The following brief letter was written by Col. A. G. Rice of South Carolina who served as one of several aide-de-camps on the personal staff of General P. G. T. Beauregard. At the time of this letter, Beauregard was in command of the Dept. of South Carolina and Georgia which was created in 1861 to guard the coastal areas in those states as well as Florida. Most of the 23,000 men in this department were deployed in defending Charleston and Savannah.

The letter was addressed to Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1805-1869) who was the Governor of South Carolina and running for reelection but would be defeated by Gen. Milledge Luke Bonham on 17 December 1862.

The letter pertains to John Dunovant, Colonel of the 1st South Carolina, who was accused of drunkenness while on duty in late 1862. It led to a trial but the charges were eventually dismissed when it was concluded that the allegations had been exaggerated. President Davis reinstated Dunovant in July 1863 and he was made Colonel of the 5th South Carolina Cavalry at that time. He commanded the cavalry brigade during the Overland Campaign and and the early part of the Siege of Petersburg but was killed at the Battle of Vaughan Road on 1 October 1864.

Transcription

Headquarters Dept. of South Carolina & Georgia
Charleston, [South Carolina]
December 13, 1862

My dear Governor,

John Dunovant is anxious to get a letter from you to the Secretary of War. If you have no objection, I will be glad if you will forward his wishes. He begs me to say that Dr. Furman of the Senate will give you any information in reference to his affairs.

The impression in Charleston is that you have the track. May God speed. You have few more ardent followers in this contest that General Beauregard though he is extremely apprehensive of his military influence.

Your friend, — A. G. Rice