Reynolds, John

TRANSMITTING INTELLIGENCE RELATED TO GENERAL [BENJAMIN] LINCOLN'S VICTORY OVER THE BRITISH ARMY IN SOUTH CAROLINA, MAY - JUNE 1779, IN A MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT, SIGNED.

Providence [RI]: June 18, 1779. Single sheet of laid paper, watermarked with a crown and the initials "GR." 32 x 20 cm., approx. 140 words. Old fold lines, old staining, one closed tear at left margin and a few small breaks at folds. Right margin unevenly trimmed. The memorandum, unsigned, dated Providence, June 18th, 1779, with several manuscript corrections and additions reads in part: "Memorandum that General Lincolns Army has gained a compleat Victory over the British Army at South Carolina, the Battle was fought the [inked out date]-th May 1779. The Enemy Attacked the town of Charlestown & was Repulsed Rally'd and Attack'd the 2d Time with a Charg'd Bayonett...." It goes on to report that Gen. Lincoln attacked the rear of the British forces, routing them completely, leaving 1400 killed and wounded, and capturing all their cannon and baggage. "...this Intelligence this moment Arriv'd from Philadelphia by a Gentleman who Left their [sic] Eight Days from this date." A note below this memorandum, likely in Reynolds' hand and signed by him, states: "This Intelligence arived three hours after governor Bowen wrote his letter. I had the above from Gen'l Gates own mouth." Item #66123

John Reynolds, in partnership with Nathaniel Mumford, was appointed agent-clothier by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1777, charged with procuring clothing, blankets, shoes, etc. for the troops Rhode Island was sending to the war effort. Reynolds was a master weaver, a resident of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. He continued to work in the burgeoning textile industry in the state following the conclusion of the war.
In a letter addressed to Gen. Washington from Gen. Gates, dated Providence [RI], May 25, 1779, Gates mentions "an Extract of a letter just received from Carolina. By this it seems, General Lincoln was in a prosperous Situation: I pray Heaven it may be so." The extract he refers to was a letter from Nathaniel Russell & Co. to Clark & Nightingale, written from Charleston on April 28, mentioning that Gen. Lincoln and some 6000 troops had marched six days previous, and were expected to cross the river and attack the enemy, freeing the city "from such Troublesome Neighbours." Rumors were evidently flying reguarding military events and control in the southern states. In other correspondence between Washington and Gates over the next few weeks, they both report hearing of Gen. Lincoln's successes in the South. A letter from Gen. Washington on June 27 underscores the difficulties getting information from South Carolina. Washington notes: "We have still further accounts of the success to the southward; but no official confirmation." Gen. Lincoln's successes proved to be somewhat more modest than the rumors although he did succeed in driving the enemy away from Charleston at the Battle of Stono Ferry. Lincoln and his men had been marching toward Augusta when British Major General Augustine Prevost decided to take advantage of the weakened defenses around Charleston. According to Don Higginbotham's book, "The War of American Independence," [Bloomington, IN: 1977], p.355, Lincoln turned his forces around and "steaming to the rescue, saved the city and after fierce but inconclusive fighting at Stono Ferry below the town, Prevost returned to Savannah." Approximately a year later, following a siege of Charleston by the British army under Cornwallis, Gen. Lincoln surrendered his troops and the city on May 12, 1780. [see: "Records of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England," by John R. Bartlett [Providence: 1863], vol. VIII, 1776-1779; see also Founders Online/ National Archives for correspondence between Washington and Gates, including Gates' letter of June 8, 1779, from Providence, RI (while Gates was serving as Continental commander-in-chief in the Rhode Island department) where the firm of Reynolds & Mumford is mentioned].

Price: $3,500.00