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Four letters from Washington, death of Button Gwinnett, plus much more terrific content...
Four letters from Washington, death of Button Gwinnett, plus much more terrific content...
Item # 643775
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July 24, 1777
THE CONTINENTAL JOURNAL & WEEKLY ADVERTISER, Boston, July 24, 1777 The first column of the ftpg. is taken up with a fine letter: "...sent by a flag of truce from J. Varnum, Brig. General in the Rebel Army, to Col. Lossberg, commanding officer of the Hessian troops at Rhode Island...". It is prefaced with a nice: "...give your readers a convincing proof of the insidious, mean stratagems which have been used by the leaders of the Rebel Army to seduce the faithful Hessians from their allegiance." An interesting letter in which Gen. Varnum attempts to persuade the Hessians to join in the American cause.
The balance of the ftpg. is taken up with three (3rd carries over to pg. 4) letters from General George Washington, the first beginning: "I have the honor & pleasure to inform you that the enemy evacuated Brunswick this morning & retired to Amboy, burning many houses as they went along...". The 2nd letter is from 3 days later with updated information & is signed in type: G. Washington. The 3rd & 4th letters on pg. 4 are signed in type: G. Washington.
Page 2 begins with an exceedingly rare report: "An unhappy dispute having lately arisen between the Hon. Button Gwinnet, late Governor of Georgia, and General McIntosh, commanding officer of the Continental troops...determined by a duel between the parties, with pistols, when both the combatants were wounded. Mr. Gwinnet died of his wound..." & a bit more (see). This is a very rare report, and answer to a popular trivial question as to (perhaps) the most valuable of all 56 Declaration signers: Button Gwinnett, due to his relative obscurity before the war and his dying less than a year after July 4, 1776. This is the first report of his death we have encountered in an American newspaper.
Page 2 has a fine & detailed letter from Albany concerning General Sinclair and his evacuation of Ticonderoga and his later exploits. Pages 2 & 3 continue with much war content including a: "...letter from an officer of note dated Peek's Kill, July 14, 1777"; a report a the arrest of a counterfeiter; a letter from Kingston, N.Y.; two from Morristown; one from Halifax; and a letter from Paris which relates to the Revolutionary War. And the bkpg. includes an: "Extract of a letter from an officer of distinction, dated Manchester, July 9, 1777" concerning the evacuation of Ticonderoga, taking 1 1/2 columns.
Four pages, a bit of light foxing & very light damp staining, just slightly irregular at the spine margin, other margins untrimmed. Generally very nice condition.
Category: Revolutionary War
No Longer Available
