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Button Gwinnett killed in a duel... Jane McCrea killed by Indian allies of the British...
Button Gwinnett killed in a duel... Jane McCrea killed by Indian allies of the British...
Item # 558539
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October 11, 1777
THE LONDON CHRONICLE, Oct. 11, 1777
* Button Gwinnett duel and death
* Jane McCrea killed by Indians
* Revolutionary War original from the enemy
The sixth page has a brief but very significant report about the death of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The report, listed under news from "New York", reads, in full: "The new appointed governor of Georgia has, we hear, been lately killed in a duel by a rebel officer named M'Intosh. We are told he is succeeded in his office by a person of the name of Thompson, who lately kept a tavern in that country." Although not named in the report, the individual killed in the duel was Button Gwinnett. The duel was fought less than a year after Gwinnett signed the Declaration of Independence. Due to his relative obscurity and early death, autographs of Gwinnett are quite rare and therefore are considered very valuable. A source states that fewer than 30 are known to exist, and that individual signatures have sold for as much as $150,000.
This page also has some notable war content. Under "London" is news from Gaine's New York Gazette which includes the resolves passed by the Congress at Philadelphia concerning the evacuation of Ticonderoga as well as the conduct of the officers at the time of the evacuation. Three of the resolves required the service, "judgment" and opinion of General Washington. The resolves are signed in type: Charles Thomson.
From "Fish Kill" is a letter from "Mose's-creek" dated July 26. The letter describes various atrocities committed by the Indian allies of the British at a "brush" with the enemy at Fort Edwards. The letter reads, in part: "...They took a young woman, Janey M'Crea by name, out of a house at Fort Edwards, carried her about half a mile into the bushes, and there killed and scalped her in cold blood. They have killed and scalped another women near the same place..." The letter also states that an officer was butchered and scalped, as were four soldiers, one of whom had both hands cut off (see photos).
According to a source, the brutal death of Jane McCrea and the other atrocities caused considerable outrage among the colonists, and resulted in a marked increase in military enlistments.
In the same column is "A Letter from Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane to Lord Stormont, the British Ambassador at Paris" about the "barbarous" treatment of prisoners, signed in type: B. Franklin, S. Deane.
A desirable issue with significant content from the Revolutionary War. Quite rare to have a report about the death of Button Gwinnett. Reports about the death of Jane McCrea are also rare.
Complete in 8 pgs., measures 11 by 8 3/4 inches, bit of rubbing on the ftpg., otherwise in very good condition.
Category: Revolutionary War
No Longer Available
