Lot 164
1776 (Jul. 13) Lancaster Pa. to York County Pa., folded letter datelined "In Committee, Lancaster 13th of July 1776", endorsed "p Express" and "On publick Business / Wm. Atlee Chairman of Committe Lancaster", carried by military express to Brigadier General James Ewing; aging, Fine.
Estimate 7,500 - 10,000
The letter, dated nine days after the Declaration of Independence, reports that Congress has given the Committee the responsibility for guarding captured soldiers, and provides direction on how this responsibility is to be met.
The letter starts, "We this moment received a letter from Congress with the resolves of that honourable body directing & impowering this Committee to keep a guard over the Prisioners in the Barracks of this place, and to surround the said Barracks with a stockade fort - accompanied by a resolve which shows that the prisoners (privates) who are at Reading are to be removed here…" The Congressional letter from John Hancock dated July 12, and the resolve from Congress dated July 10 are copied into the letter.
The Continental Army established a military express, similar in concept to the Pony Express, between military headquarters in York, Pa. and Philadelphia. This may well be the earliest usage.
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| Realized $8,000 |
