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Washington, George - LS As Commander-in-Chief

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:10,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Washington, George - LS As Commander-in-Chief
<Our item number 119288><B>Washington, George.</B> LS &#40;&#34;Go: Washington&#34;&#41; as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, 1p, 13¼&#34; x 8¼&#34;, Head Quarters [New Windsor-Newburgh, New York], 1782 Dec. 26. Written in the hand of Washington&#39;s aide-de-camp, David Humphreys, to Major [Benjamin] Tallmadge, <B>ordering the division of the spoils of war from captured British armed boats</B>. General Washington writes:<BR><BR>&#34;<I>Sir As a reward for the signal gallantry of Captain Caleb Brewster of the 2nd Regt. of Artillery, and the Officers & Men under his command, in capturing on the Sound two Armed Boats then in the service of the King of Great Britain and commanded by Captains Hoit and Johnson; you are hereby authorised to cause the said Boats with all the property taken therein, to be disposed of for the benefit of the Captors, and duly shared amongst them</I>….&#34;<BR><BR>Tallmadge &#40;1754-1835&#41; was a major in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons; he was promoted to the rank of colonel and became George Washington&#39;s spy master, organizing a chain of spies &#40;the Culper Spy Ring&#41; based out of New York City and Long Island. In November 1780, Tallmadge and his dragoons rowed across Long Island Sound from Fairfield, Connecticut to Mt. Sinai, New York, then proceeded to the south shore where they captured and burned down Fort St. George and captured the soldiers in the fort. On their way back to Mt. Sinai, Tallmadge and his troops burned 300 tons of hay which the British had stockpiled for the winter; Tallmadge received a letter of thanks from General Washington for this action. The captured British spy, Major John André, was placed in Tallmadge&#39;s custody until André&#39;s execution. After the War, Tallmadge married a daughter of signer of the Declaration of Independence William Floyd, and settled in Connecticut where he was elected to Congress for eight terms.<BR><BR>The importance of Washington&#39;s Christmas offering can not be overestimated. Formal hostilities with the British had ceased, but while the treaty was being concluded in Paris by Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams, the troops had to be maintained as a safeguard against the British, who were still in New York. Morale in the Army was abysmal. The soldiers had not received any pay in months and some of them were owed as many as six years of back pay. An impoverished, ineffectual Congress could not come up with the money. The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, gave the Congress power to maintain a wartime army, but not the power to levy the taxes needed to pay it, and many of the states were unwilling to levy those taxes. The Army&#39;s financial situation was desperate.<BR><BR>What pleasure, then, General Washington must have felt in being able to reward the soldiers who captured the boats with a tangible reward, and what even greater pleasure the soldiers must have felt in receiving it. <BR><BR>The letter is fine, written o n laid, watermarked paper, with light show-through at the right edge from the seal &#40;not present&#41;. An important letter from a pivotal time in American history. Our thanks to Ted Crackel and his colleagues at the Papers of George Washington for identifying David Humphreys as the writer of the letter. <BR>Estimated Value &#36;20,000-30,000. <BR><BR>Our item number 119288<BR><IMAGES><P ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG SRC="http://www.goldbergcoins.net/liveauction/43jpegs/119288.jpg"> </P></IMAGES>