Description:

Revolutionary War
West Greenwich, RI, February 7, 1782
Revolutionary War Battle of Yorktown Soldier's Death Certificate Aboard the Ship Cormorant
ADS

Revolutionary War. Autograph Document Signed, "Dutee Jerauld Capt.", 1p, 7.5" x 4.5", West Greenwich, Rhode Island, February 7, 1782. Docketing at verso. Flattened intersecting folds. Age toning and soiling, with a few scattered stains. Adhesive residue at verso shows through to recto, not affecting text. In very good plus condition.

In full:

"This may Certify that John Pullman a solider in Colo. Olney Reg't Diseast [sic] on Board the Ship Cormorant on the Passage from Yorktown to the Head of Elk."

Captain Dutee Jerauld (1748-c.1801) was a soldier in the Revolutionary War: Ensign 9th Continental Infantry, January 1, 1777; 1st Lieutenant, February 11, 1777; Captain, June 24, 1780. Jerauld transferred to the 1st R.I. January 1781; was retained in Olney's R.I. Battalion May 14, 1781; and resigned June 21, 1782. He participated in the following battles: Siege of Boston 1776, Long Island 1776, New York City 1776, Princeton 1777, Red bank 1777, Siege of Fort Mifflin 1777, Battle of Assunpink Creek 1777, Defense of Philadelphia, 1777-78, Monmouth,1778, Rhode Island 1778, New Jersey 1780, and Yorktown. He was at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-78 with General Washington. Dutee was lost at sea while on a voyage in the British West Indies. The popular and accepted belief is that the date of death was after 1786, and that Dutee concocted a "lost at sea" story to cover up the abandoning of his pregnant wife, and used this story as a smokescreen. Did he stage his own death?

Colonel Jeremiah Olney (1749-1812) was born into an old family from Rhode Island. He formed a company of infantry at the start of the American Revolutionary War. After serving as captain in 1776, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the beginning of 1777. As second-in-command of the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, he fought at Red Bank. After its commander was wounded early in the action, Olney led Varnum's brigade in bitter fighting at Monmouth in June 1778. In 1780, he married the governor's daughter, Sarah Cooke. Later that year he led his regiment in action at Springfield. He moved south in 1781 to lead the Rhode Island Regiment at Yorktown. After the war, Olney helped found the Rhode Island chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati. He supported the Federalist Party and held various civil offices.

HMS Cormorant was probably launched in 1780 at Plymouth, Massachusetts. She was commissioned as the Massachusetts privateer Rattlesnake in 1781. The Royal Navy captured her shortly after she set out on a cruise and purchased her. In November 1781 she carried to England the first news of General Cornwallis's defeat. The Royal Navy registered her under the name Cormorant. In 1783, the Navy renamed her Rattlesnake, paid her off, and sold her in 1786.

The Battle of Yorktown began September 28, 1781, and ended on October 19, 1781, at exactly 10:30 am in Yorktown, Virginia. It was a decisive victory by a combined force of the American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau and a French naval force commanded by the Comte de Grasse over the British Army commanded by British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The siege of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, and led to the surrender of General Cornwallis and the capture of both him and his army. The Continental Army's victory at Yorktown prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.

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: 7.5" x 4.5"
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