(PENNSYLVANIA) Lee Henry Light Horse Harry Contemporary tran

Sale 2533 - Lot 176

Price Realized: $ 750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(PENNSYLVANIA.) Lee, Henry "Light-Horse Harry." Contemporary transcript of his important Whiskey Rebellion letter. 2 manuscript pages, 12 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, on one leaf plus an integral blank; moderate wear and soiling to the blank. Union Town, PA, 1 November 1794

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An early transcript of one of the key documents of the Whiskey Rebellion. General Henry Lee and his army had gone to western Pennsylvania to squash the rebellion. He met with a committee of prominent citizens who informed him that the rebels, faced with this overwhelming force, were prepared to submit to civil authority. Lee here expresses concern that the moment his militia returned eastward, "the reign of anarchy will return." He thus announces his intention to settle in for the long haul, "to hold the army in this country untill daily practice shall convince all that the sovereignty of the Constitution and laws is unalterably established" and "proceed to some central and convenient station, where I shall patiently wait until the competency of the civil authority is experimentally and unequivocally proved." He concludes with a request to "assure your fellow citizens that we come to protect and not to destroy, and that our respect for our common government, and respect to our own honor, are ample pledges of propriety in our demeanor." This transcript has a few minor differences from the published versions of the letter ("anarchy" for "violence and anarchy," "proved" for "approved" in the above quotes, for example). It remains unclear who transcribed the present example, but it clearly dates from the late 18th century. Certainly, the contents of Lee's letter would have been of wide interest to the inhabitants of southwestern Pennsylvania at that time.