COLONEL WILLIAM A. HOWARD - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/01/1863 - HFSID 174717

COLONEL WILLIAM A. HOWARD (CIVIL WAR)
In a War-dated letter from his office as Colonel of the 12th New York Artillery, Howard proposes recruiting a naval fleet to man cruisers along the Atlantic Coast.
Autograph Letter signed: "W.A. Howard", 1 page, 5x8. Headquarters, 12th New York Artillery, Col. W. A. Howard, Commanding, 86 White Street, New York, July 1st, 1863. To "My Dear Pitt" [U.S. Senator] William Pitt Fessenden, Portland, Maine. In full: "Could I be of service to my state by raising from the [illegible] Seamen & Boat men a Corps of 'Marine Artillery' say 12 or strong to man the first & cruise in Launchers & Steamers along the coast with the sanction of the war dept. and Gov. of Maine. If you think well of it I will aid it. I will resign here (for my service in truth belong to Maine) and go to work in the matter. If possible I will see you at your home on Monday or Tuesday next. Yours as ever. . " William A. HOWARD (1807-1871) was a veteran Coast Guard officer who commanded a detachment of marine artillery during battles on the Carolina coast during the Civil War. At the beginning of the war, he was commissioned as a Colonel of the 1st New York Heavy Artillery in the defenses around Portsmouth & Norfolk. Earlier in his career, when he commanded the revenue cutter Jackson, he was said to look so resplendent in his Coast Guard uniform that naval officers pressured Navy Secretary Levi Woodbury to remove epaulettes from Coast Guard uniforms. In the years before the Civil War, he was in private business as a shipbuilder. William Pitt FESSENDEN (1806-1869) had resigned a seat in the U.S. Senate to assume, at the personal behest of President Lincoln, the Cabinet post of Treasury Secretary after the resignation of Secretary Chase. Fessenden, who as Chairman the important Senate Finance Committee (1861-1864) had played an important role in raising revenues for the Union cause, but he served at Treasury for only eight months (July 5, 1864 - March 3, 1865). Thereafter he returned to the Senate, becoming chairman of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. Lightly creased. File holes at left edge. Corners worn. Toned near signature, but legible. Otherwise, fine condition.