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Lot 5: Jeffrey Amherst Letter Signed 1763

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Lot    5: Jeffrey Amherst Letter Signed 1763
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>'Jeffrey Amherst' Letter Signed During PontiacÕs Rebellion</b>

<b>JEFFREY AMHERST, British Commander-in-Chief of North America.; Governor General of British North America, and Commander-in Chief of the British Army.</b>
Manuscript Letter Signed 'Jeff: Amherst' as Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of British North American, October 10, 1763, New York, 12.75' x 7.75', Fine. To Colonel [John] Bradstreet, Deputy Quartermaster General, in Albany. In part:
'Since Captain SowersÕs Departure I have had Letters from Governor Gage, whereby I Find he has got a great Number of Batteaus in the River St. Lawrence; and I have Wrote to him to Forward some, if possible, this Fall by Canadians to Oswego. Loading them with provisions at Fort William Augustus; I Therefore think We shall not want so many Built at Oswego, as I mentioned to Captain Sowers: Thirty I Imagine will be full Sufficient; but the Carpenters you Send may be very Useful in other Respects, in preparing Timber for the Vessels that may be Judged Necessary to be Built on Lake Erie.'
Overall toning and some soiling; minor edge chips, and clipped lower right corner, none of which affects AmherstÕs nice clean signature. Good content, written during the time of Ottawa Chief PontiacÕs uprising against the British, which began in May 1763. In November 1764, Colonel Bradstreet and 1200 troops were sent from Albany to Fort Niagara to participate in negotiations, conducted by Sir William Johnson, with 2,000 Indians who had been allied with Pontiac. Pontiac himself would not make peace with the British until July 24, 1766. Lord Amherst would be recalled to England for his failure to deal properly with PontiacÕs uprising. When the American Revolution broke out, he refused to return to North America to lead troops against the Colonists.