8 November 1862

Renshaw, Richard T., 1822-1879

Letter signed

Title: to Henry K. Davenport

Reports "a most successful trial of one of the Machines for blowing up vessels constructed by Second Assistant Engineer John L. Lay." Describes the trial, during which a "Sch'r of sixty tons floated over catching the wires and blowing her to atoms." Mentions that three other explosives are being built and promises to send drawings to Davenport. Lay invented the spar torpedo, which was used by the United States Navy to sink the C.S.S. Albemarle in 1864. He later invented the Lay dirigible submarine torpedo. Davenport was senior officer of the Union Navy in North Carolina Sounds.

GLC02254.05

5 January 1776

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter

Title: to Lucy Knox

Laments not being able to return to Lucy when he had hoped to. Praises Lucy at length and reaffirms his love for her. Notes that this is only the fourth letter he has been able to write to her in the two months they have been apart, and explains why his letter of 5 December 1775 was so short (see GLC02437.00215). Comments on the weather and the lack of snow, which impeded his plans to transport artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mentions that his brother William Knox is now at Lake George preparing the sleds for the transport. Describes his travels. Comments…

GLC02437.00237

5 January 1776

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Washington

Explains delays in transporting the artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts caused by the lack of snow on the ground and ice on the Hudson River. He realizes the importance of the transport and explains plans for moving forward. Also mentions that he has sent another list of the artillery being moved (not included). Knox's retained draft.

GLC02437.00238

January 25, 1776

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Lee

Gives General Lee additional specifics on the artillery ordered from New York City and being sent to Cambridge, Massachusetts, which George Washington has already written Lee about. He sent a list of items sent by the Second Provincial Congress or Committee of Safety in New York (not included). Explains plans for their transport. Notes that even though Knox has retrieved artillery pieces from Fort Ticonderoga, the pieces from New York are badly needed. Knox also discusses his efforts to obtain artillery from New York City in GLC02437.00212, GLC02437.00220, and GLC02437.00222.

GLC02437.00245

February 1, 1776

Gates, Horatio, 1727-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Concerns a complaint by the quartermaster in the regiment of Colonel Prescott, possibly William Prescott, against a member of the regiment of artillery. Discusses a potential garrison court martial and its legality. Gates was then George Washington's adjutant general.

GLC02437.00246

16 November 1862

Lee, Samuel Phillips, 1812-1897

Letter

Title: to Henry K. Davenport

Titled "Extracts from a Letter of Instructions." The first extract gives information about the positioning of gunboats for "assisting in the defence of posts." The second extract is a reminder to "keep a bright look out for, and use every precaution to guard against, torpedoes!" The third extract reminds sailors to stay in their ships at night. Lee was the commanding officer, with the rank of acting rear admiral, of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron from 1862 to 1864. He was then transferred to the command of the Mississippi River Squadron. Lee was promoted to rear admiral in 1870.

GLC02254.06

14 April 1863

McCann, William Penn, 1830-1906

Letter signed

Title: to Richard T. Renshaw

Mentions a change of plans in the attack on Hill's Point Battery. Reports location, activities and condition of several Union ships, including the Collier, Phoenix, Hunchback, Southfield, Valley City, Whitehead and Granite. Complains that "there is not a boat here in which we can mount a Howitzer to clear the channel of the rebel picket boats."

GLC02254.12

6 January 1776-30 March 1776

Manuscript document

Title: [An account of Cash Receiv'd for my Comp'y at Sundry times]

Lists amounts received and days received for Colonel William Burbeck and Colonel Henry Knox.

GLC02437.00239

5 January 1776

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Capt. Bayler

Apologizes for taking Bayler's horse for his brother, William Knox. Had Knox known he would have been away so long, he would not have taken it. Knox was then organizing the transport of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

GLC02437.00240

January 12, 1776

Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804

Manuscript document

Title: to Henry Knox

Certifies that a Lieutenant Gray "has rode Cannon Seven Miles." Refers to the artillery transport from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts that Knox was overseeing. Contemporary secretarial signature.

GLC02437.00241

December 12, 1775-January 16, 1776

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Manuscript document

Title: [Account of cash paid the officers under Henry Knox's command]

Lists officers, the amount of cash allotted to them, and the date allotted. Written from Knox's headquarters to Lieutenant Colonel of the Artillery William Burbeck and signed by him.

GLC02437.00243

16 November 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Lucy Knox

Writes lovingly to his wife. Discusses his journey to visit her, getting caught in a violent storm, and expecting to see her tomorrow night. Explains that George Washington has ordered him to go to Fort Ticonderoga. Knox, having recently been appointed head of the artillery, was sent to Ticonderoga to inspect and bring back to Cambridge the British artillery captured there by a force led by Ethan Allen on 15 May 1775.

GLC02437.00209

16 November 1775

Moylan, Stephen, 1737-1811

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Gouverneur Morris

A letter of introduction for Henry Knox. Asks that Morris "make New York as agreeable to [Knox] as the circumstances of the times will admit." Also asks if there were any letters from "our friend Penn." Moylan was a soldier and officer in the Continental Army, and at one point an aide-de-camp to George Washington.

GLC02437.00210

27 November 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Lucy Knox

Writes affectionately, asking about Lucy's journey from Worcester. Discusses his own journey to New York City on his way to Fort Ticonderoga, where George Washington had ordered him to travel to in order to bring back to Cambridge the British artillery captured there in the Spring of 1775. He met his brother on the road, a meeting he describes and dubs "truly farcical." Comments on business opportunities. Reports the easy victory by which American forces captured Montreal on 13 November 1775. mentioning the British retreat, the construction of an American battery, and the interception of…

GLC02437.00211

27 November 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Washington

A highly detailed letter in which Knox reports on his efforts to obtain ordnance in New York City for the Continental Army in Cambridge. Discusses similar, unsuccessful activities in regard to the activities of a man named Colonel Read, and his problems with the committee sitting during the recess of the Second Continental Congress, possibly the Second Provincial Congress, which met in New York in late 1775 or the Committee of Safety. Reports Colonel Alexander McDougall's promise to exert his influence on the committee and have them send munitions to Cambridge immediately. Seeks permission…

GLC02437.00212

5 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Lucy Knox

A brief note to tell his wife that he has arrived near Fort Ticonderoga and is in good health. Comments that the battery is waiting for him, in reference to his orders from George Washington to inspect artillery seized from the British earlier that year and return with it to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Written from Fort George in Lake George, New York.

GLC02437.00214

5 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Washington

Discusses working with General Philip Schuyler to arrange to have artillery seized from the British earlier in the year forwarded from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Describes the garrison at Ticonderoga as weak and "the Conveyance from the fort to the landing so indifferent & the passage across the lake so precarious that I am afraid it will be ten days at least before I can get them on this side the lake." Mentions potential problems with the sledding. Written from Fort George in Lake George, New York. Knox's retained working draft. Docket is written in Knox's hand.

GLC02437.00215

9 December 1775

Gates, Horatio, 1727-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Requests Knox's presence at headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts on behalf of George Washington. The letter was addressed to Worcester, Massachusetts, but at the time, Knox was at Fort George, in Lake George, New York.

GLC02437.00217

17 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander McDougall

Docket is written in Knox's hand. Asks Colonel McDougall to use his influence to have the listed shells sent to Cambridge, Massachusetts, immediately. In a post script, asks that McDougall inform George Washington if he cannot obtain the listed items. When Knox was in New York City a month earlier (en route to Ticonderoga to retrieve ordnance for American forces in Massachusetts), McDougall had promised to assist him in obtaining artillery by exerting influence on a committee representing the Second Provincial Congress (see GLC02437.00212). Written from Fort George in Lake George, New…

GLC02437.00220

17 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter

Title: to George Washington

Discusses activities relating to the transport of artillery captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga earlier that year. Comments on difficulties of getting the ordnance over Lake George. Mentions that he has obtained sleds and oxen. He will use the oxen to drag the artillery to Springfield, where he will get new animals to drag them the rest of the way to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Explains the route and speculates on potential for either progress or hardship. Expects to arrive in Cambridge in 16-17 days. Sends an inventory of the artillery from Ticonderoga and the pieces requested…

GLC02437.00222

12 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Palmer

Asks Captain Palmer to obtain forty sleds for transporting artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the oxen or horses needed to pull them. Asserts that he will assist in any way possible. Requests an immediate response. Written from Fort George in Lake George, New York.

GLC02437.00218

14 December 1775

Knox, William, 1756-1795

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Reports that the boat with letters and provisions sent by Henry arrived yesterday. Explains how a boat William was riding to Sabbath Day Point in sank close to the shore, making the artillery on board and the vessel salvageable. Captain Johnson also arrived, and together with William sent a boat toward Lake George, but the ice will make it slow. William will ride a different scow up to Lake George. Asks Henry to pay Captain Johnson. Henry was then engaged in an operation to transport artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

GLC02437.00219

17 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter

Title: to Philip Schuyler

Gives General Schuyler an update on the progress of preparations to transport artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mentions that he has gotten the mortars and cannon over Lake George and arranged with Captain George Palmer to obtain sleds and oxen or horses to pull them (see GLC02437.00218). Discusses plans for moving forward. Asks that Schuyler increase the length of the amount of rope he requested from Mr. [Walter] Livingston and that it be sent expeditiously. Also asks him to forward enclosed letters (not included). Written from Fort George in Lake George, New…

GLC02437.00221

17 December 1775

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Lucy Knox

Longs to see his wife and plans to in three weeks. Discusses activities relating to the transport of artillery captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga earlier that year to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Reports that both his and William Knox's health has been good. Quips about his rotund figure. Discusses the "Bravery of America" and a growing awareness of it among the British prisoners he has seen: "Enemies who would not before this allow the Americans a Spark of Military virtue." Blesses America and Lucy. Links God watching over Americans to God watching over Lucy in particular.…

GLC02437.00223

18 December 1775

Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Writes that he is happy to hear Knox was able to get the artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Fort George on the other side of Lake George. Schuyler has already made arrangements to transport the artillery to Cambridge and consequently orders Knox to countermand his directions to Captain George Palmer to obtain carriages and pack animals for the journey (see GLC02437.00218).

GLC02437.00224