December 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, December 18th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/18/2012
Marquis de Lafayette letter signed ''Lafayette M G''. Dated 20 March 1781, from ''Camp at Sleepy Hole,'' Lafayette writes at the beginning of his Virginia Campaign when he found his 1,200 light infantry troops ill-prepared to fight against British and Hessian soldiers. Addressed in Lafayette's hand to General George Weedon, letter reads in part: ''...On my arrival at this place I intended to move down the whole corps under Gnl Mullemberg in order that the works of the enemy might be reconnoitered...but to my great surprise there was no ammunition arrived in camp, so that no men had a sufficiency and many had none at all...for want of ammunition we could not drive [the British] into town...I have ordered my baggage to this place, and will be much obliged to you to give orders for the procuring of two waggons [sic] to that purpose...'' Lafayette began serving in the American Revolution assisting George Washington. Initially an American major general in name only, he was eventually placed in command of actual divisions and proved an outstanding commander. His Virginia Campaign was an early component of the Siege of Yorktown, which was critical to the American victory. Letter runs three pages and measures 6.5'' x 8''. Foxing to center fold. Very good. Published in ''Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution,'' III:406-7.
Lafayette Letter Signed Just After Arriving in Virginia in Early 1781 Where by the Fall, the British Would Surrender -- He Writes of His Strategy But Notes He Is Hampered by No Ammunition
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