Description:

Boudinot Elias 1740 - 1821

Revolutionary War patriot and member of Continental Congress Elias Boudinot signed 1777 letter.

Single page ALS on laid paper, 7.25" x 9.25". Dated "York Town Dec 23rd 1777". And signed by Elias Boudinot in full signature "Elias Boudinot" as Commissioner General of Prisoners (Com Genl of Pris). Page is toned with ragged loss to right margin with areas missing which affect text. Expected folds with scattered handling marks and/or staining. The page has strong contrasting ink with a lovely bold signature.

Boudinot became a prominent lawyer, and as the revolution drew near, he aligned with the Whigs, and was elected to the New Jersey provincial assembly in 1775. In the early stages of the Revolutionary War, he was active in promoting enlistment; several times he loaned money to field commanders to purchase supplies. Boudinot helped support the activities of rebel spies. After the British occupation of New York City, spies were sent to Staten Island and Long Island, New York to observe and report on movements of specific British garrisons and regiments.

On May 5, 1777, General George Washington asked Boudinot to be appointed as commissary general for prisoners. Congress through the board of war concurred. Boudinot was commissioned as a colonel in the Continental Army for this work. He served until July 1778, when competing responsibilities forced him to resign. The commissary managed enemy prisoners, and also was responsible for supplying American prisoners who were held by the British. Boudinot pens as shown in part below:

"I wrote you lately to send in all the official Prisoners with you to New York, I am now by order of Congress to require you to keep back any Captains of .. Of war that may be in your state and also such officers as have been taken since your return to me of the 3 July last and who belong to the new (illegible) raised in this country or the Militia ..."

In November 1777, the New Jersey legislature named Boudinot as one of their delegates to the Second Continental Congress. His duties as Commissary prevented his attendance, so in May 1778 he resigned. By early July he had been replaced and attended his first meeting of the Congress on July 7, 1778. As a delegate, he still continued his concerns for the welfare of prisoners of war. His first term ended that year. In 1781, Boudinot returned to the Congress, for a term lasting through 1783. In November 1782, he was elected as President of the Continental Congress for a one-year term. The President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require him to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. On April 15, 1783 he signed the Preliminary Articles of Peace. When the United States government was formed in 1789, Boudinot was elected from New Jersey to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to the second and third congresses as well, where he generally supported the administration. He refused to join the expansion of affiliated groups that formed formal political parties.

A lovely bold example of Boudinot's signature while acting as Commissioner General of Prisoners.

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