Description:

1776 Massachusetts Company Marches to Boston to Drive Out British

This list of officers and soldiers details a company of twenty men from Abington, Massachusetts, led by Captain Edward Cobb. They were on their way to Boston in the spring of 1776 for what would be the final push to drive the British from the city. Along the way, they stopped at the home of Colonel Josiah Quincy in Braintree, eight miles north of Abington and ten miles south of Boston. Quincy provided them with shelter and provisions for a day and a half and likely used this document later to obtain reimbursement from the Massachusetts government.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.]. Edward Cobb, Manuscript Document Signed, List of Officers and Soldiers Housed near Josiah Quincy's House, March 5, 1776, Braintree, Massachusetts. 1 p., 6.75" x 8" Expected folds; very good.

Complete Transcript

Braintree, March 5th 1776
A List of the Names of the Officers & Soldiers quartered at my House that came up from Abington, vizt
Capt Edwd Cobb
Lieut Benja Bates
Lieut Benja Beal
Capt Nathan Snow     }
Lieut Joseph Gurney  } listed as Privates upon the present Occasion
Lieut David Cobb       }
Lieut Obadiah Reed  }
Jacob Dyer
John Porter
Eliab Noyce
Moses Noyce
Jacob Noyce
Ephm Noyce
Jacob Gurney
Benja Beal junr
Jona Beal
Barnabas Reed
David Porter
Josh Gurney junr
Stephen Reed
A true copy Test Edward Cobb

[Endorsement:]
Braintree March 8th 1776
These may certifie that the Officers & Soldiers contained in this List arrived at Colo Quincy's House before Midnight the 4th Inst where we were provided with House Room fire wood Candles Milk Cyder & utensils with which to dress the Provisions we brought with us & the whole of our Provisions for one Day and an half
Edward Cobb Capt

Historical Background
General George Washington took command of the assembled Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early July 1775. It consisted largely of militia recruits from Massachusetts and neighboring colonies in New England. For the next nine months, the Continental Army continued to besiege Boston.

A small force of American patriots led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had surprised and captured a small British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga in northern New York in May 1775. From November 1775 to January 1776, Colonel Henry Knox led a "noble train of artillery" consisting of 59 cannon from Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point nearly three hundred miles to Boston to break the impasse. On March 2, 1776, the Americans began to bombard the city, and over the next two days exchanged fire with the British to little effect. On March 5, Washington moved men and cannon overnight to occupy Dorchester Heights, where the cannon could better reach both the British forces in the city and the British fleet. The British soon began plans to evacuate the city and sailed away on March 17 in 120 ships with more than 11,000 people on board.

Josiah Quincy (1710-1784) was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1728. In 1733, he married Hanna Sturgis, with whom he had four children before she died in 1755. He became a merchant and shipbuilder in Boston in business with his brother Edmund. He served as a local magistrate and colonel of the Suffolk Regiment of militia. When he was a commissioner to Pennsylvania to seek aid in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Franklin became a friend, and they later cooperated in several business ventures involving the manufacture of glass, candles, and chocolate. He was the father of Josiah Quincy II ((1744-1775), a principal spokesman for the Sons of Liberty in Boston before the Revolutionary War. He was the grandfather of Josiah Quincy III (1772-1864), and educator who served as a Congressman (1805-1813), mayor of Boston (1823-1828), and president of Harvard University (1829-1845).

Edward Cobb (1732-1797) was born in Abington, Massachusetts, and in 1753, he married Abigail Shaw, with whom he had at least eight children. He engaged in farming and was also described as a housewright. During the Revolutionary War, he was captain of a company raised in Abington.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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