Lot 199
1776 Letter From A British Prisoner of War. A one-page letter from English lieutenant William Richardson, 26th regiment, datelined Philadelphia, February 7, 1776, 9¼ x 7½ in., addressed to his agents in London. In part: "Being taken prisoner at St. Johns along with Major Preston…and by that means entirely cut off from having any communication with Capt. Crawford our pay master, I am under the necessity of drawing upon you this day for thirty five pounds sterling at thirty one days sight, in favor of Mr. John Boyle or order, which I hope you will pay due honor to and either charge it in acct. to Capt. Crawford or to my own….Capt. Crawford is prisoner upon his parole at Montreal. I am admitted also on Parole and go to Reading in this Province. If any letters should come to your office directed for me, be so good as to enclose them under cover to Messrs. Hugh and Alexander Wallace New York…."
On September 6, 1775, General Philip Schuyler and an expeditionary force of roughly one thousand men, assembled at Fort Ticonderoga, arrived at St. John's Fort, situated about twelve miles southeast of Montreal and commanded by Sir Charles Preston. After an inept attack on the fort, General Schuyler feigned illness and returned to Fort Ticonderoga, leaving command of the American forces to General Richard Montgomery. A formal siege of St. John's began on September 16 and continued until November 2, when Colonel Preston surrendered. Out of the 720 men under his command, 700 were killed, wounded or captured. Lt. Richardson, the writer of this letter, was one of those captured. The letter is penned in dark ink on laid, watermarked paper; small paper loss at left side from seal tear, else fine condition. Prisoner-of-war letters from the Revolutionary War are much more scarce than those from the Civil War.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 3,000.
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