A list of the Vessels appropriated to the American Army, loaded with Ordnance & Stores.
Order a pdf of this item here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01202 Author/Creator: Place Written: Head of Elk, Maryland Type: Manuscript document Date: September 1781 Pagination: 16 p. : Order a Copy
Enumerates military stores for use in the siege of Yorktown embarked on sixty-four ships at Head of Elk, Maryland. The names of the ships and captains are recorded.
- Pages 1-3 list 64 ships, enumerating type (sloop, schooner, etc.), name, captain and tonnage. (The captain of the schooner "Dolphin" is listed as "James. Negro.")
Page 4 (entirely in Shaw's hand) lists quantities of ball and shell. (An annotation indicates a quantity of ball "unloaded to give the French the vessel and put on board the others...." Another indicates that a quantity of shell was on a vessel that was "cast away on Back River Point.")
Pages 5-15 comprise "An account of Ordnance & Ordnance stores ship'd on board of several Vesels [sic] at the head of Elk, bound to James River." This account lists ship names, captains and articles shipped in each vessel. Cargo ranges from munitions and weapons to tools and other supplies (among them barrels of flour "for the American Army" and "for the French army"). A "Remarks" column notes transfers of cargo. A note next to the "Dolphin" entry says its cargo was transferred because the vessel was "unfit to proceed." Includes some annotations in the hand of Samuel Shaw.
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.