GRIDLEY RICHARD Brief Autograph Letter Signed Richd Gridley

Sale 2483 - Lot 23

Price Realized: $ 1,875

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

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 employed 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; 2 3/4x6 1/4 inches; partial docketing and calculations on verso. Cambridge [MA], 3 July 1775

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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. We trace no other Gridley autographs sold at auction since 1961. Provenance: Allyn Kellogg Ford collection; donated to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1965; sold at Swann's Ford sale, 17 April 2012, lot 20, to the consignor.