SURBY, Richard W. (b. 1832). Grierson Raids, and Hatch's Sixty-Four Days March, with Biographical Sketches, also the Life and Adventures of Chickasaw, the Scout. Chicago: Rounds and James, Steam Book and Job Printers, 1865.

12mo. 9 lithographic plates. (Plates toned, some mostly marginal toning and spotting.) Original green pictorial cloth gilt (slight wear and soiling, a few tiny wormholes to front cover). Provenance: Dudley Bell Priester (1923-2017), Mississippi River collector and bibliographer (sold Bloomsbury, 20 November 2009, lot 123). FIRST EDITION of Surby's travelogue based on his war diary. Canadian-born Surby was the son of a British soldier. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he was in Illinois and enlisted in the United States Army. His account describes plantations, Libby Prison, and railways along his routes. Coulter Travels in the Confederate States 439; Howes S-1140. A PRE-FIRE CHICAGO IMPRINT.

[With:] [U.S. Government Reports]. Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War. Fort Pillow Massacre. Returned Prisoners. [Washington: Government Printing Office], 1864. 8vo. 8 engravings. (Some toning.) Contemporary green cloth gilt (some soiling). Provenance: Dudley Bell Priester (1923-2017), Mississippi River collector and bibliographer (sold Bloomsbury, 20 November 2009). FIRST EDITION. The Fort Pillow Massacre occurred on 12 April 1864, when Confederate forces under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the Union garrison at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. The Senate inquiry which followed found that Forrest's men had slaughtered over 300 African American soldiers who were attempting to surrender, an event remembered today as "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history." Sabin 25164.

Property from the Collection of Perry B. Hansen

SURBY, Richard W. (b. 1832). Grierson Raids, and Hatch's Sixty-Four Days March, with Biographical Sketches, also the Life and Adventures of Chickasaw, the Scout. Chicago: Rounds and James, Steam Book and Job Printers, 1865.