Mar 15, 2012 - Sale 2273

Sale 2273 - Lot 344

Price Realized: $ 5,760
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
JAMES MONROE ON THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON (WAR OF 1812.) Monroe, James. Draft letter to the local militia commander in the wake of the Burning of Washington. Autograph Letter as Secretary of State to John Peter Van Ness, major general of the Washington militia. One page, 10 x 8 inches; minor edge wear, docketing and mount remnants on verso. Np, 12 November 1814
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As the British landed on the Chesapeake and made their way toward Washington, the head of the Washington militia John Peter Van Ness was not called up for active duty. He offered his resignation over the perceived slight on 20 August. When the British attacked Washington four days later, he nonetheless volunteered his services. The federal government never got around to handling his resignation letter, what with the burning of the White House and other inconveniences. Finally, on 12 November, Secretary of State Monroe sent this response, refusing to accept his resignation and praising his work.
In full: "Sir, I am instructed to state, that your resignation of the command of the militia of this district, as M[ajor] G[eneral] has not been accepted, and that it would be satisfactory to the President that you should resume it. That you were not called into service with the troops of the district did not proceed from a want of respect for your merit, which is acknowledged, but from the impossibility of doing it, at the time, without displacing the commander of the district, from which the most serious injury was apprehended, the enemy having just landed at Benedict, and being on his march for this city. Great confidence is entertained in your patriotism, zeal in support of the cause of your country, and fitness for the trust regarding your comparative experience, with that of others of our fellow citizens, in active service. I add, with pleasure, that your conduct, after presenting your resignation, & particularly in joining our troops as a volunteer on the day of action at Bladensburg, has increased these favorable impressions."
This draft letter is not signed by Monroe, but it is in his hand, and a slightly revised version has been published under his name in the American State Papers V:I, page 583.