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1755 Colonel ADAM STEPHEN, Friendly Fire Military Error, Founder Martinsburg, VA

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:650.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,400.00 USD
1755 Colonel ADAM STEPHEN, Friendly Fire Military Error, Founder Martinsburg, VA
Autographs
Colonel Adam Stephen of Drunken “Friendly Fire” Military Error and the Founder of Martinsburg, Virginia
ADAM STEPHEN (1718-1791). Scottish-born Doctor who served under Colonel George Washington in the French and Indian War, and later in the American Revolutionary War.
January 6, 1755-Dated, French and Indian War period, Manuscript Document Endorsed and Signed as "paymaster of the Virga. forces," 1 page, measuring 4.25” x 8”, Choice Very Fine. A request "To Collo. Stephen" from Thomas Longden, "I am Indebted to Messrs Carlyle & Dalton Nine pounds Eleven Shillings, please to deduct out of my pay after the rate of Two pounds, each two months till discharges of the said debt…." Very rare signature.
In October 1777, at the Battle of Germantown, Stephen’s troops were involved in a friendly fire incident. During Stephen's court martial, he was found to have been drunk and was subsequently stripped of his command and cashiered out of the Army. He was the founder of Martinsburg, Virginia and in 1788 was a member of the Virginia convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution.