1863 Civil War Letter from George A. Lawrence to Maryland’s Gen. Benjamin Chew Howard on British Sympathy for the Confederacy, with Presentation Copy of Border and Bastille and Howard Family Annotations

On offer is a remarkable collection of written Civil War history connecting British novelist and Confederate sympathizer George Alfred Lawrence with Maryland statesman General Benjamin Chew Howard, whose family was loyal to the Confederacy. Included are an unpublished four-page wartime letter from Lawrence to Howard discussing British support for the Confederacy and an author-inscribed copy of Lawrence’s Border and Bastille. The book contains handwritten annotations attributed to a Howard family member that identify previously unnamed individuals and reveal new details of Lawrence’s experiences as a prisoner of Union authorities.

Benjamin Chew Howard was a prominent Maryland statesman and former U.S. Congressman whose Southern sympathies were shared by his family, including six sons who served in the Confederate Army. George Alfred Lawrence was a successful British novelist and outspoken supporter of the Confederacy who travelled to America intending to join the Southern war effort. Captured by Union authorities before reaching Confederate territory, Lawrence was imprisoned and later recounted his experiences in Border and Bastille. Lawrence documents his connection with Howard in both the book and the accompanying correspondence.

The Letter

Writing from England on October 11, 1863, Lawrence tells Howard what he believes men of his class think of the Confederacy, condemns the British government’s conduct toward the South, and asks for news of the family who had welcomed him while he was a prisoner. 

In the letter, Lawrence writes that he entrusted the letter and book to Captain Hardy of his “brother’s regiment.” He explains to Howard why he sent the book and letter by hand instead of through the mail:  “Every letter seems to miscarry strangely.” 

The book was already in its third English edition, a success Lawrence reports with some surprise. He thought it carelessly written and confided to Howard that his health had allowed him little exertion, either while writing it or since.

The letter then becomes most revealing as Lawrence discusses the war. Howard had previously served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Lawrence feels it important to tell him how differently he judged the conduct of Britain’s government and the sentiments of his own circle. He writes:

“I wish you would believe that the sympathy with the C.S. - universal in the upper classes here - is no more abated than my own.”

Lawrence discusses Britain’s foreign secretary, expressing doubts as to whether Russell can still be shamed into changing course. 

Before signing off, Lawrence wishes Howard luck in settling into his winter quarters, and expresses fears about what it must be like for him and his family to live in Baltimore. Finally, he spares the general the obligation of answering personally: “A letter from Mrs. Howard or any member of the family would be welcome.”

The Book

The revealing four-page letter is glued into Howard’s own copy of Border and Bastille, inscribed to him by Lawrence on October 15, 1863. A second hand, which context indicates is that of a Howard relative, has annotated the book. The annotations identify the Baltimore people Lawrence left unnamed in print and records what happened at the general’s supper table.

The most consequential manuscript addition appears on page 159. On that page, Lawrence recounts how, following his capture, a delay in preparing his commitment papers caused him to miss the afternoon train to Washington. Rather than arrive after the offices had closed and spend the night in the Central Guard-house, he persuaded the cavalry sergeant who had him in custody to take the four o’clock train the following morning. Lawrence and the Union sergeant attended a house where, he wrote, he “felt most at home in Baltimore”. He remained there until long after midnight. The visit subsequently figured in a charge that he had bribed his escort and spent the night at the home of a notorious secessionist.

Lawrence withheld his host’s name in print. At the foot of the page, the annotator supplies the address, 918 N. Charles St., identifies the house as General Howard’s, and adds:

“Whilst taking supper with the family Mr Lawrence was never out of sight of his guard, and gave his word of honor not to try to escape.”

Historical data confirms that 918 N Charles St in Baltimore was a home where the Howards lived. 

The annotation gives particular meaning to the letter at the back of the book. When Lawrence asks to hear from Mrs. Howard or anyone in the family, he is writing to the household that had made a place for him at dinner on the eve of his removal to Washington. 

Inside the front cover, a handwritten index directs the reader to eight pages concerning Baltimore people. The strongest evidence for the annotator’s identity appears on page 55, alongside Lawrence’s tribute to the general as a steadfast friend, a formidable political adversary, and a former candidate for governor. The annotator marks the passage and identifies its subject as B. C. Howard, grandfather of the present B. C. Howard, 1890.

This annotation can only refer to Howard’s grandson, Benjamin Chew Howard (1868–1930). This younger namesake was the son of the General’s only surviving son, William Gilmor Howard, and the only grandson born to a Howard male. The writer of the annotations was locating the deceased General Howard in relation to the Benjamin Chew Howard then living. That precise distinction between two generations, in the general’s own presentation copy, together with the intimate account of supper at his house, strongly supports attribution of the notes to a Howard relative. 

Elsewhere the same annotator supplies names that would otherwise be lost to a reader of Lawrence’s narrative:

• On page 59, the Baltimore resident whose advice Lawrence sought the morning after his arrival is identified as W. W. Glenn, the Maryland journalist William Wilkins Glenn.

• The unnamed woman whose beauty Lawrence admired on page 53 is identified as Mary Dulany. 

• On page 158, the unnamed bride whose friends he encountered at military headquarters becomes Lilly Dulany, who married Mr. Cushing of Boston. 

• Further notes name Mr. W. Young on page 46 and Col. Charles Caroll on page 79.

Significance 

This annotated book and letter preserve a remarkable firsthand record of the personal relationships, political loyalties, and transatlantic sympathies that shaped the American Civil War.

Of particular importance is the way the manuscript material expands upon the published historical record. 

Lawrence's private correspondence reveals his understanding of British upper-class support for the Confederacy in October 1863, his frustration with British foreign policy, and his continuing attachment to a prominent Baltimore family whose six sons served in the Confederate Army. 

The Howard family annotations, meanwhile, restore identities deliberately omitted from Lawrence's published narrative and document the circumstances of his supper under Federal guard at General Howard's Baltimore residence. 

For Civil War historians, this is a particularly rich primary source, with research applications extending to Confederate sympathizers in Union-controlled Maryland, Baltimore's secessionist social networks, the treatment and movements of civilian prisoners, British attitudes toward the Confederacy, and the political and personal connections maintained across the Atlantic during the war. It is equally relevant to scholars of nineteenth-century Anglo-American relations, literary historians studying George Alfred Lawrence, Maryland historians, genealogists researching Baltimore's prominent families, and researchers of annotated books and the preservation of personal historical memory.

Physical description

1. George Alfred Lawrence, Border and Bastille. By the Author of “Guy Livingstone.” Third Edition, Revised. London, Tinsley Brothers, 18, Catherine St., Strand, 1863. Approximately 5½ × 9 inches. Reddish-brown patterned cloth with blind-ruled borders and gilt spine lettering. Author’s presentation inscription on the front flyleaf, manuscript index on the front pastedown, annotations on seven printed pages, and four-page autograph letter signed, pasted in at the rear.
   
   

2. One four-page autograph letter dated October 11, 1863, from English novelist George Alfred Lawrence to General Benjamin Chew Howard of Baltimore. The letter is pasted into the back cover of Border and Bastille.

Condition: Fair overall. A few early leaves have separated from the binding and remain with the volume. The rest of the pages remain bound. The front inner hinge is open, with sewing visible. The cloth is faded, mottled and rubbed, with fraying and losses along the board edges and at the corners and spine ends. The endpapers show toning, spotting and edge wear. An early leaf bears the stamp of Weaver Book Store of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and pencil notations. The letter shows intersecting folds, splitting along portions of the folds, and localized reddish-brown staining. Its writing and signature remain legible, as do the presentation inscription and the handwritten family annotations. The letter  is in fair to poor condition, with a significant split down the centre and significant signs of age and wear. It remains fully legible and is written in bold ink. 

Biographical notes

George Alfred Lawrence (1827–1876) was an English novelist educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford. Trained in law, he achieved literary success with the anonymous publication of Guy Livingstone in 1857. His sympathy for the Confederacy took him to America during the Civil War. Captured while attempting to reach Confederate territory and imprisoned in Washington, he recounted the experience in Border and Bastille on his return to Britain. The title page still identifies him only through his earlier novel. In Howard’s copy, his full signed letter accompanies that anonymous account. 

Benjamin Chew Howard (1791–1872) was a Baltimore lawyer, Maryland militia brigadier general, and son of Revolutionary War officer and Maryland governor John Eager Howard. Born at Belvedere near Baltimore, he served in the defence of the city during the War of 1812 and went on to represent Maryland for four terms in the United States House of Representatives, where he chaired the Committee on Foreign Affairs. From 1843 to 1862 he served as Reporter of Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. In 1861 he took part in the Washington Peace Conference in a final effort to avert civil war and later that year stood as the Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland. He died in Baltimore on March 6, 1872.