May 2015 Auction Ends Thursday, May 28th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/28/2015
Autograph letter signed by Revolutionary War hero Francis Barber, written during the Sullivan expedition to his wife on 20 August 1779. The Sullivan expedition was a critical Revolutionary War campaign in which American forces devastated British troops and American Indian tribes. Barber participated in this campaign, later achieving the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army until he was killed by a falling tree on his way to a dinner with George Washington. 4pp. letter on two sheets, sent from Fort Sullivan in Tioga, NY reads in part, ''...A few minutes ago we received intelligence from General Clinton. He is only twenty miles from us, his army in health, without having received the least opposition from an enemy. He will join this army tomorrow, and the next day our united force will commence a rapid movement against the five nations. Our operations will be attended with much more fatigue than danger. We set out from the post with a considerable train of artillery and at least a dozen heavy four horse wagons through a wilderness of Swamps & mountains, where at best we shall only find an Indian path. This will constitute our fatigue. I imagine this will be the last opportunity of your hearing from me, until the army returns to the inhabited country. What part, or when that will be is uncertain. I believe about a month hence...'' Barber signs ''F. Barber'' to second sheet of letter, which has original red wax seal and address panel to verso. Included is an additional document from 15 April 1780, with content related to the parceling out of military supplies, as well as an engraving of Barber. Letter measures 8'' x 13.25''. Image measures 8.5'' x 12''. Additional letter measures 9.5'' x 16''. Folds, staining, toning and chipping to letter, as expected from a document carried in the field during the Revolutionary War.
Revolutionary War Hero Francis Barber Autograph Letter Signed -- Regarding the Sullivan Expedition of 1779 -- ''...our united force will commence a rapid movement against the five nations...''
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