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Sale 64
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Lot 72
Warren, Joseph (1741-75) Physician and patriot; killed in action at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Excessively rare Manuscript Letter Signed ("Jos Warren") as Chairman of the Committee of Safety, 2 pages plus integral leaf with docket, Cambridge (Mass.), June 4, 1775. Countersigned by General Artemas Ward and by Moses Gill as Chairman of the Committee of Supplies. Just thirteen days before Warren is killed, he sends a desperate appeal for gunpowder "To the Hon:ble Congress for the Colony of New York."
In part: "…Our Capital is filled with disciplined Troops, thoroughly equip'd with every thing necessary to render them formidable. A Train of Artillery as compleat as can be conceived of, a full supply of Arms and Ammunition, and an absolute command of the Harbour of Boston, which puts it in their Power to furnish themselves with whatever they thinkg convenient by Sea….We suffer at present the greatest Inconveniences from a want of a sufficient Quantity of Powder, without this every attempt to defend ourselves or annoy our Enemies must prove abortive; We have taken every Step to avail ourselves of this Article, by drawing into our General Magazines whatever could be spared from the Respective towns of this Colony; But the frequent Skirmishes we have had, has greatly diminshed our Stock, and we are now under the most alarming apprehensions; that notwithstanding the Bravery of our Troops (whom we think we can without boasting declare are ready to incounter every Danger for the preservation of the Rights & Liberties of America) we shall barely for the want of the Means of Defence fall at last a prey to our Enemies…."
Warren, Ward, and Gill beg to borrow or buy some powder from New York because "…we are in the most distressing Want, We beg therefore that we may not be suffered to perish…" They assure the New Yorkers that they have made arrangements for powder from another source, "and if we can be assisted until that arrives, we doubt not but that we shall be able to baffle the Designs of our Enemies….We beg what Powder you can possibly spare may be immediately conveyed to us by Land in the Way least liable to be suspected by any Persons who may correspond with the Enemy."
From the first military engagements of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the gunpowder shortage had been a critical consideration. Massachusetts' patriot government had decided to encircle Boston with militia and pen up the British as long as possible and a war of nerves with British general Thomas Gage ensued. In May, In the first week of June, letters were sent to several colonies pleading for help; another copy went directly to the Continental Congress in Philidelphia.
The gunpowder shortage would be a direct factor in Warren's death. On June 17th, some 3,000 British troops stormed Bunker Hill, which the Americans had fortified and possessed during the night of June 16th. Twice the British fell back, mowed down by patriots who had been instructed by Colonel William Prescott not to shoot until they could see "the whites of their eyes." A third attack, however, found the Americans with very little gunpowder remaining and many of them were cut down by British fire. Col. Prescott ordered a retreat but Joseph Warren, who had fought gallantly as a volunteer all day and was one of the last to leave the field, was shot in the back of the head. Had the Americans been able to obtain more gunpowder, who knows what the result of the battle would have been? As it was, the British lost 1,054 men killed or wounded, one third of whom were officers. The Americans lost 449 and Bunker Hill became a rallying cry for the revolutionary cause.
This letter is toned overall, has a few fold splits at edges, two small tape repairs on verso, and the integral leaf is separated from the letter. The penmanship is bold and clear, and the signatures, especially Joseph Warren's, are strong. A superb letter documenting the harsh realities of the opening months of the Revolutionary War.
Estimated Value $40,000 - 60,000.
Sotheby's New York, May 22, 1990, lot 124.
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