To Nathanael Greene - photo 1

To Nathanael Greene

Lot 112
17.01.2024 11:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 32 760
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 1119097
Lot 112 | To Nathanael Greene
Estimate value
$ 20 000 – 30 000
To Nathanael Greene

George Washington, 31 October 1779

WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799). Autograph letter signed (“Go:Washington”) as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army [to Nathanael Greene, West Point,] 31 October 1779.



One page, 223 x 178mm (silked, weak folds additionally reinforced on verso, a few chips at margins, one affecting “n” in signature).



While awaiting news from the French Navy, Washington makes final preparations for a planned assault on New York City. Over the summer of 1779, Washington assembled a complex operation to capture the British strongholds at Newport and New York in conjunction with a large French fleet under the command of d'Estaing, then operating further south in Georgia. Here, he writes his quartermaster general, Nathanael Greene, on some final logistical details: “I Intended to inform you, but am not sure that I did do it, that a Party of Militia would be sent by Govr. Clinton (for the purpose of cutting wood for the expedition below) between this & Kings-ferry. —You will be pleased, while at Fish-kill to make your arrangement with the Govr. Or Colo. Malcom accordingly. —Furnish Tools & give the necessary directions to the Officer commanding.” Unfortunately for Washington, the plans came to naught. D'Estaing's fleet had been cooperating with General Benjamin Lincoln besieging British-held Savannah, Georgia since early September—an operation that failed spectacularly on 9 October after a failed Franco-American assault on the British lines with losses of nearly 800 on the allied side. Rather than sail north to New York, d'Estaing chose to take most of his fleet back to France with the remainder to be sent to the West Indies. Washington did not receive word of this until 15 November, but had decided to abandon the operation independently several days earlier in light of the lateness of the season and he ordered his army into winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey. Autograph letters signed by Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army are quite scarce as he devolved the final text of most of his outgoing correspondence to his staff (while still signing them personally). Published in Papers. Revolutionary War Series, 23:109. Provenance: Allen L. Owens (sale, Parke Bernet, 17 February 1970, lot 65).

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