Mar 10, 2020 - Sale 2533

Sale 2533 - Lot 252

Price Realized: $ 4,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(WAR OF 1812.) Synopsis of Artillery Drill for Battering Pieces, as Practised by the New-England Guards and Boston Sea Fencibles. Illustrated broadside, 18 x 14 1/2 inches; folds, moderate wear, laid down on rice paper and stabilized; early military gift inscription in lower margin. Boston: West & Blake, 29 August 1814
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Additional Details

This detailed guide to artillery practice features a diagram of a battering gun, and a detailed table of the steps to be taken by each of its 10 gunners and aides upon the utterance of each of 11 commands, from "Prepare to unlimber!," to "Load!" to "Fire!" to "Limber up!" and "Secure implements!" Two manuscript corrections have been made to the table, which initially had the 4th aide on the left working at cross purposes with his compatriots. A table of the necessary implements and their placement is also included. None traced in OCLC, at auction or elsewhere, and possibly unique.
The gift inscription is interesting in its own right: "Capt. John Gladding, commanding Fort William Henry at Field's Point, from John R. Chase, major, Cadet Company." This fort was built near the southeastern corner of Providence, RI in 1812 as part of the larger Fort Independence complex, guarding the river approach to the city against British attacks. The fort was renovated into a lovely park in 1937--and then dynamited in 1942 to make way for a new naval shipyard.