REVOLUTIONARY WAR WIA YORKTOWN GENERAL COLONEL 2nd NY CLINTON AUTOGRAPH SIGNED
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:53395481 | Modified Item: No |
| Original/Reproduction: Original | Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
| Conflict: Revolutionary War (1775-83) | Theme: Militaria |
HERE’S A RARE DOCUMENT CONTAINING THESIGNATURE OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOT & GENERALJAMES CLINTON (1733 - 1812)REVOLUTIONARY WAR BVT MAJOR GENERAL IN 1783, WIA ARMY BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY-LEADING HIS BRIGADEDURING THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN 1776-1783, REV WAR COL 2nd NY IN 1776REVOLUTIONARY WAR COLONEL 3rd NEW YORK INFANTRY, PARTICIPATINGIN THE CANADA INVASION TO QUEBEC 1775-1776LED A SUCCESSFUL PUNITIVE EXPEDITION AGAINST THE IROQUOIS and SENECA INDIANTRIBES OF PE...NNSYLVANIA and NEW YORK – CALLED THE “SULLIVAN-CLINTON EXPEDITION”IN 1779 – DESTROYING 40 INDIAN VILLAGES, DELEGATE TO THE NEW YORK PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF MAY 1775&FATHER OF NY GOVERNOR and SENATOR DE WITT CLINTON (1769-1828) and BROTHEROF FELLOW REVOLUTIONARY WAR GENERAL and 4th VICE PRESIDENT OF THEUNITED STATES, GEORGE CLINTON (1739-1811).Serving in the Highlands, Brig.General Clinton escaped from Fort Montgomery with a bayonet wound when thisplace and Ft. Clinton were captured by Sir Henry Clinton’s Expedition in Oct.1777. According to the Dictionary ofAmerican Biography, Gen. Clinton’s brigade received the surrendered Britishcolors at Yorktown!<<>> HERE'S CLINTON’S SIGNATURE REMOVED FROM A DOCUMENTSIGNED, and MOUNTED TO A STAMPLESS FOLDED LETTER COVER DATED 1850 TO BENSON J. LOSSING (1813 - 1891)HARPER’S WEEKLY HISTORIAN, KNOWN BEST FOR HIS ILLUSTRATED BOOKS and ARTICLES ON THE AMERICANREVOLUTION and CIVIL WARTHE LETTER (ALS) IS FROM ONE OF CLINTON’S GRANDSONS, and MEMBER OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, JAMES CLINTON BOLTON.NOTE: THE AUTOGRAPH COMESWITH A STEEL SIGNATURE ENGRAVING OF JAMES CLINTON, PUBLISHED BY “KNAPP, PECK & THOMPSON, AUBURN, N.Y.”The letter, signature and engraving are all in Very Fine Condition. A RARE ADDITION TO YOUR REVOLUTIONARY WAR ERAMILITARY/POLITICAL AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION! <>>::<<>BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MAJOR GENERALJAMES CLINTONMajor General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812)was an American Revolutionary Warofficer who, with John Sullivan, led the Sullivan Expeditionin what is now western New York to attack British-allied Senecaand other Iroquois villages. They destroyed 40 villages, as well as theirwinter stores of wheat and other produce. He obtained the rank of brevet major general.Early LifeClinton was born in Ulster Countyin the colony of New York, at Little Britainin the town of New Windsor, now part of Orange County, New York. He was the third son of Col.Charles Clinton, an Anglo-Irishcolonist and a colonel in the French and Indian Warwho immigrated to New Ulsterin 1729, and his wife Elizabeth Denniston. He was the brother of George Clinton, who was elected and served as Governor of New Yorkfrom 1777 to 1795 and as U.S. Vice Presidentfrom 1805 to 1812. He was the grandson of James Clinton(d. 1718), and the great-grandson of William Clinton (1614–1684), a Royalistofficer in the army of Charles I of England.CareerFrench and Indian WarJames Clinton's military experience began in the Frenchand Indian War (the North American front of theSeven Years' War), where he served in the provincial troopsof New York in the British cause. He was commissioned an ensignin 1757 and achieved the rank of captain in the New York Regiment in 1759.Commanding a company in 1758, he participated, along with his father (Colonel)and brother George (Lieutenant), in General JohnBradstreet’s capture of FortFrontenac (now Kingston, Ontario). He and his brother played a key role in capturing a French vessel. Clinton remained in the army, and was stationed at various frontier posts.In 1763 he raised and commanded a corps of two hundred men, who were designatedas "Guards of the Frontier". After the war, he retired and marriedMary De Witt. American RevolutionaryWarA month after the first open armed conflict in Lexington, the ContinentalCongress resolved on May 25, 1775 to build fortifications in the Hudsonhighlands for the purpose of protecting and maintaining control of the HudsonRiver. Clinton and Christopher Tappan, lifetime residentsof the area, were sent to scout appropriate locations. Clinton was commissionedas colonelof the 3rd New York Regiment, which took part in Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery’sunsuccessful expedition to Quebecin 1775. In March 1776, Clinton took command of the 2nd New York Regimentand soon after, in August, was promoted to brigadiergeneral in the ContinentalArmy. He served most of the war in the Northern Department, along the New York frontier.During the Saratoga Campaignin 1777, he commanded FortClinton in the Hudson Highlands. He participated in asuccessful effort to prevent British General Sir Henry Clintonfrom rescuing General JohnBurgoyne at Saratoga, but he and his troops were unable tohold Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Clinton sustained a bayonet wound in the legduring the assault. In 1778 he was stationed in Albany to oppose Indian and Toryforces. Plaque on the Monumentat the site of Gen. Clinton's damIn 1779, Clinton led an expedition down the SusquehannaRiver after making the upper portion navigable by dammingup the river's source at Otsego Lake, allowing the lake's level to rise, and then destroying the dam and flooding theriver for miles downstream. This event is described by James Fenimore Cooperin the introduction to his popular novel The Pioneers(1823). It is commemorated by an annual Memorial Day canoe race. At Tioga, New York, Clinton metup with General John Sullivan'sforces, who had marched from Easton, Pennsylvania. Together, on August 29, they defeated the Toriesand British-allied Iroquois at the Battle of Newtown(near today's city of Elmira, New York). This became known as the "Sullivan-Clinton Campaign" orthe "Sullivan Expedition."They also attacked Seneca villages throughout western New York, destroying 40as well as the winter stores of the people. Many Seneca fled to Canada andmortality was high that winter because of starvation. In 1780, Clinton temporarily commanded the NorthernDepartment. By October 1781, his brigade had joined GeorgeWashington's army in the siege of Yorktown.Post-war yearsAfter leaving he army, Clinton served on the commission defining the NewYork-Pennsylvania boundary. In 1783 General Clinton became an original memberof the New York Society of the Cincinnati.He entered state politics, serving as an assemblyman in the New York Statelegislature from 1787-1788 and again from 1800-1801, and as a New York StateSenator from 1788-1792. Personal lifeOn February 18, 1765, James Clinton married his first wife, Mary DeWitt(1737–1795), the only daughter of Egbert DeWitt, members of a colonial Dutchfamily. They had seven children, including: Alexander Clinton (1765–1787), who served in Colonel Lamb's regiment during the Revolution and drowned in the Hudson RiverCharles Clinton (1767–1829), who married Elizabeth Mulliner (1770–1865)DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828), a politician and later Governor of New YorkGeorge Clinton, Jr. (1771–1809), politician who served as a US Representative in CongressMary Clinton (1773–1808), who married Robert Burrage Norton. After his death, she married Judge Ambrose Spencer (1765–1848).Elizabeth Clinton (1776–1832), who married William StuartKatharine Clinton (1778–1837), who married Samuel Lake Norton, brother to her sister Mary's husband. After his death, she married Ambrose Spencer, her sister's widower.His second wife was Mary (néeLittle) Gray (1768–1835), the widow of Alexander Gray (1762–1795), who was bornin Ireland. Together, James and Mary were the parents of six children: James G. Clinton, who died young.Caroline Hannah Clinton (1800–1864), who married Charles Augustus Dewey (1793–1866), an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial CourtEmma Little Clinton (1802–1823), who never married.James Graham Clinton (1804–1849), who married Margaret Ellsworth Conger and served in Congress. Letitia Clinton (1806–1842), who married Dr. Francis Bolton (1804–1849).Anna Clinton (1809–1833), who married Lt. Edward Ross.Clinton died in Little Britain, New York, on September 22, 1812, the same year as his brother George. DescendantsThrough his son DeWitt, he was the grandfather of ten, including George William Clinton (1807–1885) who served as Mayor of Buffalo, New York from 1842 to 1843. Through his son George, hewas the grandfather of threeI am a proud member of the Universal AutographCollectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society& the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: JohnLissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics andauthenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service & historicalmemorabilia online for over twenty years.~
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