RULING ON PAYMENT FOR A SUPPLIER OF LOGS FOR FORT MCHENRY,; as recorded in a secretarial autograph document, signed by Kersey as commander at the fort and two of his junior officers, Lt. J. Freemer and Capt. J. Wade, at Fort McHenry, 22 September 1798.
Folio. (2) pp. Folded; separated along a horizontal fold, else very good. Item #37642
When the Spanish abandoned their outpost, Fort Nogales, near present day Vicksburg, a group of soldiers from the 3rd Regiment of the U.S. Army occupied it, renaming the post Fort McHenry, in honor of the Secretary of War (probably unaware that a Fort McHenry was being established at Baltimore, as well). A few years later, the Americans abandoned the fort when their post was moved to the site of present day Vicksburg. In this document Kersey and his colleagues authorize payment to Anthony Glass for 137 picquets delivered to the fort, for his work in cutting and hauling them, and for his work in cutting down others, "not hauled to the bank of the river". Picquets were "long, pointed stakes employed in palisades or stockades" (ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA). Manuscript material from this early period of Mississippi history rarely appears on the market.
Price: $1,250.00