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June 8, 1776 General ARTEMAS WARD Signed Army of the United Colonies Payorder!

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,200.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 2,500.00 USD
June 8, 1776 General ARTEMAS WARD Signed Army of the United Colonies Payorder!
American Revolution
American General Artemas Ward Signed Post “Siege of Boston” Era Pay to a Revolutionary War “Army of the United Colonies” Regiment
June 8, 1776-Dated Revolutionary War, General Artemas Ward Signed Payorder for One Month's Pay to a Regiment of the "Army of the United Colonies," at Boston, MA, Display Framed, Very Good.
A remarkable Revolutionary War seige of Boston Document written less than one month before the Declaration of Independence was signed which transformed thirteen "United Colonies" into the United States, this Manuscript Document is Signed, "Artemas Ward" in brown ink, as General at the Headquarters in Boston, one page, measuring 12" x 8" (by sight), professionally archivally matted and framed under Plexiglas to an overall size of 18.5" x 21.5". This fabulous historical pay order is addressed to Deputy Paymaster General Ebenezer Hancock "of the Army of the United Colonies". There are six units of the Army National Guard (101st Eng Bn, 125th MP Co, 181st Inf, 182nd Inf, 197th FA, and 201st FA) derived from these American units that participated in the Siege of Boston. There are thirty currently existing units in the U.S. Army with lineages that go back to the Colonial era. This Document reads, in part:

"Pay to Col. Asa Whitcomb one thousand one hundred ninety three pounds ten shillings and eight pence, equal to three thousand nine hundred seventy eight dollars 2/6ths U.C. it being for one months pay of the Regiment of foot in the service of the United Colonies under his command for the month of April last and this shall be your sufficient warrant...".

Counter-Signed by Joseph Ward (Major and Aide-de-Camp to Artemas Ward from July 20, 1775 to April 1776), the lightly toned and foxed Document is laid-down on archival silk for preservation, and signed at bottom by Colonel Asa Whitcomb. This pay order has outstanding historical value! Ex: EAHA Auction February 14, 2009.


Artemas Ward (1727-1800), was an American Revolutionary War Major General and a Congressman from Massachusetts. President John Adams described him as, "...universally esteemed, beloved and confided in by his army and his country."

Joseph Ward is listed in Continental Army records as a major and aide-de-camp to Artemas Ward from July 20, 1775 to April 1776 and remained with General Ward as secretary until the general retired from active service in Sept, 1776.

The Siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army garrisoned in what was then the peninsular city of Boston, Massachusetts. Both sides had to deal with resource supply and personnel issues over the course of the siege. British resupply and reinforcement activities were limited to sea access. After eleven months of the siege, the British abandoned Boston by sailing to Nova Scotia.

The siege began on April 19 after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, when the militia from surrounding Massachusetts communities blocked land access to Boston.

The Continental Congress formed the Continental Army from the militia, with George Washington as its Commander in Chief. In June 1775, the British seized Bunker and Breed's Hills, but their casualties were heavy and their gains were insufficient to break the Continental Army's hold on land access to Boston. Military actions during the remainder of the siege were limited to occasional raids, minor skirmishes, and sniper fire.

In November 1775, Washington sent the 25-year-old bookseller-turned-soldier Henry Knox to bring to Boston the heavy artillery that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga. In a technically complex and demanding operation, Knox brought many cannons to the Boston area by January 1776. Between November 1775 and February 1776, Colonel Henry Knox and a team of engineers used sledges to retrieve 60 tons of heavy artillery that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga. Bringing them across the frozen Hudson and Connecticut rivers in a technically challenging and complex operation, they arrived back at Cambridge on January 24, 1776.

In March 1776, these artillery fortified Dorchester Heights (which overlooked Boston and its harbor), thereby threatening the British supply lifeline. The British commander William Howe saw the British position as indefensible and withdrew the British forces in Boston to the British stronghold at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on March 17 (celebrated today as Evacuation Day).

The 1st Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment was initially commanded by General Artemas Ward, of Shrewsbury, who was the commanding general of the Massachusetts Bay provincial forces. His general authority over the troops from the other New England colonies was acknowledged, and he commanded the patriot army at Boston until the arrival of George Washington at Cambridge on July 3, 1775.

On June 17, 1775, Ward was made a Major General in the Continental Army - the first appointment to that esteemed grade. Command of the regiment passed to its next senior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ward, who was promoted to the rank of colonel on that date. The 5th Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment contained eleven companies and had an official establishment of 658 officers and men. It was commanded by Colonel Asa Whitcomb, who served as colonel until the end of the year.