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LOT #42003 |
Starting Bid: $5,000
[Revolutionary War]. David Mason Autograph Letter Signed...
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Description
A Continental Officer Awaits the British Attack on New York in August 1776: "Independence is declare'd...we who first began with firing a few three and six pounders, have now got an army of 60,000 men"
[Revolutionary War]. David Mason Autograph Letter Signed
("David Mason"). Two pages on a single leaf, 9 1/2 x 15 1/2
inches; New York; August 1, 1776.A very rare firsthand account of the New York Campaign, written just one month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel David Mason, an artillery officer in the Continental Army. The letter finds Mason and his fellow soldiers waiting in tense anticipation of a British assault on New York, which would come just weeks later with the landings at Gravesend Bay and the Battle of Long Island.
Writing to his wife, Hannah, Mason opens with a report on conditions in the city, followed by a vivid and harrowing account of officers' wives fleeing the British naval bombardment of July 12:
"Since I wrote you...everything is carried out of New York. There is not the least thing to be bought. Everything we want is excessive dear, milk 7 coppers a quart; butter Pistereene a pound, &c. &c...
I smile to think how little we know of each others circumstances when at a distance. You envied Mrs. Knox's happiness when she was most unhappy-for being here at the time when the ships came up amidst the fire of cannon and bombs was obliged to jump into a chaise with her baby & drive off she knew not where leaving the Col. in the greatest anxiety. What would be the consequence it being near night and no man to take care of them only an Negro to drive Mrs. Pollard (our Quarter Master's wife) and a young lady in another chaise being all the company they had; and at 10 oclock at night stops at a tavern where they were obliged to sit up all night and barricade the doors for fear the Landlord whould have demolished them before morning he being a Rank Tory and whould not let them have anything to eat or drink..."
He goes on to accurately predict Howe's landing on Long Island, expressing confidence in George Washington's "wise" leadership:
"It is said that some Highlanders are arrived but I believe not certain. It is Gen'll thought that Lord Howe will attempt to land the troops on Long Island which if they do I believe the Gen'll will risque a battle but not without the greatest advantage for he acts with the greatest caution as a wise Gen'll. ever whould, the ships that went up the river remain there still and it is my oppione will never be able to join the fleet again..."
He concludes by commenting on the transformation of the Continental Army, whose numbers once seemed impossible to raise:
I saw Mr. Cabbott here who came from Philadelphia and said he had rec'd letters from his brother...I ask him if he heard that David had left the vessel...The vessel is made a Spanish Bottom and is trading up the straits, perhaps she may come home now Independence is declare'd as a Spanish vessel trading with the United States-I want to know what Mr. Harrington thinks, we who first began with firing a few three and six pounders, have now got an army of 60,000 men with everything equivalent, so the world began-I believe you will here something soone God grant it may be as we wish...I can't think he will forsake us, though I confess I am more afraid of the profanity of the soldiers than I am of the enemy, may I be preserved from both."
Written on the eve of one of the most significant campaigns of the Revolutionary War, this letter provides a vivid and immediate perspective on life in New York during the summer of 1776. Within weeks, Howe's forces made their landing on Long Island, initiating the campaign that would result in the largest battle of the war.
Condition: Very good. Light, even toning with a few scattered instances of staining or soiling. Flattened folds, with professional mends thereat; prior separations affecting a few letters.
Auction Info
2026 June 19 The John H. Freund Americana Collection Signature® Auction #6331 (go to Auction Home page)
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