circa 1780

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834

Manuscript

Title: Order of Battle

Organizational chart of General LaFayette's battle plan for reconnaissance down the west side of the Hudson River. Includes references to Brigadier Generals Hand, Poor, and Parsons, and Major Generals Lord Stirling (William Alexander), St. Clair, and Steuben.

GLC03796

1781-1782

Lincoln, Rufus, 1751-1838

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Captain Lincoln's Revolutionary War log book containing detailed copies of reports]

Includes rolls containing the names of soldiers, accounts of arms returned to the quartermaster, inspection returns, and other military reports. On the inner front cover, notes the capture of a prisoner and the transfer of a soldier.

GLC03846

15 April 1782

Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron von, 1730-1794

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Muster roll for the 3rd Company, 7th Massachusetts Regiment]

Signed by Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben as Major General and Inspector General of the United States Army, certifying the muster roll as valid. Signed by Gamaliel Bradford as Lieutenant. Plus five collateral newspapers clippings that seem unrelated.

GLC03847

May 1782

Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron von, 1730-1794

Document signed

Title: Roll and muster of the 3rd company 7th Massachusetts regument taken for the month of May 1782

General Von Steuben signs as Inspector General of the Army of the United States. Captain Rufus Lincoln signifies that the muster roll is accurate on the 30 June 1782. Lists the names of soldiers in Lincoln's company. Small tear in the top center.

GLC03848

1813-1820

Hewson, John, 1744-1821

Header Record

Title: Letters to Rufus Lincoln [Decimalized .01-.08]

Includes personal news and an account of his escape from the British in New York in 1778. Accompanied by a sheet of paper that appears to have originally stored the documents, stating "Capt Hewsons Letters to my Father Rufus Lincoln." Includes a modern envelope that the letters may have been stored in. There are eight letters total.

GLC03849

10 February 1781

Barber, Francis, 1750-1783

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elias Dayton

Written by Lieutenant Colonel Barber of the 3rd New Jersey regiment to Colonel Dayton, Barber's brigade commander. Encloses a letter from George Washington for Dayton, who is coalescing from illness. Also sending letters from Washington to Colonels Caldwell and Friling and New Jersey Governor William Livingston that he wants Dayton to pass along (these three letters are not included here). Has been ordered to march to Morristown and will send along baggage by sleds. Mentions personnel issues in the brigade they belong to. Barber says that headquarters had put him in charge of the brigade…

GLC03662.03

9 July 1782

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Samuel Osgood

Writes to Osgood, then a member of the Continental Congress and the treasury board, to request that Congress pay Baron von Steuben. States that "it has been owing to [von Steuben] that a substantial discipline has been established in the American Army," that he "is particularly attached to the cause of America," but "can no longer live without pay." (See GLC02437.01480 for the retained copy of this letter)

GLC03646

1769-1791

Header Record

Title: New Hampshire Revolutionary War documents, mainly dealing with draft, militia

1. King George III. D: Portsmouth, N.H. 4 November 1769. Legal writ to the sheriff of New Hampshire ordering the seizure of Richard Perkins for appearance in court. 1p. + docket + endorsement. 2. State of New Hampshire. D: Hillsborough, [N.H.] 12 January 1781. An Act for the raising and completing this state's quota of the Continental Army. 2p. + docketed on verso. 3. State of New Hampshire. D: Hillsborough, [N.H.] 14 April 1781. An Act in addition to, and alteration of an Act passed the 12th day of January 1781, entitled an act for raising and completing this state's quota…

GLC03657

1782

Great Britain. Acts.

Pamphlet

Title: An Act for the better detaining, and more easy exchange of American prisoners...

GLC03562.30

1852

Currier, Nathaniel, 1813-1888

Print

Title: Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga N.Y. Oct. 17th 1777

Created by Currier as a lithograph of the painting by John Trumbull, which hangs in the U.S. Capital Building. Signature in lower right corner of lithograph says "O. Knursch 1852." Fine print below the picture says "Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1852 by N. Currier, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Southern District N.Y." Also says it is published by Currier and provides his address. Depicts the surrender of General John Burgoyne, in the left foreground, to General Horatio Gates, in the right foreground. Burgoyne is about to hand over his sword in a gesture of…

GLC03567

18 September 1780

Dundas, Ralph, 1732-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Dundas

Dundas, Captain of the H. M. S. Bonetta, informs his brother James he was in New York and other locations before moving north to Nova Scotia. Reports that on the way, his men took five prizes and reclaimed two brigs containing low-valued cargo. States that a French fleet is "Blocked up at Present at Rhode Island" by Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot. Refers to the British defeat of American forces at Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1780 and the capture of valuable Virginia ships by New York privateers. Discusses a riot in Boston, Massachusetts following General George Washington's call for 3,…

GLC03676.02

29 December 1777

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Letter signed

Title: to New Hampshire re: asking for supplies, call to arms & poor state of army

Written in the hand of Robert Hanson Harrison. Washington appeals for clothing and supplies for his troops. Copies of this letter went to every state. Washington writes in part: "We had in Camp on the 23rd Instt. by a field report then taken, not less than 2898 men unfit for duty by reason of their being barefoot and otherwise naked." Fitzpatrick 10: 221-25 (based on the copy sent to Massachusetts).

GLC03706

17 December 1780

Dundas, Ralph, 1732-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Dundas

Ralph, Captain of the H. M. S. Bonetta, writes to his brother James. Lists the names of ships involved in an expedition. Mentions General Charles Cornwallis. Relates news related to various sailors and a ship that sailed to Antigua. States that the British navy has allowed Count De Rochambeau to strongly fortify his troops in Rhode Island. Refers to the presence of General Stirling (possibly William Alexander) in New York. Relates that some British soldiers found his cousin, T. Dundas, in Reading, Pennsylvania, and that T. Dundas's brother had joined the colonial force. Refers to…

GLC03676.03

14 August 1779

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Letter signed

Title: to George Clinton

Signed by Jay as President of Congress to Clinton as the Governor of New York. Closing in Jay's hand. Circular letter. Congress is informing the country that the British are reinforcing themselves. Says 7,000 troops are coming from Europe and another 3,000 from the West Indies. Claims America's allies - mainly the French - are concerned that better preparations were not made for a vigorous campaign. Says America needs to exert itself more. Wants Clinton to comply with Congress's wish to have battalions filled and militia ready. Says forces might be called forth to operate offensively.

GLC03709

6 June 1780

De Kalb, Johann, 1721-1780

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Washington

Written by General De Kalb, known as Baron De Kalb, as second in command of the Carolina campaign. Written to General Washington. Encloses a copy of a letter he sent to the Board of War so Washington would know his route of march (that letter is not included). Says he put the Second Brigade on their march and claims he is setting out at this moment to come up with the troops in front. De Kalb died from wounds he received at the Battle of Camden on 19 August 1780. Some staining on verso, from what appears to be a mat border.

GLC03758

3 May 1780

Dundas, Ralph, 1732-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Dundas

Dundas, Captain of H. M. S. Bonetta, informs his brother James he is still alive despite "having suffered more Hardships from the 4 of Oct last than in all the rest of my Lifetime put together." Relates that he sailed into New Providence, Bahamas, after encountering continual storms during the passage. Recounts that he allowed his men to recover and refit the ship before they sailed for Charleston. Informs James of the surrender of Charleston, which he claims took place 2 May. Relates that Captain Elphingstone will transmit a newspaper to England reporting the battle and surrender.…

GLC03676.01

February 5, 1779

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Letter signed

Title: to Benjamin Tallmadge

Notes that although the Culper spy ring [which he addresses as "he"] does not propose giving anymore information until the middle of March, he hopes if anything important comes up, he will be notified. Asks Tallmadge to communicate this. Samuel Culper was the code name for the spy network Tallmadge organized in New York City for Washington and in this letter, it is indicated as "C-- N.Y." Addressed to Tallmadge in the 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons, Durham, North Carolina. Severely foxed and discolored.

GLC03884

22 March 1784

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Francis Johnston

In response to a 23 February 1784 letter from the assistant treasurer of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati, Washington returns certificates (not included), with his signature and seal, for three European members of the state society. As president of the organization, Washington advises Johnston that the certificates must be countersigned by the secretary general, Henry Knox.

GLC03885

8-9 January 1776

Bartlett, Josiah, 1729-1795

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Langdon

Bartlett, a Continental Congressman, informs Langdon that "The Congress have ordered the Secret Committee to purchase & bring in for the use of the navy & army sundry articles which were under consideration before you left the Congress." Discusses the purchase and transport of goods bought from the European Market. States that he received information from Langdon's friend Wharton (possibly Samuel Wharton) regarding drawing money from Mr. Tracy in Newbury Port to assist with shipping cargo. Refers to the Philadelphia arrival of Major Patton's (possibly John Patton's) brig, which…

GLC03892

1776

Van Schaick, Goose, 1736-1789

Pamphlet signed

Title: Rules and articles for the better government of the troops raised, or to be raised and kept in pay by and at the expence of the United States of America.

Created by the Continental Congress and printed by John Dunlap. Signed by Colonel Goose Van Schaick in 1777. Contains uniform regulations for commissioned and noncommissioned officers, relates penalties and reasons for the issue of Court Martials. Discusses seditious activity, the organization and assembly of raised troops, penalties for false returns, the liberty to bring provisions into forts, and various other topics. Issued by order of Congress, presided over by John Hancock, 20 September 1776. The back cover states "Articles of War, Col. GV Schaick."

GLC04050

1794

Stedman, Charles, fl. 1794

Header Record

Title: History of the origin, progress, and termination of the American war...

SABIN 91057. JCB II:372. HOWES S914. Bound with Clinton's "Observations on Mr. Stedman's History of the American War." Includes 15 maps. According to Sabin, this is "generally considered the best contemporary account of the Revolution written from the British side." Stedman was a native of Philadelphia, a Loyalist who served as an officer under Howe, and later an examiner of Loyalist claims for the British government. He had first-hand knowledge of many of the campaigns and persons involved in the War. The maps accompanying this work are fine plans of the important Revolutionary engagements…

GLC04062

13 June 1781

Tilghman, Matthew, 1718-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to the Special Council for the Eastern Shore

Advises that he just heard that the new Maryland Eastern Shore Executive was established and was given the utmost power. Informs that the British fleet with Benedict Arnold aboard has been sited. Also mentions that the British army is south of the James River and reports briefly on fighting in South Carolina. States that he cannot speak of Assembly business because no one has a good plan to get more money.

GLC04066

21 March 1778

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Letter signed

Title: to Alexander McDougall

Introduction of French engineer, Colonel Louis des Hayes de la Radiere, who was to superintend fortifications on the North (Hudson) River. Washington appointed de la Radiere to oversee the construction of the Hudson's Highlands in late 1777, but a dispute with General Israel Putnam, commander at the Highlands, caused de la Radiere to return to Washington's camp. Putnam went on leave in March of 1778 and General McDougall assumed his command. Shortly thereafter, Washington sent de la Radiere back.

GLC04215

circa October 1777

Seymour, Thomas, 1735-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Written by Seymour as Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry under General Horatio Gates to an unknown recipient. Writes in a jubilant tone about American victory over General John Burgoyne's army at Saratoga. Says the British and Hessian troops surrendered as prisoners of war. Claims Burgoyne's previous taunts against the Americans were "so great that he will live but a little time, to hear his proclamations & manifestos retorted upon him." Believes Sir Henry Clinton's army that was moving from New York toward Burgoyne will now retreat southward. Says Gates will soon take possession of Fort…

GLC04495

24 March 1776

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Josiah Quincy

Written just one week after Continental forces captured Boston. Thanks Quincy and the nation for their praise, saying "To obtain the applause of deserving men, is a heart felt satisfaction - to merit them, is my highest wish. If my conduct therefore...hath merited the approbation of the great Country, I shall esteem it one of the most fortunate & happy events of my life." Despite the joy of his victory, Washington cautions that the Americans must remain on guard. Worries about the British fleet at "Nantasket Road." But is more afraid of spies, "There is one evil I dread, & that…

GLC04442