Nov 21, 2024 - Sale 2687

Sale 2687 - Lot 272

Price Realized: $ 531
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(GUADELOUPE.) Robert Melville. Letter describing the final weeks of Britain's conquest of the island from France. Autograph Letter Signed as lieutenant governor of Guadeloupe to John Barrington, Major General in command of British forces in the West Indies. 3 pages, 8¾ x 7¼ inches, on one folding sheet with docketing on final blank; moderate dampstaining; wear along one fold with slight loss of text; no postal markings. Fort Royal [Basse Terre], Guadeloupe, 22 April 1759
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As part of the Seven Years War, the British landed on the island of Guadeloupe in January 1759, and soon took hold of key defenses including the French Fort Saint-Charles in Basse Terre, which the British renamed Fort Royal (it is now known as Fort Delgrès). The French held out in other portions of the island. Melville reported to his superior:

"The state of the garrison . . . is rather healthier. The enemy threw shell on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday with pretty good aim from one mortar. . . . They have been silent since, but seem very busy in prolonging an entrenchment. . . . Some of their Negro deserters report that they have 4 or 5 mortars & ammunition, with shells in abundance." Also discusses "the scheme of attacking & destroying the battery at Vieux Fort," a French stronghold at the southern tip of Guadeloupe: "All circumstances considered, of the distance from the fort, the certainty of being discovered on the way to the enemy's battery, the difficulty of landing & reimbarking . . . it is best to delay any attempt 'till a frigate is in the road."

The French governor of Guadeloupe surrendered on 1 May, but the French regained control in the 1763 Treaty of Paris.