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Lot 74
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French and Indian War impt letter British Officer Writes Excitedly of His Older Brother re: Assault on Quebec
French and Indian War impt letter British Officer Writes Excitedly of His Older Brother re: Assault on Quebec
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Description:

French and Indian War

Roger Townshend, 1p ALS to his sister-in-law Charlotte Compton, Baroness Ferrers, June 7, 1759, Camp at Fort Edward. 8" x 12.75". In very good condition. Expected paper folds including some well-creased and professionally repaired. Minor darkening to top.


The younger son of a British viscount writes to his sister-in-law about her husband’s arrival in North America for an assault on Quebec. Six weeks later, the writer was killed in the British assault on Fort Ticonderoga. Three months after this letter, his brother went on to command British forces at Quebec and receive the surrender of Quebec City.

 

 


In full:

"Camp at Ford Edward June 7th 1759


Dear Lady Ferrers


It is with the greatest pleasure that I can inform you I received a Letter from George a few days ago dated Hallifax May ye 1t  the whole Fleet was arrived safe & he was in perfect health; I have taken care to supply him with fresh Provisions of all kinds, & a large quantity of vegetables & Root of all kinds, which are very necessary after a long sea voyage, he will want nothing while he is up the River that the Continent of America affords & he requires to be sent. our affairs at present appear very favorable no accounts as yet of the Enemy having received any Reinforcements from old France, & our Fleet under Adml Durel inserts so very high up the River that it is impossible for them to receive any this year without a superior Fleet which is impossible for them to fit out. my opinion of Genl Amherst as an honest good man, & my attachmt to him as a soldier I thought would never alow me to wish that I might serve under any other person in America but the Tye of Brother & Friend united is too powerful & I confess nothing ever gave me more real concern than not being employed on the same Expedition. I shall write to you by every Pacquet. may our Armys all be successful & Canada reduced this year, & George return home in safety to receive the praise due to him from his King & Country for his truly noble & spirited behavior in assisting at the Reduction of Canada. the consequence of this conquest can be no less than our giving Peace to France on any terms we please. my Love to George & your little folks, & believe me nobody can have a more real regard, affection & Friendship for you and your Family than

your Affectionate Brother & real Friend


R Townshend


Ps Since I wrote this the Lt Governor of New England writes the Army & Fleet were all well at Louisburg June ye 3d & expected to sail up the River on the 12th  Adml Durrell has been successful & sent in four Prises. we have no doubts of success. our Army Crosses the Lake in this month or early the next. the Enemy have got up the River a few merchtmen with Provisions & one Frigate before the Adml arrived at his station. they are of no consequence".

 


Roger Townshend served as an adjutant general to General Jeffery Amherst, the commander-in-chief of the British army in North America. Six weeks after Townshend wrote this letter, Amherst commanded a British assault on the French at Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. Townshend was killed while reconnoitering the French lines at Ticonderoga. General Amherst wrote in his journal, “Colonel Townshend killed by a Cannon ball. The loss of a friend is not made up by all the success that a Campaign can give to ones self personally—villain métier, celle du soldat.”

 


Meanwhile, General James Wolfe (1727-1759) commanded an expedition of 9,000 men from Halifax up the St. Lawrence River against Quebec. His three brigadiers were Robert Monckton, George Townshend, and James Murray. On September 13, 1759, the British army attacked the French defenders on the Plains of Abraham southwest of the city. When Wolfe was killed and Monckton was wounded during the battle, the command of the entire army fell to Townshend. He received Quebec City’s surrender on September 18, 1759.

 


George Townshend held Wolfe in contempt and drew a series of caricatures of him, which were not published until the twentieth century. He also criticized the commanding general. However, Wolfe was a popular hero in England. When Townshend returned to England, he was harshly criticized for his treatment of his martyred former commander. He wrote of his brother, “What a Bouquet this had been a year or two hence for poor Roger…. I assure you I return thoroughly wounded from America. I loved him sincerely.


Roger Townshend (1731-1759) was the fifth son of third Viscount Townshend. He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1756 and was adjutant-general at Louisbourg in 1758. By 1759, he served as deputy adjutant general, with the rank of colonel. He was killed in action by a cannon-ball at the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga on July 25, 1759. His grieving mother erected a monument (pictured at right) to Col. Townshend in Westminster Abbey in 1761.

 


Charlotte Compton, 15th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley (c. 1727-1770) was the only surviving child of the 5th Earl of Northampton. The barony of Ferrers of Chartley had fallen into abeyance when her mother, the 14th Baroness died in 1741, but in 1749, the abeyance was terminated, and she became the 15th Baroness. In December 1751, she married George Townshend, with whom she had eight children.

 


George Townshend (1724-1807) was the son of third Viscount Townshend, and he entered the British army at an early age. In 1751, he married Charlotte Compton, 15th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley. After service in Canada as a brigadier general in 1759, Townshend returned to England, where he rose to the rank of field marshal in the army and master-general of ordnance. In 1764, he succeeded his father as fourth Viscount Townshend, and in 1787, he was created Marquess Townshend.


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