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Revolutionary War

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:800.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Revolutionary War

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Auction Date:2018 Jan 10 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Revolutionary War–dated ALS signed “Edw'd Down,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 8 x 13, February 6, 1779. Letter written by Lieutenant Edward Down of the HMS Blonde to his wife Mary, addressed to her as "My dear Life," in part: “My last letter dated Novr. 20th was sent by a Brig bound to Falmouth she sail’d without Convoy, or Guns to protect her from the Enemy…We have the greatest Reason to expect happiness with our new Captain, he has great interest with the Commander in Chief Admiral Gambier, having formerly been his Captain, that we may expect the best of Cruizes…I have been sent to twice by…George Collier who comm’d at Halifax to be her first Lieut in the Rainbow, but as the Ship is directly in Harbor, I thought it against my Interest to accept of it. As the Blonde will go to the Leward, and likely will be Frequently at New York, therefore beg you will write me by the Packett to be left at the Post office there…We have only receiv’d the first dividend for the French Ship, and no part of the French brig Catherine taken in June last…It is a great mortification to us to be laying here froze up and doing nothing in the beginning of the French War.” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, overall creasing, and repairs to small areas of paper loss.

Down served as a lieutenant on the HMS Blonde, a ship confiscated from the French during the Battle of Bishop’s Court, a naval engagement that took place on February 28, 1760, during the Seven Years' War. After capture the Blonde was outfitted as a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate in the British Royal Navy, modifications which elevated the ship to the second highest class for a fighting vessel, with records from 1760 indicating that the Blonde weighed roughly 703 tons and could accommodate 220 crew-members. Fast and well-armed, fifth-rate frigates were frequently tasked to disrupt enemy shipping lanes. Assignment aboard a fifth-rate frigate, while risky, yielded considerable opportunity as crew-members received shares of the profits as 'prize money.' As the target for both American and foreign navies, Nova Scotia was guarded by a dense Royal Navy that sought to protect its various settlements and interests. The Blonde intercepted American and French vessels carrying arms, fabric, tea, foodstuffs, and lumber from Europe, the Caribbean, and the colonies, with confiscated goods later sold at Halifax.