Militaria

An extremely rare songsheet printed for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Quebec, and Death of Wolfe

(Battle of Quebec) Song Sheet, 220 x 190 mm. (8 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.), “BATTLE OF QUEBEC, AND DEATH OF WOLFE.” (Boston: J. G & H. Hunt, [c. 1834-1836]).

A rare edition of these popular songs composed soon after Wolfe’s dramatic victory (and death) on the Plains of Abraham. It appears that this song sheet was issued to honor the 75th anniversary of the battle. The second piece, “Death of Wolfe” was composed by Thomas Paine and was said to have been written in 1759, but its first appearance in print was in the Pennsylvania Magazine in March 1775.^* 1834 also marked the year in which the obelisk in Quebec was erected in honor of both Wolfe and Montcalm (both of whom died of their wounds soon after the battle) was completed.^†

Extremely Rare. We have been able to locate two extant examples of this printing, one at the American Antiquarian Society and Houghton Library, Harvard University (OCLC 799202792).

Marginal wear, very minor separation at one fold, soiling and damp stains.

(EXA 4974) $850
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^* Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society: 1639-1800 (1922), 158.
^† “Monument to Wolfe and Montcalm. Anniversary of the Battle of the Plains” Daily National Intelligencer (Washington), 1 Nov. 1834, 2.

Battlefield inventory of General Mariano Arista’s silver plate service captured at Resaca de la Palma, May 1846

(Mexican-American War) A field inventory taken by an unknown American soldier, 1 page, 249 x 198 mm. (9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.), on or around 9 May 1846, itemizing the silver service of General Mariano Arista, acquired as spoils of war by the American army over General Mariano Arista’s Mexican forces at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. General Zachary Taylor led American troops to force General Mariano Arista (1802-1855) and his army to make a hasty retreat to Monterrey, Mexico, leaving behind Arista’s silver service, writing desk, military and personal papers, chest, baggage and artillery. At the end of the Mexican American War, General Arista ordered the sale of the silver service with the proceeds delivered to Mexican soldiers wounded at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. Major William W. Chapman (d. 1859) arranged to have the silver service sold to John E. Gary. It now resides at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe.

In full: “Inventory of Silver plate belonging to General Arista.
12 Silver breakfast plates.
2 round dishes.
1 round do [illeg…].
2 Goblets.
2 Tea cups
1 Coffee cup
6 Table spoons”

Usual folds, slight creasing, edge wear, toning as shown, overall fine condition.

(EXA 5314) $500

Decius Wadsworth writes to Congressman George Michael Troup regarding the reorganization of the Ordnance Department in 1812

Decius WADSWORTH (1768-1821) Officer in the U.S. Army who served as ordnance chief during the War of 1812. He headed the Ordnance Department until 1821 where he drafted uniform regulations for the armory system and the manufacture of ordnance for the U.S. Army. In 1817, Wadsworth developed a cipher system based on one designed by Thomas Jefferson. Wadsworth’s system would remain the standard (with additions and improvements) until the Second World War.

Important Autograph Letter Signed “Decius Wadsworth“, 3pp., 335 x 200 mm. (12 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.), Washington, 19 June 1813 to Congressman George Michael Troup (1780-1856) offering his recommendations for the reorganization of the Ordnance Department soon after its creation by Congress in May 1812.

“The Ordnance Department as originally organized, consisted of one Commissary General, one Assistant Commissary General four Deputies, and not exceeding eight assistant Deputies. At the last Session of Congress, an Augmentation of the assistant Deputies to 15 was authorized. The duties of the ordnance department as prescribed by law are various and important. Such as 1. Inspecting and proving, Cannon, Cannot Shot, Shells and Gunpowder. 2. Superintending the Construction of Gun Carriages, Ammunition, Waggons [sic], Equipment for Cannon and all Machines used by the artillery in Garrison or Field. 3. Preparing ammunition both for the artillery and Infantry, and all kinds of ordnance stores. 4. Furnishing to the Secretary of War, Semiannual Returns, exhibiting the actual state of the ordnance and ordnance Stores, throughout the United states together with the necessary Estimates of wear, Tear & Expenditure on which to found Contracts and Purchases to ensure future adequate Supplies. 5. Visiting and inspecting the Several Forts Ports and Camps in the United States to see that the ordnance & ordnance Stores are kept in Serviceable order properly distributed and economically expended. The ordnance Department, as at present filled[?], seems inadequate to the discharge of these Duties. General [William Henry] Harrison has judged it necessary to appoint on his own Authority one Deputy Commissary and two assistant Deputies, to act with the Army under his Command. General [James] Wilkinson has selected one officer of artillery to act as a Deputy Commissary and appointed another ad interim to the the Station of Assistant Deputy General. Generals [sic] Dearborn and General Bloomfield have each appointed an officer of the artillery to act in the ordnance Department. And lastly General Pinckney is solicitous to have two assistant Deputies appointed for the District under his command in addition to one deputy already under his Command. It has been decided by the War Department to establish three principle Laboratories and Arsenals, one at or near Albany, one at or near Pittsburgh, and one on the Waters of the Chesapeake. At each of these Establishments thirty or forty Workmen will be employed, which will require at least one Superior Officer and three or four inferior at each Station. The arsenals and Laboratories will therefore alone require 15 or 16 officers. To each military district one deputy Commissary ought at least to be allowed . My Opinion is therefore the Deputy Commissaries ought to be increased to 11 or 12, leaving the Number of Assistant Deputies at 16 as not established. Nor should we be deterred by the Idea of increased Expence [sic] In fact a great deal of Money would be saved by making systematic arrangements in Relation to this Branch of the Service. We cannot possibly avoid these Expensces; in some Way or other they must be incurred. Cannon, their Carriages and Equipments for our Armies in the Field, our Posts on the Frontier and the fixed and moveable Batteries on the Seaboard must be provided. Powder Shot and Shells must at any rate be procured. The appropriations for the ordnance Supplies I am informed amount to upwards of one Million of Dollars, and the future annual Expenditure during the War will probably not be less. It is worth while to incur some Expence to ensure the faithful judicious and …economical [sic] Expenditure of such an sum of Money. I know an instance where $120 per ton has by the Interference of Militia officers been paid for Cannon shot on the very spot where the United States had contracted to have them delivered at $72 per ton. Such Extravagancies will be continually taking Place while chance and momentary Exigencies regulate the Supplies to be furnished to the military Posts in our extensive Country. Besides, while the ordnance department remains inadequate to the discharge of its duties incessant complaints will arise of Want of ammunition Want of Artillery, Arms and Accoutrements and other Articles essential to Protection and Defence [sic].”

On 14 May 1812, Congress authorized the creation a separate Ordnance Department and Wadsworth was placed in charge as Commissary of Ordnance—the name changing later to Chief of Ordnance. During his tenure, he composed a set of regulations to ensure standardization and in the armories and the manufacture of ordnance as well as setting standards for small arms and reducing the types used. Wadsworth served in that capacity until he left the service in 1821.

Weak at folds with partial separations, minor marginal wear and light, even toning, else good condition.

(EXA 4715) $1,000

An editor seeks words from William T. Sherman on the late Henry Ward Beecher for a memorial volume.

William Tecumseh SHERMAN (1820-1891) Autograph Letter Signed “W.T. Sherman“, 1 page, 235 x 140 mm. (9 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.) bifolium, “5th Ave Hotel” [New York], 13 March 1887, to Edward W. Bok, in Brooklyn on his inability to write something for a memorial volume for Henry Ward Beecher.

“Yours of the 11th is received, on my return from Phia[delphia] some days ago I wrote to Major J. B. Pond some thoughts about Mr Beecher — I have no copy but I am sure the Major must possess enough letters to take up half a dozen volumes. I think you had better see him.”

Despite his apologies, Sherman did finally manage to compose some words on the late pastor for Edward W. Bok’s 1887 volume of tributes to the late pastor of Plymouth Church. Sherman wrote that “The friendship excising between Henry Ward Beecher and myself was most warm. We met often at the festal board and on the platform, and I recall our wanderings together…. His mind and imagination could not be tied down to the narrow dogmas which shackled smaller men…”^*

Edward W. Bok (1863-1930) was a Dutch-born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. For three decades Bok edited Ladies Home Journal where he coined the term, “Living Room”—updating the Victorian parlor for the twentieth century. Bok began collecting autographs in his early teens, impressing presidents, generals, and celebrities in numerous fields with his engaging questions which in turn elected some excellent letters.

Major James B. Pond (1838-1903) began his career as a printer in Wisconsin. During the Civil War, he served with the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry where he rose to the rank of major. He was one of few the survivors of the Baxter Springs massacre in 1863. Later in life he began managing public lecturers and other performers including Henry Ward Beecher, Mark Twain, Henry Stanley, P.T. Barnum, and William T. Sherman^†

Light creases and expected folds, very minor wear along top margin as shown, extremely lightly toned at lower margin on verso, else very good.

(EXA 4666) SOLD
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^* Edward W. Bok, ec., Beecher Memorial: Contemporaneous Tributes to the Memory of Henry Ward Beecher. 3-4.
^† “Major J. B. Pond is Dead” New York Times (22 June 1903), 1.

James Grant 1778 ALS to East Florida Lieutenant Governor John Moultrie

“…things have taken an astonishing turn & we are as much in the dark as you are. A French War was expected. The declaration has been postponed, at least not taken place the 9th of April. Think of a French Alliance and Laurens President of Congress…”

James GRANT (1720-1806) Major general in the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. Fine content war date Autograph Letter Signed “James Grant” 2pp. 224 x 184 mm. (8 7/8 x 7 1/4 in.) Philadelphia, 4 June 1778 to East Florida Lieutenant Governor John Moultrie (1729-1798), the brother of American General William Moultrie. Grant, writing from British-occupied Philadelphia, comments on the recent election of their mutual friend Henry Laurens as President of the Continental Congress. Grant also remarks on the fresh news of the Franco-American alliance that would ultimately force Great Britain to end the conflict and recognize American independence.

“Much obliged for your letter of the 3rd March and quite happy to hear of the flourishing state of Bella Vista & Timonka. I flatter myself you are not likely to be disturbed by your neighbors and if a French war should happen, those gentleman probably would not think of troubling you — the Barrs formerly so much complained of are a security, and you will soon be put upon a respectable footing by a new general and considerable reinforcement of troops. [James] Moncreif who has gained great credit & reputation with this army, goes a passenger with Capt. Elphius Lowe & returns to East Florida to assist his friends and look after his private affairs which seemed to have suffered in his absence. He will give all the news. I wish I had more agreeable to communicate to you but things have taken an astonishing turn & we are as much in the dark as you are. A French War was expected. The declaration has been postponed, at least not taken place the 9th of April. Think of a French Alliance and Laurens President of Congress. Much subject of conversation if we were together. I can say nothing for certainty about myself for the remaining part of the summer but shall always be happy to hear from you & beg of you to assure Mrs. Moultrie & family of my best respects & wishes as I shall ever be with truth and regard…”

Unbeknownst to the general, Great Britain had already declared war on France on 17 March 1778 following Louis XVI’s decision to recognize American independence on 6 February. Word of the treaty with France had only arrived in the Americas at the beginning of May. Coincidentally, on the same day that Grant wrote the present letter, the Lancaster-based Pennsylvania Packet reported that “a gentlemen arrived at Elizabeth town on Saturday last, from New York, who brought an account that war had been declared there that day in form, against France…” Official reports of the British declaration began trickling in several days later.¹ Two weeks after he wrote to Moultire, Grant joined the British Army in evacuating Philadelphia and commanded two brigades at the Battle of Monmouth (28 June). The following year, Lord Germain ordered Grant to the West Indies to supervise the construction of British garrisons in the islands.

Prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Grant, John Moutlrie, and Henry Laurens were close friends business and associates. They became acquainted during the French and Indian War when Grant led a force of 2,600 in South Carolina against the Cherokee in 1761. Following the war, Grant served as the first British governor of East Florida (1764-1771), and John Moultrie became his Lieutenant Governor. Both Grant and Moultrie purchased plantations in Florida. Moultrie’s properties were named “Bella Vista & Timonka” while Grant operated an indigo plantation he named “Villa” as well as another, “Mount Pleasant,” which produced rice. To staff his properties, Grant purchased approximately 70 slaves — most of whom came from Henry Laurens, who also happened to be a prominent Charleston slave trader.²

Grant also discusses the departure of James Montcrief (1741-1793). Montcrief was a military engineer who took part in numerous campaigns during the Revolutionary War. He came to America in 1763 in the employ of Governor Grant of East Florida and drafted a current map of St. Augustine. In 1779 he was appointed Chief Engineer, responsible for the defenses of Savannah and during the following year he would take part in the Siege of Charleston. In 1780, Montcrief took command of the Black Pioneers, a Loyalist force composed of freed slaves.

An excellent historical and association piece that highlights the network of personal and familial relationships in Colonial America wrenched apart by the Revolutionary War.

Expected folds with minor separations repaired in serval places with glassine and period paper, small loss to first page only marginal wear, else very good.

(EXA 5382) SOLD

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¹ Pennsylvania Packet, (Lancaster) 6 June 1778, 3; Connecticut Courant (Hartford) 9 June 1778, 3: “…March 17. A Privy Council is summoned to meet this day at St. James after the levee is over said to be on the issuing a proclamation for the declaration of war against France…”

² James Grant Papers, National Archive of Scotland. The archive includes several bills from Laurens invoicing Grant for slaves.

Union patriotic rally broadside from Iowa, 1863

(Iowa in the Civil War) Broadside, 555 x 413 mm. (21 3/4 x 16 1/4 in.), ([n.p., 1863]) announcing a planned “Grand Rally of UNION MEN IN MASS CONVENTION! AT FAIRFIELD, IOWA, ON SATURDAY, FEB. 21, 1863, AT 12 O’CLOCK M.” with the appeal: “LET THE FRIENDS OF THE OLD FLAG COME TO THE Rescue of their Country!” while promising “DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS From abroad have been invited, and are expected to be present and address the people.” In an appeal across party lines, the broadside adds quotes from two prominent Democrats who, at the outbreak of war became solid union men: Stephen Douglas and Joseph Holt.

A large and evocative broadside.

Dampstains, light soling and folds as shown, several minor losses at folds do not significantly affect text. Simply framed. Not examined out of frame.

(EXA 5341) $3,750

Gideon Welles submits a Revolutionary War claim for the widow of a guard at Connecticut’s infamous New Gate Prison

Gideon WELLES (1802-1878) Autograph Letter, 3pp. 251 x 201 mm. (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.), “Comptroller’s Office” Hartford, [Conn.], 10 Nov. 1842, a partial draft with numerous edits and annotations concerning the Revolutionary War service of Perchas Capin on behalf of the veteran’s widow, Theodosia.¹

Welles, then serving as Connecticut Comptroller, provides evidence in support of the “application in behalf of the Widow of Perchas Capin for testimony of his services during the Revolutionary war as one of the Guard at New Gate, or the Prison in Simsbury Ct…” In an attempt to substantiate the claims in Widow Capin’s application, Welles “searched the record of the Council of Safety and the books of the Pay Table remaining in this office.”

In the first paragraph, Welles took time to confirm the prison’s existence at the time, and that that the facility was actually a cave, “an extensive cavern, or caverns, which was and during the revolutionary war for conspiring Tories, suspected persons, and state offenders.” (The prison had been established in 1773 by the State of Connecticut in an abandoned copper mine.)

Welles’ first citation is dated the 15 July 1776 minutes of the Simsbury Council of Safety remarking on the “‘dangerous situation of New Gate Prison, and especially since a number of Tory Prisoners are committed there, and the great uneasiness of the People concerning them, and that the keeper is uneasy with his situation &c &c and requesting liberty of a guard &c…'” The council of safety resolved to provide for two or more “‘faithful men every night … carefully to watch and guard sd Prison…'” Welles continues with several citations from the public records mentioning Capin and the management of New Gate Prison but ended the draft mid-sentence on the third page with, “I would also state that”.

The following day, Welles drafted another version of this letter which was sent to Washington and became part of Theodosia Capin’s application file.² The letter begins in the same manner and contains some of the same content, Welles decided to rework the letter significantly. Although according to another affidavits found in the pension application file, Capin was the chief of the guards for approximately two years at New Gate Prison, Welles was unable to discover any evidence in the state records of Capin’s employment as a guard. He only found references two bills for unspecified goods or services submitted to the State by Capin in connection with the prison.³

Usual folds, a few other minor creases, else very fine condition.

(EXA 5083) $350

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¹ Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 – ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 – ca. 1900. (NARA 300022)

² Ibid. Letter of Gideon Welles, 11 Nov. 1842.

³ Ibid. Affidavit of Timothy Holcomb, 21 Oct. 1842. “…I well recollect that the name of the officer of the Guard was Capin and that he was here as officer of the Guard for the space of two or more years during which time I frequently saw him at the Prison on duty.” This claim is seconded by Heziah Viet’s affidavit, 20 Oct. 1842: “I think he was the principal man of the guard. There were other men as assistant guards…”; Welles: “I do not find the name of Purchas Capin on the Pay Table books, nor any mention of individuals connected with the guards, from the time that the duty of selecting a keeper was delegated to the overseers, until the commissioning of Lieut. Owen in 1780 by the General Assembly.”

Only weeks after Grant dismissed him from command for the failed Fort Fisher expedition, Butler casts the blame on Admiral David D. Porter

Benjamin BUTLER (1818-1893) Fine content Autograph Manuscript, 1p. 129 x 204 mm. (5 x 8 in.), [n.p., n.d. c. January 1865], a portion of a draft speech with several corrections and emendations, concerning his failed plan to use an explosive-laden ship to breach the walls of Fort Fisher which became popularly known as “Butler’s Folly.” The disastrous mistake resulted in Grant relieving Butler of command. In protest, Butler, delivered a speech on 29 January 1865 in Lowell, Massachusetts defending his conduct. The speech was published under the title: A Speech by Maj.-Gen. Benj. F. Butler, upon the Campaign Before Richmond, 1864. Delivered at Lowell, Mass., January 29, 1865 (Boston: 1865), p. 18.

Still smarting from the disgrace of Grant’s dismissal, Butler attempts to cast the blame on Admiral David D. Porter. He writes, in full: “…Yet, Porter thinks would intimate I had too much faith in the efficacy of the Powder boat and that he had no belief in its effect. Certain it is admitted that he got his fleet so far away from the scene of the explosion that for that or some other reason he could not get back again under ten hours thereafter to fire the first shot at [the] fort after the boat powder boat exploded.” Page bears a notation in Butler’s hand, “27 1/2 ‘C’” in the upper left corner, and a collector’s ink notation in left margin “Gen. Benj. F: Butler’s handwriting”.

In October 1864, the Union Navy was assembled at Hampton Roads, Virginia, awaiting Grant to provide adequate ground support to the Navy’s impending advance on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. In November, Grant, who was preoccupied by the Union siege of Petersburg and Richmond, reluctantly agreed to detach an infantry to accompany the naval expedition to North Carolina. Grant’s inaction became General Butler’s opportunity to forward his own plan of blowing the ramparts of Fort Fisher to smithereens with an enormous floating bomb. Butler argued that Fort Fisher was particularly vulnerable because of its earthen walls, easily toppled with the right amount of explosive force. The Navy rolled out Butler’s plan to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars, outfitting the U.S.S. Louisiana with 260 tons of gunpowder, a complex detonation system, and a coat of white paint to disguise the ship as an ordinary blockade-runner.

On 23 December 1864, under the cover of darkness, with 64 vessels of the North Atlantic Squadron commanded by Admiral David Porter stationed 12 miles out to sea, the disguised U.S.S. Louisiana was towed inland by the U.S.S. Wilderness, and dropped anchor in the shallows below Fort Fisher’s Northeast bastion. Unbeknownst to everyone, the Louisiana became caught in an undertow and drifted off course. Way off course. The Union officers awaited impatiently for the explosion. At 1:40am on Christmas Eve, they were treated to a spectacular light show and all Union ships in the area received a fierce rattling, but no damage was done to Fort Fisher. “Butler’s Folly” was an incredibly expensive and embarrassing failure for the Union Army and Navy, and Grant was left with precious little alternative but to dismiss Butler from his military post.

A classic example of a disgraced officer seeking to deflect blame over his own actions by casting in on others.

Provenance: William Stackhouse Collection; Minnesota Historical Society.

Light toning, creasing, soiling and edge wear, else fine.

(EXA 5139) $700

Revolutionary War hero William Barton writes to Vermont Senator Bradley 1815 from debtors prison seeking an attorney

(American Revolution) William BARTON (1748-1831) Officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution who attained the rank of Colonel (and later adjutant general of the Rhode Island militia), fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and captured Major General Richard Prescott in a July 1777 raid on British Headquarters in Rhode Island, for which he was rewarded by the Continental Congress. Barton was an original member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, joining at the inception of the Society’s first constituent branch in 1783. Upon Rhode Island’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1790, Barton was selected to travel to New York to inform George Washington. In 1789, Barton and 59 other Revolutionary War soldiers received a land grand for an area in northern central Vermont, chartered as the town of Barton. While his namesakes of the town, and Fort Barton in Tiverton, Rhode Island were a testament to his prominence, he was successfully sued for selling the same plot of land to two different investors. Upon Barton’s refusal to pay his debt, he was sentenced to serve 14 years in debtor’s prison in Danville, Vermont, beginning in 1812 when Barton was 64 years old. He was finally released 13 years later when the Marquis de Lafayette agreed to pay off the remainder of Barton’s debt.

Autograph Letter Signed “Wm. Barton” from debtors prison, 1 page, 224 x 195 mm. (8 7/8 x 7 5/8 in.), Danville [Vermont], 6 November 1815, to U.S. Senator from Vermont William Czar Bradley (1782-1867). Barton, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, was incarcerated for debt in 1812 following a bad land deal in Vermont. Three years later, he humbly (and largely phonetically) seeks an attorney to represent him:

“Will you have the goodness to heare [sic] and [sic] old officer once more, but before I begin with my storey[sic]. I was & am Will return you my warmest thanks for the att[ent]i[o]n you have paid to me in having me placed on the Pension list.— It is now three years three years and 45 Days Sins [sic] I have been confined in this plase [sic], and I am Sorrey [sic] to Say that I must Spend the remainder of my Days in this plase unless I obtain my case W[h]ich is before the Supream [sic] Court … A Co[u]rt of Chancery W[h]ich I hope Will com[e] on at the Next term in this plase. Now my Dear friend I want to Employ you too come here and bleed[?] my case, for one, I Know that there are Sum [sic] gentlemen of the Law, that say that it is Inte[?] indiligent [sic] for a client to ask what what they have to pay till the Wash[?]is don[e], here let me observe that if I had only have Known before hand what I had to pay, I never should have been confined in this prison, and I have Sometime Sins made up my mind so far. hard to Know What I had to pay but if you Dont chus [sic] to Do this and Will com[e] I Will throw my Self at your mersey [sic], pray answer me by the first mail.”

Very minor paper loss at bottom right, slight edge wear, archival repairs to verso along usual folds, else very good.

(EXA 5235) SOLD

The last surviving veteran of the Battle of Lexington, Jonathan Harrington, John Parker’s fifer, signs at age 89

Jonathan HARRINGTON (1758-1854) The last surviving member of John Parker’s company at the Battle of Lexington on 19 April 1775, serving as the fifer beside drummer William Diamond.

Fine content Autograph Note Signed, “Jon Harrington”, 1p. 48 x 196 mm. (1 7/8 x 7 3/4 in.), on an irregularly cut slip of paper, [Lexington], 30 April 1845, writing in full: “I was at the Battle of Lexington the 19th April 1775 a fife in Capt. John Parker’s Company”.

When Benson Lossing interviewed Harrington in 1848, the old soldier humbly explained that he only became one of the company’s musicians because he was the only person in Lexington who knew how to play a fife. Harrington recalled, “My mother… called out to me at three o’clock in the morning, ‘Jonathan, Jonathan! The reg’lars are coming and something must be done.’ I dressed quickly, slung my light gun over my shoulder, took my fife from a chair, and hurried to the parade near the meeting house, where about fifty men had gathered and others were arriving every minute. By four o’clock a hundred men were there. We did not wait long, wondering whether reg’lars were really coming, for a man darted up to Captain Parker and told him that they were close by. The captain immediately ordered … Joe[sic William] to beat the drum and I fifed with all my might. Alarm-guns were instantly fired to call distant minute-men to duty. Lights were now seen moving in all the houses. Daylight came at half-past four o’clock. Just then the reg’lars who had heard the drum beat, rushed toward us, and their leader shouted, ‘Disperse, you rebels!’ We stood still. He repeated the order with an oath, fired his pistol, and ordered his men to shoot. Only a few obeyed. Nobody was hurt, and we supposed their guns were loaded only with powder. We had been ordered not to fire first, and so we stood still. The angry leader of the reg’lars then gave another order for them to fire, when a volley killed or wounded several of our company. Seeing the reg’lars trying to surround us, Captain Parker ordered us to retreat. As we fled some shots were sent back. [William] and I climbed a fence near Parson Clarke’s house and took to the wood near by. Climbing over, [William] fell upon a heap of stones and crushed his drum-head. His hand was bleeding badly, and he found that a bullet had carried off a part of his little finger. Eight of our men had lost their lives.”¹

Groomed for college, Harrington’s aspirations were dashed when the retreating regulars ransacked his home, taking the Latin books he needed to prepare, and burned them in the street. Harrington spent the remainder of his life as a farmer in Lexington. In his advanced age, Harrington’s association with the opening battle of the Revolutionary War gave him celebrity as veterans of the war died off. The curious, traveling from near and and far, made pilgrimages to his East Lexington home to hear his stories. ² When he died in 1854, nearly 10,000 attended his funeral including the governor, both houses of the legislature and 1,000 soldiers.³

Tape repair to upper right corner slightly affecting the “5” in “1775”, light edge wear, overall very good condition.

(EXA 5222) SOLD.

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¹ Benson J. Lossing, Hours with the Living Men and Women of the Revolution, A Pilgrimage (1889), 2-8.

² Mary B. Fuhrer, Research for the Re-Interpretation of the Buckman Tavern, Lexingon Massachusetts: Conceptions of Liberty (Unpublished report, 2012), 68.

³ “Funeral of Jonathan Harrington” Salem Register, (Mass.), 3 Apr. 1854, 2.

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