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Lot 270
President John Jay of the Continental Congress Conveys an Act to Provide Supplies for British Prisoners and Their Guards
Description:

President John Jay of the Continental Congress Conveys an Act to Provide Supplies for British Prisoners and Their Guards

In this letter, Continental Congress President John Jay conveys an act of the Congress to provide supplies for the Convention Troops captured after the successful Battles of Saratoga two years earlier. Several thousand British, German, and Canadian prisoners were being held near Charlottesville, Virginia.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] JOHN JAY, Manuscript Letter Signed, to Unknown, September 2, 1779, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1 p., 7.5" x 10.5". Docketed on verso; some staining on edge.

Complete Transcript
Philadelphia 2nd September 1779
Sir,
You will receive, herewith enclosed, a copy of an Act of Congress of the 1st Inst, directing the appointment of a deputy for the special purpose of providing for the Convention Troops and their guards.
I have the Honor to be / Sir,
With Esteem & Regard, / Your Most Obedt Servant,
John Jay / Presid

Historical Background
On October 17, 1777, British General John Burgoyne surrendered his army of approximately 5,900 British, German, and Canadian troops after the decisive Battles of Saratoga. The terms of surrender were titled the Convention of Saratoga, which specified that the surrendered soldiers would be sent back to Europe after giving parole that they would not fight again in the conflict. Marched to Cambridge, Massachusetts, the surrendered soldiers spent about one year there, during which some 1,300 escaped. When General Burgoyne refused to give a list and description of all officers to ensure that they did not re-enlist, the Continental Congress revoked the terms of the Convention and determined to keep the prisoners.

In November 1778, the Convention Army began marching south to Charlottesville, Virginia, where it arrived in unusually snowy weather in January 1779. Another 600 men escaped during the march. The remainder were held in barracks under the guard of Lt. Col. Joseph Crockett's Western Battalion. The guards were generally better fed and equipped than other forces, so the letters the prisoners wrote home would describe a strong Continental Army. While the officers fared well and even engaged in social events with local Americans, the common soldiers lived in miserable barracks. Late in 1780, when British forces were active in Virginia, the Convention Army was marched north to Frederick, Maryland, where they were held until the war ended in 1783.

On September 1, 1779, the members of the Continental Congress passed a resolution "That the commissary general of purchases be directed to appoint a deputy, for the special purpose of providing for the troops of the convention of Saratoga and their guards during their stay in Virginia." The Congress also instructed Commissary General of Purchases Jeremiah Wadsworth (1743-1804) of Connecticut to instruct the deputy to "confine his purchases, to places from whence supplies for the armies of these states cannot conveniently be drawn" and to keep the accounts of supplies for the convention troops separate from those purchased for troops of the United States. Wadsworth tendered his resignation in June and urged Congress to appoint a successor. Congress reluctantly accepted Wadsworth's resignation and appointed Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804) of Pennsylvania, Wadsworth's former deputy, as Commissary General of Purchases on December 2, 1779. Robert Forsyth (1754-1794), who was a captain in Henry Lee's Partisan Corps, accepted an appointment as Deputy Commissary General of Purchases in Virginia. Francis Tate, Beverly Winslow, and Joseph Hawkins each served under Forsyth as Assistant Commissaries of Purchases for Albemarle Barracks, where the Convention Army was held, but the turnover was great because of insufficient salaries.

This letter signed by John Jay, the President of the Continental Congress, forwarded a copy of the act of Congress to an unnamed recipient, possibly Commissary General of Purchases Jeremiah Wadsworth or Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson.

On September 25, 1779, Governor Jefferson wrote to Jay from Williamsburg: "The various calamities which during the present year have befallen our crops of wheat, have reduced them so very low as to leave us little more than seed for the ensuing year, were it to be solely applied to that purpose. This country is therefore unable to furnish the necessary supplies of flour for the Convention troops, without lessening by so much as should be purchased, the sowing for another crop."

John Jay (1745-1829) was born in New York City into a prominent merchant family of Huguenot descent, and graduated from King's College (Columbia University) in 1764. After graduation, he became a law clerk for a prominent attorney. Admitted to the bar in 1768, Jay established a law practice in New York City. Initially cautious, Jay became a moderate and then ardent Patriot in the American Revolutionary struggle. He served in the First and Second Continental Congresses. He served in the New York Provincial Congress, where he drafted the 1777 Constitution of New York. His work in New York prevented him from voting on or signing the Declaration of Independence, though he supported it. From 1777 to 1779, he served as Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature. He also served as President of the Continental Congress from December 1778 to September 1779. After being appointed as minister to Spain but refused by the Spanish royal court, Jay helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. He served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1784 to 1789 until Congress changed the name to the Department of State. In 1788, Jay joined Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in authoring the Federalist Papers. Jay's five articles largely dealt with foreign affairs. After declining George Washington's offer of the position of Secretary of State (continuing his earlier service), he accepted Washington's nomination to be the first Chief Justice of the United States, a position he held from 1789 to 1795. Jay was the Federalist candidate for governor of New York in 1792 and received more votes, but technicalities excluded the votes of three counties, giving Democratic-Republican George Clinton the governorship. President Washington sent Jay to England to resolve issues that threatened renewed war. In March 1795, when the Jay Treaty reached Philadelphia, Democratic-Republicans denounced it as a betrayal of American interests, but the Senate narrowly ratified it. While he was in Britain, voters elected Jay in May 1795 as governor of New York. He resigned from the Supreme Court and served as New York governor until 1801, when he refused both a re-nomination as governor and a re-nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. He retired to a farm in Westchester County, New York.

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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