Rare Wartime Orders to Evacuate Shreveport, LA, the

Rare Wartime Orders to Evacuate Shreveport, LA, the Last Confederate Capital of the State, Signed by Governor Henry W. Allen, Plus

Allen, Henry W. (1820-1866) Brigadier General CSA; Governor of Louisiana 1864-1865. LS, 1p, 7.75 x 8.5 in. April 5, 1864. Following an education in Virginia public schools, Allen attended Marion College in Missouri. He taught school and practiced law in Mississippi afterward. He served in the Texas Revolution then was elected to the Mississippi House, studying law at Harvard after that. He later moved to Louisiana purchasing a sugar cane plantation. He was then elected to the Louisiana legislature.

When the Civil War erupted, he enlisted as a private in the 4th Louisiana Infantry (Confederate), but was quickly elevated to lieutenant colonel. By March 1862 he was a full colonel. He suffered serious wounds at Shiloh and Baton Rouge. While recovering, Allen served as a military judge. He was promoted to brigadier general in August 1863, and ran for governor of his adopted state (the still-Confederate part). After his election, he worked to build hospitals and acquire medicines, both acutely needed in the state. He also began establishing industries and infrastructure, initially to try to make Louisiana self-sufficient. Since the Federal forces had taken New Orleans and controlled the Mississippi River, they could control the flow of goods into the rest of the state. Allen made it a point to protect the civil liberties of citizens from the military authorities.

As the war was winding down, he tried to protect state assets, as this order indicates. From the Executive Office in Shreveport, where the capital had moved since Federal troops took control, dated April 5, 1864, he writes to J. Hamilton Hardy, Esq., Assistant Secretary of State: "Sir, You will take charge of the archives and records from the offices of the Adjutant General, the Secretary of State, and the Governor & proceed with the same to Marshall Texas. You will cause them to be safely stored at that place and there await further directions." It is signed Henry W. Allen, Governor of Louisiana.

Plus brass medallion, 1.375 in., with portrait of Governor Allen, above his head the quote "Alone, unaided, here we stand." On verso: "May 26, 1865, Lowering Last Confederate Flag." The medals were struck honoring the 100th anniversary of striking the Confederate flag from the statehouse. Allen remained Governor for just another week, leaving office June 2.
Condition Report: Minor foxing of letter. Medal with very little wear.