On the burning of Washington - photo 1
On the burning of Washington - photo 2

On the burning of Washington

Lot 15
22.04.2021 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 27 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 517661
Lot 15 | On the burning of Washington
Estimate value
$ 8 000 – 12 000
JACKSON, Andrew (1767-1845). Autograph letter signed ("Andrew Jackson") to Rachael Jackson, District of Mobile, 7 October 1814.

One page, bifolium, 248 x 205mm (silked, minor partial fold separations, marginal chips and tears backed or infilled). Integral transmittal panel addressed in another hand, and cancelled in manuscript: "Mobile Oct 8th"

On the burning of Washington,

"It appears, that all the Patriots, must have burned themselves on the news of the burning of the capitol, as tho our national existence or liberties depended alone on that gothic mass of costly marble —It cannot affe[ct] us, but it ought and will give impulse to the nation — and every man who has a spark of national-pride, and ounce of love of country, will step forward, and at one blow at [and] at every point, crush the enemies to our country, wheresoever thy[y] can be reached—"

Jackson continues his letter with domestic affairs, inquiring the arrival of bills of sale for eight enslaved individuals ("advise me whether the Bills of sale for the Eight negroes [world partly obscured] has got to your hands…"). He also complains of a "Violent attack of the fever," but reports that he has recovered. Alluding to British and Spanish forces at Pensacola, he writes that "since their severe repulse at the point [they] appear quiett [sic]– I hope ere long to be able to arouse them a little — but I can hear nothing from the army from Tennessee…" Jackson was referring to the successful defense of Fort Bowyer on 15 September 1814 against a British naval squadron preventing an attack on Mobile. Jackson would engage the British (and Spanish) at Pensacola in November, but would abandon the post when he learned that the next target for Great Britain was New Orleans. After Jackson's successful and specular victory over Cochrane's assault on the Crescent City, the British again moved against Fort Bowyer, and forced its surrender on 12 February 1814. But just as the American defenders were preparing for life as prisoners of war, news of the Treaty of Ghent arrived, rendering the situation academic. Not published in The Papers of Andrew Jackson.
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