripley (March 14, 1823 ? March 26, 1887), a West Point graduate, served in the Mexican War (of which he wrote a standard history) and the Seminole Wars. Resigning his commission, he became a successful businessman in Charleston and adopted the Secession cause. In 1860 he joined the state militia but was soon promoted to Brigadier General, C.S.A. and commanded Fort Moultrie during the Fort Sumter siege and bombardment. After quarrels with Pemberton and Beauregard, he was placed in command of a brigade under Hill, and fought through the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns, suffering a wound at Antietam. In early 1863, he was given command of the South Carolina 1st Artillery District, and worked to improve the defenses of the critical port of Charleston. He commanded the troops that repulsed a U.S. Navy attack on the city on 7 April 1863, as vividly depicted in the map here offered. That action constitutes THE FIRST USE OF IRONCLADS AGAINST SHORE INSTALLATIONS. In spite of Ripley's extensive defenses, subsequent Union efforts to re-capture Sumter and the city were finally successful in late 1864. Ripley joined the Army of Northern Virginia and served until paroled at Appomattox. After the war, he resided some 20 years in England.
Realized: $1,400