1778 Revolutionary War Naval Board Request for Cables, Anchors & Cannons
Revolutionary War
Boston, MA, August 27, 1778
1778 Revolutionary War Naval Board Request for Cables, Anchors & Cannons
LS
A Revolutionary War-dated 1p letter signed by two commissioners of the Navy Board of the Eastern Department, James Warren (1726-1808) and John Deshon. August 27, 1778. Boston, Massachusetts. Secretarially inscribed on laid watermarked paper, with the outer leaf serving as an integral address leaf. Docketed on the outer leaf. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, some of which have closed tears. Isolated loss related to the presence of a red wax seal. Isolated ink bleed-through along the left edge recto. Uneven toning verso. Else very good to near fine. 7.5" x 12.25".
The commissioners of the Navy Board of the Eastern Department sent this request for naval equipment to Thomas Mumford, a merchant from Groton, Connecticut.
Transcription, with original usage:
"Navy Board Eastern Department
Boston August 27, 1778
Sir
We have this moment too late for the post received your favour of the 22d Instant We have not bought either Cables on Anchors — Cannon taken out of the English men of war 12-pounders. We have given L600 a pair for, they Kneeling & proving them, we want them here + if you can deliver yours to us as advantageously + they are of equal goodness we will take them, with regard to the Cables + Anchors we wish to know your terms + probably may take them
We are your hum.ble Serv.ts
[signed] J. Warren
[signed] J. Deshon
Mr Tho.s Mumford."
The Navy Board of the Eastern Department was located in Boston, Massachusetts. It included commissioners William Vernon, James Warren, and John Deshon. The Naval Board managed Continental Navy affairs: outfitting and building warships, securing supplies, recruiting crews, issuing sailing orders, and handling naval intelligence.
Thomas Mumford was a merchant from Groton, a thriving community located at the mouth of the Thames River, in southeastern Connecticut. The Mumford Family was locally influential and had established a lucrative shipping trade with the West Indies. Mumford easily transitioned to privateering after the Revolutionary War began. He co-owned vessels like the "Fanny" and the "Hancock" that captured British warships up and down the Eastern Seaboard and in the Caribbean. It was perhaps his very public brand of patriotism that marked Mumford's home for special destruction during Benedict Arnold's raid on nearby New London in 1781.
Although less glamorous than privateering, Thomas Mumford also represented Groton at the Connecticut State Assembly, a position he had held since 1773. So too did Mumford attend Council of Safety meetings. This agency was tasked with supplying troops with "every matter and thing that should be needful." In a similar fashion, Mumford had been selected as Connecticut agent of the Secret Committee of Congress. In these ways, Mumford helped procure essential items such as gunpowder. Connecticut served as the "Provision State" of other colonies, and was heavily relied upon to provide them with food, livestock, arms, and ammunition.
Major General James Warren sat on the Navy Board. He was an American merchant, politician, and military officer. An advocate of colonial resistance to British parliamentary acts during the American Revolution, Warren became a prominent supporter of the Patriot cause, forming a committee of correspondence in Massachusetts. Warren was a delegate to the first Massachusetts Provincial Congress in October 1774. Warren served in a multitude of roles during the Revolutionary War; along with serving as Paymaster-General, he also sat on the naval board of the Continental Navy from 1776 to 1781, and served as a general officer in the Massachusetts Militia for a year until he resigned in 1777. He also served as president of the third Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1780 after his predecessor, Joseph Warren, was kill
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Revolutionary War
Boston, MA, August 27, 1778
1778 Revolutionary War Naval Board Request for Cables, Anchors & Cannons
LS
A Revolutionary War-dated 1p letter signed by two commissioners of the Navy Board of the Eastern Department, James Warren (1726-1808) and John Deshon. August 27, 1778. Boston, Massachusetts. Secretarially inscribed on laid watermarked paper, with the outer leaf serving as an integral address leaf. Docketed on the outer leaf. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, some of which have closed tears. Isolated loss related to the presence of a red wax seal. Isolated ink bleed-through along the left edge recto. Uneven toning verso. Else very good to near fine. 7.5" x 12.25".
The commissioners of the Navy Board of the Eastern Department sent this request for naval equipment to Thomas Mumford, a merchant from Groton, Connecticut.
Transcription, with original usage:
"Navy Board Eastern Department
Boston August 27, 1778
Sir
We have this moment too late for the post received your favour of the 22d Instant We have not bought either Cables on Anchors — Cannon taken out of the English men of war 12-pounders. We have given L600 a pair for, they Kneeling & proving them, we want them here + if you can deliver yours to us as advantageously + they are of equal goodness we will take them, with regard to the Cables + Anchors we wish to know your terms + probably may take them
We are your hum.ble Serv.ts
[signed] J. Warren
[signed] J. Deshon
Mr Tho.s Mumford."
The Navy Board of the Eastern Department was located in Boston, Massachusetts. It included commissioners William Vernon, James Warren, and John Deshon. The Naval Board managed Continental Navy affairs: outfitting and building warships, securing supplies, recruiting crews, issuing sailing orders, and handling naval intelligence.
Thomas Mumford was a merchant from Groton, a thriving community located at the mouth of the Thames River, in southeastern Connecticut. The Mumford Family was locally influential and had established a lucrative shipping trade with the West Indies. Mumford easily transitioned to privateering after the Revolutionary War began. He co-owned vessels like the "Fanny" and the "Hancock" that captured British warships up and down the Eastern Seaboard and in the Caribbean. It was perhaps his very public brand of patriotism that marked Mumford's home for special destruction during Benedict Arnold's raid on nearby New London in 1781.
Although less glamorous than privateering, Thomas Mumford also represented Groton at the Connecticut State Assembly, a position he had held since 1773. So too did Mumford attend Council of Safety meetings. This agency was tasked with supplying troops with "every matter and thing that should be needful." In a similar fashion, Mumford had been selected as Connecticut agent of the Secret Committee of Congress. In these ways, Mumford helped procure essential items such as gunpowder. Connecticut served as the "Provision State" of other colonies, and was heavily relied upon to provide them with food, livestock, arms, and ammunition.
Major General James Warren sat on the Navy Board. He was an American merchant, politician, and military officer. An advocate of colonial resistance to British parliamentary acts during the American Revolution, Warren became a prominent supporter of the Patriot cause, forming a committee of correspondence in Massachusetts. Warren was a delegate to the first Massachusetts Provincial Congress in October 1774. Warren served in a multitude of roles during the Revolutionary War; along with serving as Paymaster-General, he also sat on the naval board of the Continental Navy from 1776 to 1781, and served as a general officer in the Massachusetts Militia for a year until he resigned in 1777. He also served as president of the third Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1780 after his predecessor, Joseph Warren, was kill
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