Lot 219

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Lot 219
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Battle of Johnstown 1781, New York, in Report of Commanding Officer
Battle of Johnstown 1781, New York, in Report of Commanding Officer
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Description:

Battle of Johnstown 1781, New York, in Report of Commanding Officer

The front page of this issue of a Boston newspaper gives Colonel Marinus Willett's account of the Battle of Johnstown, one of the last major battles of the Revolutionary War in the northern theater, occurring less than a week after the British surrender at Yorktown, more than four hundred miles to the south.

The masthead features a Continental soldier holding a sword in one hand and a scroll reading "Independence" in the other. A banner over him reads, "Appeal to Heaven."

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR]. Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser, November 29, 1781 (Vol. XIV, No. 692). Boston: Nathaniel Willis. 4 pp., 9.75" x 14.75". General toning; a few small holes, some repaired with rice paper; very good.

Excerpts
"Eight o'clock, P.M. of the 24th ult. I received advice that a considerable body of the enemy were discovered in the upper part of the Mohawk district; every means was instantly taken to collect the force of the country, in order to oppose them without loss of time, so that by one o-clock, the following day, I was within two miles of Fort-Hunter, with between four and five hundred levies and militia; there I learnt that the enemy, having burnt several houses and barns at Warrensbush, had crossed the river at a ford some distance below, and were marching to Johnstown. This obliged me to cross the river as soon as possible, and march by the shortest route to the place whither they were directing their course. When within two miles of Johnstown, I was informed they were already there, had halted, and were busy in killing cattle belonging to the inhabitants. Thus situated, I was determined to attack them as soon as possible....
"A few minutes brought us in view of them. The troops of this wing were pushed on to a field adjoining to the one possessed by the enemy, where they displayed to the right and advanced in a line towards them, who retired with precipitation to a neighbouring wood, closely pressed by our advance, who began to skirmish with them, while the remainder of the wing was advancing briskly in two columns. In this pleasing situation, without any apparent cause, the whole of this wing turned about and fled, nor was it possible to rally them. A field piece, which was left on a height, at a distance from the wood, to secure a retreat, was abandoned and fell into the hands of the enemy. At this critical period, our left wing commanded by Major Rowley, of the Massachusetts State, and composed of the militia of this county, except about sixty of the levies of the above State, made their appearance in the enemy's rear.
"These soon regained every thing our right wing had lost, and more. Night came on, and the enemy retired into the wood, leaving a great number of their packs behind them. After marching six miles, they encamped on the top of a mountain." (p1/c1-2)

"In this situation I left the unfortunate major Ross; unfortunate I call him; for he was surely so in taking charge of so fine a detachment of men to execute so dirty and trifling a piece of business as he was sent on, at such immense hazard and exquisite toil." (p1/c3)

Historical Background
In April 1781, Marinus Willett was made colonel of the militia, took command of the New York frontier militia, and was charged with defending the Mohawk Valley. In August, Continental troops led by General George Washington and French troops under the command of the Comte de Rochambeau began a march south to trap the British Army of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. Weeks later, a combined raiding party of British regulars, loyalists, and allied Mohawk warriors descended the Mohawk River Valley and attacked Currytown, as they had done in 1780, destroying crops and threatening American supply routes to forts in the area. The British soldiers were led by Major John Ross, and the loyalist militia were led by Walter Butler. In response, Colonel Willett assembled a force of militiamen and began pursuing the raiding party, finally engaging them at Johnstown, approximately forty miles northwest of Albany. Although substantially outnumbered, Willett divided his force, sending a small group around the enemy flank and began an advance with his main force. Although Willett pushed the British back into a forest through an intense fight in which the only artillery piece on the field was repeatedly captured and recaptured, the militia on Willett's right flank suddenly turned and fled in panic. As Willett was attempting to turn his fleeing men, the arrival of his flanking force averted disaster, and the battle continued. Both sides suffered roughly the same number of killed and wounded, but the Americans captured thirty-two prisoners.

As the British retreated toward Lake Oneida, forty of Willett's militia and a group of approximately sixty allied Oneida warriors pursued them, even through a snowstorm. When they caught up with the British near West Canada Creek, loyalist leader Butler was killed in the ensuing skirmish. The Battle of Johnstown was one of the last battles in the northern theater of the Revolutionary War.

Additional Content
This issue also includes continuing international reaction to the American victory at Yorktown (p3/c1-2); and a variety of notices and advertisements, including one for a new book by the pro-British French author Abbé Raynal entitled The Revolution of America (p4/c1). Raynal's book so incensed Thomas Paine that he answered it in his A Letter Addressed to the Abbé Raynal, on the Affairs of North America (1782).

Marinus Willett (1740-1830) served in the militia during the French and Indian War and took part in the expedition to Fort Ticonderoga. As a New York Son of Liberty, he helped confiscate arms from an arsenal and captured British stores at Turtle Bay in the East River. Willett was appointed a captain in the Continental Army and participated in the Invasion of Canada and the Siege of Quebec. After a series of posts throughout New York, in April 1781 he was made a colonel of the New York militia and assigned to the Mohawk Valley. Most of his efforts involved fighting local loyalists and their Native American allies. In February 1783, Washington instructed Willett to take Fort Ontario on the southern shore of Lake Ontario back from the British, but Willett retreated upon determining that he had lost the element of surprise. The fort would remain in British hands until 1796, after the signing of Jay's Treaty. Willett maintained his political alignment with Governor George Clinton and later served in the New York State Assembly, as Sheriff of New York County (1784-1787, 1791-1795), and as the forty-eighth mayor of New York City (1807-1808).

The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (1776-1840) was a weekly, then semi-weekly, newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. Published under various titles in Salem and Cambridge, the newspaper settled in Boston in 1776 as The Independent Chronicle. Later in 1776, it became The Independent Chronicle, and the Universal Advertiser, a title that it carried until 1801. Publishers included Edward E. Powars and Nathaniel Willis (1755-1831). Willis left the Independent Chronicle in 1784 and settled in Virginia and then Ohio, where he published the Scioto Gazette, the first newspaper in the Northwest Territory. Thomas Adams (c. 1757-1799) and John Nourse (ca. 1762-1790) purchased the newspaper in 1784 and published it until Nourse's death. Adams continued publication until 1799, at times with partner Isaac Larkin (d. 1797). Abijah Adams and Ebenezer Rhoades published the newspaper from 1799 to 1817, when others purchased and continued the newspaper.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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