Apr 17, 2012 - Sale 2276

Sale 2276 - Lot 20

Price Realized: $ 3,840
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
AMERICA'S FIRST CHIEF ENGINEER GRIDLEY, RICHARD. Brief Autograph Letter Signed, "Rich'd Gridley," as Colonel in the Continental Army, to "Hon'ble Gent'n": "It is highly necessary that a painter be employd to paint all the carriages for cannon & mortars, canvas for ammunition carts, bell tents, covering for ammunition boxes &c &c." 1 page, on an irregularly trimmed slip about 2 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches; partial docketing and calculations on verso. Cambridge [MA], 3 July 1775

Additional Details

Richard Gridley of Boston was a 65-year-old artillery veteran from King George's War who was one of the more experienced officers in the early Continental Army. He was wounded at Bunker Hill, and wrote this note two weeks later while helping direct the Siege of Boston. That same day, George Washington arrived in Boston; he would soon appoint Gridley as the young army's first Chief Engineer.