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William Moultrie Autograph Letter Signed with Arthur Middleton Autograph Docket. ...
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Description
William Moultrie Autograph Letter Signed with Arthur Middleton Autograph Docket. One page with integral address sheet, 7.5" x 12.25", [South Carolina]; October 21, 1775. A colonel in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment of provincial troops, Moultrie writes to the state Council of Safety regarding the finances of the regiment and the resignation of their quartermaster. He writes:"I herewith send you a Return of the seamen belonging to the two Regiments of Foot now in the Provincial service. I cannot say with what propriety I can discharge them from the service in which they were first inlisted, especially as our officers have been at great trouble and a very heavy expense to themselves in recruiting them, several have assured me they are five hundred pounds out of Pocket from the recruiting Service. I hope if it should be absolutely necessary for us to spare the men, you will consider the officers -
I also send you an amount of the money I have received from the Publick and how it has been expended and beg you will enable me to pay a number of considerable amounts now in hand. I shall want one thousand pounds more for recruiting service -
Mr Graham QrMaster to 2d Regiment has resigned his commission to me. I would beg to recommend Mr Joseph Lloyd for that Place he is known to most of you. I can say since he has been with us he has behaved himself very well so that the officers would wish him to have the commission he is also well acquainted with the duty of QrMaster - I would beg to postpone the filling up the vacant Lieutenantcy a few days."
Signed, "Willm Moultrie" adding his elaborate paraph and the date.
Middleton, then serving on the Council of Safety, dockets the letter on the verso: "Coll Moultrie / 21 October 1775 / M Graham's / Resignation." Middleton was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776, and signed the Declaration of Independence. He died in 1787 and is one of the scarcer autographs by Signers to obtain.
Brigadier General William Moultrie (1730-1805) was initially commissioned a colonel in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment in 1775. In 1776, he was stationed outside Charleston on Sullivan's Island when a superior British force attempted to take the city. Moultrie's defense on the island amounted to nothing more than a ramshackle fort constructed of palmetto logs, sand and mud, and General Charles Lee advised him to abandon the location. Moultrie refused and successfully fought off the British led by General Henry Clinton and Commodore Peter Parker on June 28, 1776. It was a near-impossible victory as Moultrie's men numbered approximately 400 to the British's 2,000, and a grateful Congress promoted Moultrie to brigadier general and renamed the fort in his honor.
Condition: Light age toning and flattened folds. Darker toning along the folds of the address cover. Pencil annotation identifies Middleton's docket, with an additional annotation at the top of the letter. Minor dampstaining affects a few words. Showthrough on recto from Middleton's docket. Moultrie's signature has light blooming, and an ink smear affects a single word in the last line of the letter.
Provenance: From the Private Collection of a Mississippi Gentleman.
Auction Info
2023 September 21 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6272 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
September, 2023
21st
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 32
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