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Lot 252
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Lachlan McIntosh ALS to Genl Benjamin Lincoln "moving my Family to some place of safety"
Lachlan McIntosh ALS to Genl Benjamin Lincoln "moving my Family to some place of safety"
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Description:

Lachlan McIntosh
Goose Creek, SC, February 15, 1780
Lachlan McIntosh ALS to Genl Benjamin Lincoln "moving my Family to some place of safety"
ALS
An autograph letter signed by the Revolutionary War General who killed Button Gwinnett in a duel. 1p, measuring 7" x 8.75", Goose Creek, South Carolina, dated February 15, 1780. Signed "Lach'n McIntosh," and addressed to Major General Benjamin Lincoln. McIntosh informs the general of his movements while trying to get his family to a place of safety during the war. The letter has been tipped to a slightly larger sheet. With toning, minor soiling, and ink smudging throughout. Large and bold signature.

In full:

"It may not be improper for me to inform you that I am thus far on my way moving my Family to some place of safety beyond Santee that I may at Liberty to act when required. I think I shall cross at Murray's Ferry, therefore any orders you will please to send will find me on that Road. As I was not Honored with an answer by the return of the young gentleman by whom I wrote to you last, & could get no certain answ'r, I thought the common Reports too alarming to make any longer stay at Ponpon. I will be much obliged to you for any intelligence you can send by the bearer"

In 1779, Washington ordered McIntosh to return to the South to join General Benjamin Lincoln in Charleston, where he commanded the 1st and 5th South Carolina regiments during the siege of Savannah. After the battle, he retired to Charleston where he remained to defend the city from the British Army. On May 12, 1780, three months after this letter was written, General Lincoln was forced to surrender the city to British General Henry Clinton, and McIntosh was taken prisoner. He would remain in captivity until he was exchanged on February 9, 1782, for Charles O'Hara.

Lachlan McIntosh (1725-1806) was a Scottish American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States. McIntosh's family moved to Georgia and founded the town of New Inverness at the mouth of the Altamaha River. In 1748, McIntosh moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he took a position as a clerk for Henry Laurens, a wealthy merchant and slaveholder. Laurens became a lifelong friend and mentor. He moved back to Georgia and by 1770 had become a leader in the independence movement in Georgia. On January 7, 1776, McIntosh was commissioned as a colonel in the Georgia Militia. He raised the 1st Georgia Regiment of the Georgia Line, organized the defense of Savannah, and helped repel a British assault at the Battle of the Rice Boats in the Savannah River. He was soon promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Continental Army and charged with defense of Georgia's southern flank from British incursions from Florida.

Between 1776 and 1777, McIntosh became embroiled in a bitter political dispute with Button Gwinnett, the Speaker of the Georgia Provisional Congress and a radical Whig leader. Their personal rivalry began when McIntosh succeeded Gwinnett as commander of Georgia's Continental Battalion in early 1776. Gwinnett, thwarted in his military ambitions, became a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He then began purging the government and the military of his political rivals, including George McIntosh, Lachlan's brother, who had opposed Gwinnett's election. Gwinnett had George arrested and charged with treason against the revolution. Gwinnett had also ordered Lachlan McIntosh to lead a poorly planned military expedition into British Florida. The operation was a disaster; and Gwinnett and Mcintosh publicly blamed each other for the failure. On May 1, 1777, McIntosh addressed the Georgia assembly and denounced Gwinnett in the harshest terms, calling him a "scoundrel and lying rascal." Gwinnett sent a written challenge to McIntosh demanding an apology or satisfaction. McIntosh refused to apologize, and Gwinnett challenged him to a duel. On May 16, in a field owned by James Wright a few miles east of Savannah, Gwinnett and McIntosh met to duel with pistols. Gwinnett was hit in the thigh while McIntosh was struck in the leg. McIntosh would recover from his wounds, but Gwinnett's wound was mortal and he died three days later. Gwinnett's allies had McIntosh charged with murder, but he was acquitted in the ensuing trial.

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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  • Dimensions: 8.25" x 11"
  • Medium: ALS

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