Description:

Revolutionary War
Boston, MA, August 1, 1775
Petition to Thomas Gage Concerning a Ship Captured Just Weeks After Bunker Hill
MD

Two pages with integral blank, 10.2" x 15.3"; Boston, Massachusetts; August 1, 1775. A petition made to Thomas Gage by memorialist Alexander Brymer on behalf of Archibald Buchanan and George Mathews requesting a new valuation for cargo seized from the merchant ship Peggy in May 1775. The ship had been mistakenly captured by James Wallace in command of the HMS Rose, weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. By way of this petition, Buchanan and Mathews (both Loyalist merchants from Maryland) request that Gage either allow for a re-evaluation of the cargo value or "allow your memorialist to reclaim the Cargo to dispose of it for the use of the [British] army & navy." Flattened folds and creasing, with a few points of paper loss at fold intersections. One-inch tear at gutter not affecting any words. Long annotation in pencil on the back of the blank integral. Good content illustrating the confusion in the early days of American Revolutionary War.

The memorialist explains that the Peggy was laden with "Flour, Indian Corn & Wheat consigned to Cork in the Kingdom of Ireland to the order of the House or Firm of Wallace, Davidson & Johnson of the City of London" but was "met with head winds & proving short of wood & water and having sprung her main top mast & met with other Damages so as to render proceeding on her Voyage dangerous & unsafe." The Master of the Peggy decided to proceed to Newport, Rhode Island for repairs and upon reaching the port, the ship "was seized by James Wallace Esq Commander of His Majesty's Ship Rose, & by his order conducted into this Port of Boston the beginning of last June & no Person having at that Time Power to dispose of the Cargo."

In the weeks following the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, James Wallace was ordered to cruise the New England coast to intercept vessels suspected of supplying the rebel forces surrounding Boston. He began regular patrols in and around Narragansett Bay and off Newport, Rhode Island, stopping and searching merchant ships and seizing cargo thought to be for aid of the colonial cause.

Baltimore merchants Archibald Buchanan and George Mathews petitioned British authorities, arguing that the goods had been lawfully traded and were not intended to aid the colonial rebellion. To mitigate their losses and demonstrate their loyalty to the Crown, they requested that the cargo either be revalued at a fair market price or used by British military forces. Such petitions were common during the early stages of the Revolutionary War, when merchants sought compensation by emphasizing that their property could serve British logistical needs and that its seizure had resulted from wartime suspicion rather than deliberate support for the insurgency.

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: 10.2" x 15.3"
  • Medium: MD

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