AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, TO CAPTAIN A.H. BOWMAN OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, 25 SEPTEMBER 1850, REPORTING ON COST ESTIMATES FOR WORK ON FORTS SUMTER, MOULTRIE, AND JOHNSON

Charleston, 1850. Autograph Letter, signed by Kurtz of the Corps of Engineers. Written on recto of first page only. Single leaf folded to 8" x 10." [1], [3 blanks] pp. Very Good.

The Letter is of obvious interest for understanding the military operations of the Civil War, particularly its beginnings ten years later. Lieutenant Kurtz reports on the projected costs for work to be completed during the next fiscal year, which included "Fort Sumter, Dike to Drunken Dick, Breakwater[s] for Ft: Moultrie, [and] Ft: Johnson," and repairs of quarters at Fort Johnson. Kurtz discusses the status of work on Fort Sumter: "We are nearly out of cement. I have (truncated) ordered a shipment. Two lighters are on duty. Walker is sick."
Lieutenant John D. Kurtz, an 1842 West Point graduate, was assigned to the Corps of Engineers as a second lieutenant at Charleston. In 1852, assigned to Washington, he worked in the office of the Chief of Engineers. During the Civil War, he remained with the Union. Captain Alexander Hamilton Bowman (1803-1865), an 1825 West Point graduate, was a veteran member of the Corps of Engineers along the Gulf Coast and South Carolina. He supervised military construction in and around Charleston harbor, a position he retained until 1851. From March 1861-July 1864, Bowman was Superintendent of the United Sates Military Academy at West Point. (Inventory #: 39135)