Item description: Telegram of 15 April 1861 from United States Secretary of War Simon Cameron to North Carolina Governor John W. Ellis requesting that Ellis deploy two regiments of North Carolina troops into service, together with what appears to be the text of Ellis’ 15 April 1861 response to Cameron.
Item Citation: From folder 10 of the John Willis Ellis Papers, #242, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
More about this item: John Willis Ellis was a Salisbury, N.C., lawyer, Democratic Party leader, and governor of North Carolina, 1858-1861.
Simon Cameron (8 March 1799 – 26 June 1889) served as United States Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln at the beginning of the Civil War. His service in this post lasted from 5 March 1861 – 14 January 1862.
I just thought I’d note a couple things:
1. The original telegram (Ellis’ reply to Cameron) is housed in the National Archives (in the Records of the War Department, Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, Record Group 107, National Archives, Washington, D.C.). This is known because…
2. There is a book, The Papers of John W Ellis (1964), edited by Noble Tolbert, containing annotations and other information about these and other communications sent or received by Gov. Ellis. You can find the book in the UNC Library here.