AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY PAYMASTER WILLIAM SMITH – FUTURE PAYMASTER-GENERAL OF THE U.S. ARMY; TO FELLOW PAYMASTER AND “CRATER” GENERAL HENRY GODDARD THOMAS

AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY PAYMASTER WILLIAM SMITH – FUTURE PAYMASTER-GENERAL OF THE U.S. ARMY; TO FELLOW PAYMASTER AND “CRATER” GENERAL HENRY GODDARD THOMAS

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Autograph letter signed ("W. Smith"), a single folded folio letter sheet written on all four pages, Washington, June 27, 1881, to "Genl. H. G. Thomas, Pueblo, Colorado." Approximately 8 x 10 in.; close, legible brown-ink script with the writer's own emphatic underscores throughout.

A candid insider's account of the political maneuvering inside the U.S. Army Pay Department in the summer of 1881, as senior paymasters jockeyed over the anticipated vacancy in the office of the Paymaster-General (then held by the soon-to-retire Nathan W. Brown). Both correspondents were Civil War general officers who had returned to the Regular Army as paymasters: the writer, William Smith (1831–1912) of Orwell, Vermont, would be appointed Paymaster-General of the United States Army in 1890; the recipient, Henry Goddard Thomas (1837–1897), was the celebrated commander of USCT troops at the Battle of the Crater, who transferred to the Pay Department as a major in 1878.

Writing of "the P.M.G.'s place," Smith reports that he has discouraged talk of his own candidacy — not from any sense that the office belongs to the senior man, but "simply because I did not want to stand for a place and make a race in which I had no hope of winning." He then sizes up his rivals with dry candor: he weighs the chances of Maj. McClure, dismisses Larned, and reserves real contempt for a paymaster named Terrell, branding him "a tricky intriguing disagreeable man… 'par excellence'" and "the last man" who should secure the office. He disputes the view of Col. George Lea Febiger — then acting Paymaster-General — that the post belongs by right to the senior officer of the corps, and allows that his own judgment on pay matters, his education, and his command of English are the equal of any of his seniors. Most striking, he floats that "if Mr. Garfield by any means should appoint me" he is satisfied he could fill the office — a remarkable line written just five days before President Garfield was shot, and prophetic given that Smith did ascend to Paymaster-General nine years later. He closes the point: "But I'm not a candidate — when I am I will ask you to assist."

The balance of the letter turns technical, on General Order No. 6 of 1881 and its effect on mileage vouchers and travel pay for enlisted men, recounting his conversation with Col. Febiger over objections raised in the Paymaster-General's office — excellent documentation of the everyday administration of army pay. Smith signs off with domestic news: a rainy but pleasant Washington summer, and his "wife and babies three… preparing for a Campaign to New Hampshire," with warm regards to Mrs. Thomas.

A superior association piece uniting two Civil War generals turned paymasters, with the added interest that the writer would go on to head the very department he here describes from within.

Note: The signature reads "W. Smith." This is the work of Paymaster (later Brig. Gen. and Paymaster-General) William Smith and should not be confused with the corps commander William Farrar "Baldy" Smith (1824–1903), who left the Regular Army in 1867 and was never a paymaster.

Condition: Old mailing folds (horizontal and vertical) with light wear along the folds; scattered light foxing and a few small ink spots, chiefly to the first and last pages; one short authorial cancellation on the second page. Paper bright and supple, ink strong, fully legible throughout. Complete.

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