LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 October Rare Books & Manuscripts #675  / 

30553

Richard Howe Historic Manuscript Letter Signed

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:1,200.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Richard Howe Historic Manuscript Letter Signed
<B>Richard Howe Historic Manuscript Letter Signed</B></I> “<I>Howe,</B></I>” two pages, 8” x 12.5”, front and verso. To General Elliot. Written aboard his ship <I>Victory</B></I> while at sea. Victory at Sea, October 3, 1782. In full, “<I>Being now so advanced in my passage, that I can assure myself, my arrival with the Troops, and large Supply of Provisions, & Stores I have to conduct, may be daily expected in Gibraltar Bay, after the time Captain Conway will have the honor to wait upon your Excellency with this letter; I send him off immediately, to give you the earliest advice of my destination. He will be to meet me, when he finds it practicable, with any commands he may receive from your Excellency, or information from Captain Curtis, respecting the most secure anchorage of the Transports and manner of landing the Stores with the greatest facility and expedition. But as the present conveyance is precarious, I do not forward your dispatches, by this opportunity and therefore only assure your Excellency further, on the subject of my appointment that the example of the Garrison of Gibraltar, under the trying circumstances it has so long labored, would be a spur to my diligence, if I could want any other inducement for hastening on with this relief, besides my desire to testify on all occasions, the very particular respect & regard with which I have the honor to be, Sir, Your Excellency's most faithful Humble Servant.</B></I>” Sir George Augustus Elliot served as Governor of Gibraltar from 1777 until his death in 1790. Since the British garrison at Gibraltar had not received any supplies since April 1781, Lord Howe sailed for Gibraltar in September 1782. He took a fleet of 183 ships, 38 of which were ships of the line. A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century. Waiting for him in Algeciras Bay, only four miles from Gibraltar, was a Franco-Spanish fleet of 48 ships-of-the-line, and these followed Howe; Britain had been at war with France and Spain since 1778. <I>Victory</B></I> arrived off the Straits of Gibraltar on October 11, 1782, eight days after this letter was written and, putting the merchant ships before him, Howe headed for the Mole, the detached breakwater in the harbor. All the merchantmen moored safely between October 16th and 18th, so that Gibraltar had another year's supplies. HMS <I>Victory</B></I> is a 104-gun ship-of-the-line of the Royal Navy, built between 1759 and 1765, the oldest naval ship still in commission and the only surviving example of a ship-of-the-line. She sits in dry dock in Portsmouth, England, as a museum ship. Lord Nelson was captain of the HMS <I>Victory</B></I> from 1803 until 1805 when he was killed aboard the ship in the Battle of Trafalgar. Minor separation at mid-horizontal fold. Light toning. Very fine condition.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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