Autograph letter signed by William Henry Paine (1828-1890). Hd. Qrs. Army of the Potomac, 10 March 1864. 4 pages, 8vo. 

A remarkable letter written by engineer, cartographer, and close friend of Ulric Dahlgren, William Henry Payne (1828-1890), that provides an interesting perspective on the abortive Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid.

Happening just a week earlier, it resulted in the death of his close friend, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren (1842-1864), the son of Union Navy Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Sometimes known as the Dahlgren Affair, Dahlgren and General Judson Kilpatrick (1836-1881) led a risky cavalry expedition to free prisoners of war subject to inhumane treatment at Libby Prison and Belle Isle. Dahlgren was killed while in retreat, and papers found on his body held orders to free prisoners, arm them, set Richmond ablaze, and assassinate President Jefferson Davis. Once published in Confederate newspapers, an angry mob disinterred Dahlgren's remains and displayed them in the Confederate capital, in turn incensing northerners. 

Paine writes of his near-involvement in the ill-fated raid, and interestingly recounts that he encountered George Armstrong Custer while on a mission with the VI Corps: "I came very near going with Col. Dahlgren. I made every arrangement to go, but received an order to guide the 6th Corps to Madison Court House so that I was absent when he started. Gen Custar [sic] coming through Madison Court House on his raid I joined him and as it now proves was on the most successful branch of the movement." 

He continues, remarking particularly on his close friendship with the late Dahlgren: "Col. Dahlgren was one of my most intimate friends here...He made out the plan relating to the time and distances in my tent. When he mentioned Sunday as the day for starting I mentioned my views upon that point. He said he agreed with me in relation to the duty of keeping the Sabbath but said that time must not be lost and Sunday was mentioned as the earliest time they could leave. He said in the same connection that he never undertook any such enterprise without asking God's blessing."

Paine also comments on the upcoming Presidential election: "I do hope there will be no split in the Presidential campaign. I do not believe the Republican scan bring a stronger candidate than Prest. Lincoln. I think Fremont would not stand the ghost of a chance for an election though I think he would make a good president. "

Paine began his career in surveying and engineering when his family moved to Wisconsin in 1850, engaging in several projects in the northern part of the state. At the outbreak of war, he helped to raise several regiments, including the 4th Wisconsin Infantry, which he accompanied to the capital that summer in hopes of obtaining a commission as an engineer. He was taken on as a civilian assistant by Major Amiel Weeks Whipple (1817-1863) to conduct surveys in and around Washington. In April 1862, he was part of the reconnaissance team sent into Virginia to improve the existing maps. In recognition of his efforts, he was commissioned a captain, serving on the staffs of every commander of the Army of the Potomac (except McClellan), engaged in creating maps well-regarded for their accuracy. 

On 2 February 1863, Paine became assistant to General Gouverneur K. Warren (1830-1882), who had been given command of the Engineer Department of the Army of the Potomac. He would remain in the role until the end of the war, reaching the rank of brevet colonel on 9 April 1865. Warren remarked on his service: "To his previous great knowledge of the country he added by constant laborious and oftentimes daring reconnaissance, and applied it in unfailing efforts to correct our imperfect maps and in guiding our columns on the marches night and day along the secret paths he had discovered." 

After the war, he moved to Brooklyn and became involved in many major civic engineering projects, including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hudson River Tunnel. 

A remarkable letter from the Army of the Potomac's cartographer.  

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