27

ESEK HOPKINS, Framed Clipped Signature with Portrait of Esek Hopkins

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
ESEK HOPKINS, Framed Clipped Signature with Portrait of Esek Hopkins
Autographs
Framed Clipped Signature with Portrait of Esek Hopkins
ESEK HOPKINS (1718-1802). First American Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy, from the outset of the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1777.
Clipped Signature “Esek Hopkins”, measuring 3” x 1.75”, framed together with a oval portrait image to fully 5.75” x 7.75”, viewed through special UV Plexiglas, Very Fine. On December 22, 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy authorized by the Continental Congress to protect American commerce. Hopkins took command of eight small merchant ships that had been altered as men-of-war at Philadelphia. After much deliberation about taking on the overwhelming British forces listed in his orders, Hopkins utilized the last portion of his orders. He sailed south on February 17, 1776, for the first U.S. fleet operation that took the fleet to Providence in the Bahamas. He felt that it would be much more advantageous to seize a prize for the Continental Army than take a chance of destroying the Continental Navy in its infancy. He knew that the British port in Nassau would be poorly guarded and had friends there who would help his cause. A scarce early American Naval signature.