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Lot 179: Sir Charles Middleton Signed Letter

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Lot  179: Sir Charles Middleton Signed Letter
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>SIR CHARLES MIDDLETON, Admiral Lord Barham; as First Lord of the Admiralty, he masterminded the the Battle of Trafalgar.</b>
Autograph Letter Signed, as Comptroller of the Navy, 3 pages, 7.5' x 9', Hertford Street, August 5, 1782; marked 'private.' To W. Powell. Very Fine - albeit some enthusiastic soul has penciled identifying notes on the 1st and 3rd sheets. Scarce. In part:
'[The] Secretary to the Treasury having informed me by command of His Lordship that the Masters and men of the ships named...[proceed] to Spitfire until they have been first surveyed by the KingÕs Officers - I am to desire you will take the trouble of informing me of the places the different ShipÕs new lie at...It will be necessary to communicate this information to the Masters that no time may be lost.'
Middleton was a brilliant administrator and strategist
during one of the most trying periods in the history of the Royal Navy: he saw service in the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars.