?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400
THE U.S. NAVY TORCHES A VILLAGE IN LIBERIA BRIDGE, HORATIO. Autograph Letter Signed to Sen. John Fairfield. 4 pages including integral address leaf, 2 small pinholes, extensive contemporary editor's marks, signature crossed out. Aboard U.S. Ship Saratoga, 17 January 1844
Bridge was captain of the Saratoga, which patrolled the African coast to thwart the slave trade and protect American interests. This letter describes a punitive expedition his crew undertook, in conjunction with Comm. Matthew Perry, against villagers in Liberia who were suspected of murdering the crew of the American schooner Mary Carver. After meeting with resistance, the village was burnt, "the orders of the Commodore being to destroy property but spare life." Bridge later published "The Journal of an African Cruiser," which contains an alternate account of this incident.
In this letter, Bridge also discusses the difficulty of catching slave ships, as he was only allowed to board ships flying the American flag. Regarding the Liberian colonists, he writes: "The colonies of free colored persons on this coast will derive great advantage from the presence of the squadron, for we spend much money among them, and give them countenance and influence with the natives."
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