I feel much gratified at the tender of services of yourself + the twelve other gentlemen to the state of South Carolina to fight under her flag. 

Autograph letter signed by William H. Gist, Governor of South Carolina. Columbia, South Carolina, 15 November 1860. 1 page, 8 1/4 x 5 inch. Docketed to verso. 

In a premonition of what is to come nearly a month later, William H. Gist (1807-1874), governor of South Carolina, directs his letter of thanks to Mr. Andrew R. Blakely (1841-1908), who had offered the support of himself and twelve other men in defending South Carolina. Irish-born Blakely would go on to serve in the Washington Artillery of New Orleans during the Civil War, though his secessionist sympathies are evidenced long before that. In response, Gist states they cannot yet accept their proposed services "until we find ourselves too weak to cope with our adversaries." South Carolina, which would officially secede from the Union on 20 December 1860, had been slowly moving towards independent statehood, largely guided by the hand of Gist and his strong secessionist ideals that had populated his governorship. 

As an outspoken opposer of a Lincoln presidency, Gist had written to all cotton states (except Texas) expressing the likelihood South Carolina's secession, should the aforementioned candidate be elected into office. Awaiting the feared election results, Gist called for state legislatures to hold a special session, preparing to strengthen the state militia and call forth a secession convention in the event of Lincoln's presidency. On 6 November 1860, Lincoln would be elected, and the state of South Carolina would be spurred into action. 

From the 17th to the 20th of December 1860, the secession convention of South Carolina would take place, resulting in the unanimous decision to officially secede from the United States government. The proclamation would be delivered on 24 December 1860, signed by Gist and other delegates from the state, marking South Carolina as the first state to officially secede from the Union.

This excellent letter provides a foreboding glimpse into the mentality of seceding nations immediately following the Lincoln election, and directly on the brink of the Civil War. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]