Oct 02, 2012 - Sale 2287

Sale 2287 - Lot 470

Price Realized: $ 3,360
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(WAR OF 1812.) Allen, William Henry. Manuscript letter book from the USS Argus. Autograph Letters Signed, retained copies. 6 pages plus many blanks. Folio, original 1/2 calf, moderate wear; last several pages excised; later owner's inscriptions on final extant leaf. Vp, 6 April to 26 May 1813
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Additional Details

William Henry Allen (1784-1813) of Providence, RI was best known as captain of the USS Argus, which wreaked havoc on British shipping off Ireland in July and August of 1813. Allen was killed in a battle with the HMS Pelican on 14 August 1813, and the Argus was captured.
This letter book was kept by Allen as a lieutenant during the early months of his command of the Argus, before its cruise across the Atlantic. It includes Allen's retained copies of ten letters sent from the Argus, along with his transcripts of 2 letters he received from Commodore Stephen Decatur and Peter Curtenius, Marshal of the District of New York. Decatur's 9 April letter orders the Argus to "proceed up Long Island Sound as far as the Race in order to intercept any of the small cruisers of the enemy which may be found there," and granting him discretion to "proceed beyond the Race, should you ascertain that any of her light cruisers are hovering about Montauk Point or Rhode Island." Curtenius inquires about a report that Allen had two British prisoners of war serving aboard the Argus (24 May).
Among the letters sent by Allen are one describing his orders "by command of the President of the U. States requiring that the U.S. Brig Argus be held in readiness to sail at a moment's warning on special service" (14 May) and the case of a suspicious schooner captured under a Swedish flag near New London (10 and 11 April). This volume offers fresh insight into a notable naval officer and his ship in the months before their fateful final mission.