Jun 21, 2018 - Sale 2483

Sale 2483 - Lot 10

Unsold
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
APPLYING AS PRISONER OF WAR TO BRITISH GENERAL CLINTON FOR RELAXED PAROLE CLARKSON, MATTHEW. Autograph Letter Signed, "M. Clarkson Major," to British General Henry Clinton, retained draft, appealing for a change in the terms of his parole. 1 page, folio; moderate loss at upper edge and fold intersections with minor loss to text expertly repaired with paper, complete separations at folds repaired verso with tissue, faint staining at folds from previous inexpert repair, two lines of text struck out, docketing verso in his hand. Philadelphia, 28 July 1780

Additional Details

"As the Commissioner of Prisoners informs me that no exchange will soon take place I am to entreat of your Excellency the enlargement of my Parole which at present confines me to Pensilvania [sic]. General Lincoln to whom I was an aid is in New England. It is his wish & mine that I may be with him, and as no ill consequence can follow to the arms of His Britannick Majesty I have a confidence in your Excellecies Indulgence that the general Parole usually given to Prisoners in my situation may be extended to me. . . ."
On May 12, 1780, at the end the Siege of Charleston, Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered his garrison to the British, making Matthew Clarkson a prisoner of war. He was exchanged in February of the following year, becoming Lincoln's aide-de-camp, and witnessing the surrender of Yorktown in October.