MCHENRY JAMES Autograph Letter Signed as aide de camp to Laf

Sale 2276 - Lot 71

Price Realized: $ 5,520

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

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

MCHENRY, JAMES. Autograph Letter Signed, as aide-de-camp to Lafayette, to William Smith, retained draft, hinting at prospects for victory and peace. 2 pages, 8vo, on the recto and verso of a single sheet; edge and folds reinforced on verso, very small inked stamps in lower margin, docketed in lower margin of second page. "Head Quarters" [VA], 30 July 1781

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McHenry wrote this private letter while he was serving on Lafayette's staff. The recipient William Smith (1728-1814) was a Baltimore merchant who had served in the Continental Congress. "We either confine Cornwallis to Williamsburg, or he chuses to confine himself, for he has not once looked abroad for some days. . . . Cornwallis is an old gamester, but we have thrown out so many puzling appearances, that I cannot help believing him puzled. . . . Do not expect that a sudden peace will be the consequence of the European Congress. Expect more from the events of this year, and perhaps you will be less deceived."