Noteworthy Revolutionary War-era manuscript document headed “Generals appointed by the Continental Congress,” one page, 7.75 x 12.25, no date (circa late June 1775). The document starts: “George Washington, Esq., General & Commander in Chief of all the Forces raised & to be raised for the Defense of American Liberty.” Per the journals of the Continental Congress, Washington was unanimously elected on June 15, 1775. The list then records the selection of Generals Artemus Ward, Horatio Gates, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, Israel Putnam, Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathanael Greene. The bottom of the document contains a section related to casualties: “…a Letter from the Selectmen of the Town of Boston mentions the State of Loss in the late Battle… 709 killed Private, 104 killed Sergents, 94 killed officers…600 wounded.” In very good to fine condition, with edge tears and scattered staining.
Also of historical interest is the paper used for this document, which bears the period watermark of Connecticut’s only papermaker, Christopher Leffingwell: an oval with a floral pattern below “LC, Norwich.” An early protester against Parliament, Leffingwell (1734-1810) petitioned against the Stamp Act in 1765 and later helped finance Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. Leffingwell became a pioneer in the manufacture of paper beginning in 1765 and provided paper for bullet cartridges during the American Revolution. His later businesses included stocking manufacturing, Connecticut’s first chocolate mill, and a fulling mill for finishing woolen cloth.
