1865 CONFEDERATE Broadside: “A Message from the Valley Army" / Civil War

Description

EXTREMELY RARE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. Printed broadside:
“A Message from the Army of the Valley of Virginia...Camp Smith's Brigade, February 10, 1865.”
{Richmond, 1865}.
Parrish & Willingham: 1599.
Broadside, 6" x 9 3/8"
, one page.
A STIRRING STATEMENT OF LAST-DITCH CONFEDERATE DEFIANCE
Two months before the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, the men of Colonel Thomas Smith's brigade, Wharton's Division of Lt. General Jubal A. Early's Army of the Valley, issue a defiantly worded statement of their unswerving dedication to the cause, despite the shadow of defeat that was now looming above them. Smith's Brigade, compromising the 36th, 45th, and 60th Virginia regiments, had played a significant role at the Battle of Cold Harbor and in Early's late-war campaign against Washington D.C. Here, after suffering severe losses in the Shenandoah Valley battles of the previous fall, the men of the brigade make a clear statement of their unwavering rebel resolve:
"Whereas, the arms of the Confederate States, during the recent campaigns, have sustained serious reverses, which have caused an undue despondency in some portions of our country, and created an unpatriotic doubt as the final result of our struggle, and induced some to entertain the treasonable thought of making terms...we...do resolve...
I.     That...after four years of terrible ware with the savage foe who seeks our subjection, we are still firm in our determination to achieve our independence or to perish nobly struggling for it...
II.    That in the cause of our country is involved all we hold dear; that it has been consecrated by the blood of those heroes who have fallen in its defense...
III.    That whilst we will hail with joy that peace which bring to us the recognition of our independence...we cast from us with scorn the arrogant and insolent propositions recently made to our Commissioners by Abraham Lincoln...
(At the Conference, Lincoln had made clear, to the dismay of both Stephens and Horace Greeley, the New York Tribune editor who had instigated the meeting, that peace could occur only by the Confederacy’s surrender, restoration of the Union, and adherence to the Emancipation Proclamation.)
IV.    That we send this declaration to our friends...and bid them be of good cheer and 'never despair of the Republic.'
Less than a month later (March 2,1865), the remnants of Early's Army were attacked by Major General Phillip Sheridan’s Union Cavalry at Waynesboro, Virginia where Smith's brigade was decimated in a Major General Custer charge and the Army of the Valley, for practical purposes, ceased to exist.
This is an original copy of the resolutions given by Smith's Brigade.
I have only seen two imprints come up for sale in my lifetime and I purchased of them. A copy of the imprint sold at Christie's Auction House on
June 17, 2003, for ,793. One of the imprints I purchased was from Seth Keller Historical Documents & Legacy Collections, a copy of that description and price (,500) from 2007 will be included as well as a copy of an article from the Richmond Dispatch referring to the resolution. This is a great investment for a monumental historical Confederate imprint.
See photo for condition.
Thanks for looking and good luck bidding.