![[CIVIL WAR]. SHERMAN, William Tecumseh. Autograph letter signed ("W.T. Sherman General") to HELMUTH VON MOLTKE (1800-1891), 75 West 71st St., New York, 2 December 1890. 2 pages, large 8vo., on Sherman's personal lined stationery. [With:] MOLTKE, Helmuth von. Autograph endorsement signed "G. von Moltke Feldmarschall"), 3 March 1891, 4 lines in blank lower portion of the 2nd page. A small photo of Von Moltke and a small flag tipped to blank portion.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2005/NYR/2005_NYR_01534_0268_000(102121).jpg?w=1)
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[CIVIL WAR]. SHERMAN, William Tecumseh. Autograph letter signed ("W.T. Sherman General") to HELMUTH VON MOLTKE (1800-1891), 75 West 71st St., New York, 2 December 1890. 2 pages, large 8vo., on Sherman's personal lined stationery. [With:] MOLTKE, Helmuth von. Autograph endorsement signed "G. von Moltke Feldmarschall"), 3 March 1891, 4 lines in blank lower portion of the 2nd page. A small photo of Von Moltke and a small flag tipped to blank portion.
SHERMAN TO FIELD MARSHALL VON MOLTKE. A letter that constitutes a remarkable epistolary link between two near-contemporaries widely ranked as the two most important military figures of the latter 19th century. Sherman, who had retired in 1886, writes on behalf of the son of a Supreme Court justice: "My dear General, Permit me to present to you the Bearer of this note, the Revd. Richard D. Harlan, son of the Hon. John M. Harlan Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. who goes to Berlin to pursue a course of study in his Special Profession. He will be duly accredited to our Minister Mr. Phelps, but naturally desires to visit the soldier whose fame is not limited to the German Empire but reaches to all parts of the Civilized World, especially America."
"I avail myself of this opportunity to convey to you my felicitations on reaching your ninetieth birthday in good health and strength, with the veneration and respect of all men, especiallly of our Noble profession...."
Von Moltke, born in Mecklenberg, served in several overseas armies before returning to Prussia in 1839. He served from 1858 until his retirement in 1888 as Chief of the Army General Staff, and in this role directed successful campaigns against Austria and Denmark and in the Franco-Prussian War. He is widely credited with the design and organization of the modern military staff system, and was one of the first to see the potential significance of railroads for movement of men and material. In a famous statement of 1880, he sounded a note which seems eerily reminiscent of the war waged by Sherman during his March to the Sea, noting that the goal of modern warfare was not simply the military strength of the enemy armies, but, "all the sources of support for the hostile government...its finances, railroads, foodstuffs, even its prestige..."
Both Sherman and Von Molkte would die in the coming year; Von Moltke only a few weeks after his endorsement on this letter.
SHERMAN TO FIELD MARSHALL VON MOLTKE. A letter that constitutes a remarkable epistolary link between two near-contemporaries widely ranked as the two most important military figures of the latter 19th century. Sherman, who had retired in 1886, writes on behalf of the son of a Supreme Court justice: "My dear General, Permit me to present to you the Bearer of this note, the Revd. Richard D. Harlan, son of the Hon. John M. Harlan Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. who goes to Berlin to pursue a course of study in his Special Profession. He will be duly accredited to our Minister Mr. Phelps, but naturally desires to visit the soldier whose fame is not limited to the German Empire but reaches to all parts of the Civilized World, especially America."
"I avail myself of this opportunity to convey to you my felicitations on reaching your ninetieth birthday in good health and strength, with the veneration and respect of all men, especiallly of our Noble profession...."
Von Moltke, born in Mecklenberg, served in several overseas armies before returning to Prussia in 1839. He served from 1858 until his retirement in 1888 as Chief of the Army General Staff, and in this role directed successful campaigns against Austria and Denmark and in the Franco-Prussian War. He is widely credited with the design and organization of the modern military staff system, and was one of the first to see the potential significance of railroads for movement of men and material. In a famous statement of 1880, he sounded a note which seems eerily reminiscent of the war waged by Sherman during his March to the Sea, noting that the goal of modern warfare was not simply the military strength of the enemy armies, but, "all the sources of support for the hostile government...its finances, railroads, foodstuffs, even its prestige..."
Both Sherman and Von Molkte would die in the coming year; Von Moltke only a few weeks after his endorsement on this letter.