(WAR OF 1812) Letter from a sailor aboard the USS Sylph

Sale 2404 - Lot 277

Price Realized: $ 469

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Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000

"WE EXPECT TO PLAY SOM REAL YANKEY TRICKS" (WAR OF 1812.) Letter from a sailor aboard the USS Sylph. Manuscript letter to friend Tom, apparently an unsigned retained draft, possibly incomplete. 2 pages on one sheet, 12 x 8 inches; folds, worn with numerous emendations and ink burns. (MRS) [Near Sackett's Harbor, NY], circa August 1813

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The unnamed author announces that he will sail aboard the new schooner Sylph in the Lake Ontario fleet: "She is the modle of Gov Tompkins, privateer, and we expect to play som real Yankey tricks in her, as she can sail verry fast. She is commanded by Cap. [Melancthon T.] Woolsey, who has been on this lake 4 or 5 years in the brig Oneida. He is as clever and brave a man as ever floated. . . . In a few days we will . . . show our faces on the lake again, but I hope we shall look at Sir James with more firmness than before. . . . I say, Tom, it will be fine sport when the two fleets meet and play ball." He also mentions the proximity of Watertown, NY and Kingston, ON.