April 12, 1781

McMichael, Edward, fl. 1781

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Thomas] Ward

Letter written by McMichael as a Loyalist Captain in the British Army. As a lieutenant in the Continental Army he deserted from his post at Fort Schuyler in August 1776 to join the British. McMichael was taken prisoner out of a flag of truce at Elizabethtown, probably on April 9, 1781. Lieutenant Samuel Seely of the New Jersey militia was then sent behind British lines, probably to work out a prisoner exchange. McMichael then received the "disagreeable news" that Seely was detained by Ward on the armed sloop the "Neptune," which was in New York Harbor. Says Seely was doing work for him and…

GLC01450.089