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Signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Hampshire (1730-1785), who commanded a brigade of New Hampshire militia at Saratoga in 1777, and then the following year at Rhode Island. Unsigned handwritten letter by William Whipple, one page, 7.75 x 9, no date but circa July 1777. Handwritten letter to Revolutionary War financier Robert Morris, in full: "The Amphitrite will sail this week agreeable to orders. The Captain did not make the least difficulty after receiving the Letter I Brought from the Committee but immediately set about preparing his ship for her voyage. Thus Sir have I given you an accot: of Navy matters in this Quarter." Docketed on the reverse: "To Rob't Morris Esq., 6 July." In very good to fine condition, with partial splits to horizontal folds and a light stain touching a few words of text. Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from JSA.
The Amphitrite sailed from France at the end of 1776 with 15,000 uniforms, 10,000 muskets, and approximately 75 bronze cannon, all funded by the flamboyant French playwright, revolutionary, and arms dealer Pierre Beaumarchais (1732-1799). When the Amphitrite arrived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in April 1777, those supplies and weapons were unloaded and played a key role in the American victory at Saratoga in the fall of 1777.
The Secret Committee of the Continental Congress ordered Captain John Paul Jones to proceed to Portsmouth and join Captain Nicholas Fautrel aboard the Amphitrite with enough men to man any prizes they could capture during their voyage. The Secret Committee would supply provisions for the American crew, while Fautrel would supply the French crew. They would divide any prizes they could capture. The purpose of the plan was to get Jones to France, where he and his crew could transfer to a frigate that the American Commissioners in France had acquired. However, when Jones arrived in Portsmouth at the beginning of June, he discovered that Fautrel 'absolutely refused' to allow Jones aboard in any other capacity than as a passenger, feeling it would be 'a dishonor to the French flag' to allow Jones’s commission to supersede his own. A frustrated Jones returned to Boston.
On June 13th, the Secret Committee met—with Robert Morris, William Whipple, and Philip Livingston in attendance—and considered Fautrel’s rejection of their plan. The Committee decided to forward his letter to Congress, recommending that he receive the assurances he required to proceed to Charleston for a load of rice. Also in mid-June, New Hampshire issued a privateer commission to Captain Fautrel of the Amphitrite to allow him to take prizes along his voyage to South Carolina and return to France.
On June 18th, Congress sent William Whipple from Philadelphia to Boston with instructions for Jones to take command of the Ranger, a new sloop recently constructed in Portsmouth. The Amphitrite sailed from Portsmouth to Charleston, South Carolina, in July-August 1777, loaded a cargo of rice and indigo, then returned to France from Charleston in October and November 1777.
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