(1813 - 1879) Confederate brigadier general and the first general officer of the Confederacy appointed by Jefferson Davis. He was the commanding officer of the Confederate defenses at Morris Island during the first attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 and directed cannon fire from the island during that engagement. It was Simons who sent Col. Louis T. Wigfall to Fort Sumter to ask if Major Robert Anderson would surrender the fort to General Beauregard. War-date A.E.S., [n.p.], Oct. 20, 1864, on a 1p. 8vo. note in another hand regarding a payment for a land survey involved in a court case, certifying that the above bill is correct and that the survey has been properly recorded. He signs in black ink at the conclusion. Shows a 2 in. closed tear to the right of Simons’ endorsement, with original mailing folds, else very good. Sold with a carte de visit photograph of Simons, with Anthony, New York backstamp.