Description:

Monroe James

Monroe Signed Letter on the British Occupation of Maine, 1815

 

Single page signed letter, 7.75" x 9.75".  Written to recto with verso blank. Dated "Department of State, feby 22, 1815", and signed by James Monroe as "Jas Monroe". Discoloration to left edge, minor loss to upper right corner (touching date), expected folds. Lovely strong contrasting ink.

 

An incredible letter signed by James Monroe only two months after the Treaty of Ghent relating to the British occupation at Castine Maine. Although the letter references an enclosure, this piece is no longer present. The Monroe signed letter as Secretary of State was written to General James Miller (Commanding, District … Boston), requesting he forward the enclosed letter from  British Charge d'Affaires Anthony Saint John Baker to the British commanding officer at Castine in Maine. Our research shows numerous exchanges occurred in writing between James Monroe and British Charge d'Affaires Anthony Saint John Baker on the subject matter of British occupation post the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The letter offered here is shown below:

 

"I have the honor to request you to forward without loss of time, by a flag, the enclosed letter from Mr. Baker, the British Charge' d' affaires at this place, to the Commanding officer of His Butannic Majesty's forces at Castine, in the District of Maine. I am with great respect, sir, your obed. Sevt.

Jas Monroe"

 

British occupation in Castine Maine had been a source a contention since 1779, when  a British force led by General Francis McLean arrived off Castine in June 1779, seized the town, and established Fort George and other fortifications in the area.  The state of Massachusetts, of which Maine was then a part, responded by raising a large militia force, which in an operation known as the Penobscot Expedition, disastrously failed in its attempt to dislodge the British. The British established a fort under the command of Campbell. There were about 30 houses in the area. They carried in the American privateers the captured and received trade from British controlled Halifax and New York. Loyalists from the surrounding area flocked to the village. The guide who led the loyalists to the fort was eventually captured and killed by the Americans, under the direction of Wadsworth. A party of 25 Loyalists eventually went to Wadsworth quarters and took him prisoner. Wadsworth eventually escaped on 15 June 1781. The British re-occupied Castine in the War of 1812 from September 1814 to April 1815, again establishing New Ireland. This letter by James Monroe was composed in the midst of this period.



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