(COLONIAL WARS) The London Gazette Extraordinary

Sale 2432 - Lot 142

Price Realized: $ 3,000

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Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

(COLONIAL WARS.) The London Gazette Extraordinary. 2 pages, 12 x 7 1/2 inches, on one sheet; light folds, inked revenue stamp in upper corner; uncut. London, 30 October 1755

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The first printing of Sir William Johnson's 9 September letter written the day after the bloody Battle of Lake George in the French and Indian War. It was perhaps the most important contemporary account of the battle. Johnson had given Lake George its name just 12 days earlier when he arrived at its southern tip and seized it from French control. He led the British and his Mohawk allies against a withering French counter-attack, suffering a serious wound in his thigh. His side's most serious losses came in a scouting expedition which preceded the main battle, in which "the Indians say, near 40 of their People, who fought like Lions, were all slain." Johnson was made a baronet for his role in the battle, and went on to serve as British Superintendent of Indian Affairs until his death in 1774.