Lee, Thomas Sim, 1745-1819 to [Thomas Jefferson] re: ship carrying clothing & money for convention troops in Va. and Maryland
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02471.27 Author/Creator: Lee, Thomas Sim, 1745-1819 Place Written: s.l. Type: Letter signed Date: 1781/04/27 Pagination: 1 p. + docket Order a Copy
Maryland governor Lee asks Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson to allow delivery of the enclosed letter [no longer present] to a recently-landed flag ship bearing supplies for General John Burgoyne's captured army, the so-called Convention Troops. Lee explains that he has told British Convention troops commander General James Hamilton that the ship, now at Hampton Roads in Virginia, may sail to George Town, Maryland in order to deliver those supplies intended for the Convention troops in that state.
In January of 1781, the turncoat Benedict Arnold had attacked Virginia, forcing Jefferson and other officials to flee Richmond. By the spring, British general William Phillips had launched an attack on Virginia down the James River. Written two days after Phillips captured Petersburg, this letter forms part of an extensive correspondence between high-ranking American and British officials regarding the fate of the British flag of-truce ship General Riesedel and its Convention Army supplies.
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