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Early Republic (1784 - c.1830) |
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Director of Ordnance on Loan of Gunpowder to DuPont and Private Individuals; forwards Copy of Prior Letter Informing Secretary of War John Calhoun of his Objection
DECIUS WADSWORTH,
Autograph Letter Signed, to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, February 10, 1821, Washington, D.C. 2 pp., 8 x 10 in.
[With] DECIUS WADSWORTH, Autograph Letter Signed, to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, July 18, 1818, [ca. February 10, 1821, Washington, D.C.]. Marked “copy.” 2 pp., 8 x 10 in.
“The loaning of Munitions of War, in such large quantities from our Magazines and Arsenals is viewed by me as highly impolitic and hazardous; and it is hardly necessary for me to add, that I have had no agency in the Transaction.”
Item #23067.06, $1,000
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First Army Chief of Ordnance Rails against Military Waste in a Very Modern Essay
DECIUS WADSWORTH,
Autograph Document Signed, critique of Senate bill to combine Ordnance and Artillery departments, ca. 1821. 7 pp., 8½ x 12½ in.
[with] DECIUS WADSWORTH, Autograph Document Signed, proposal regarding Ordnance Department, ca. 1821. 3 pp., 8 x 10 in. #23067.04
[with] [JAMES MADISON]. An act for the better regulation of the Ordnance Department, passed by Congress, February 8, 1815, signed in type by President James Madison, Speaker of the House Langdon Cheves, and Senate President pro tem John Gaillard. 2 pp., 7⅞ x 9⅝ in.
“The Idea that an Army shall be entitled to receive whatever may be called for, is monstrous, and is what the Resources of no Nation can support.”
Colonel Wadsworth provides a lengthy critique of a Senate bill to combine the Ordnance and Artillery departments. He insists on the need to maintain uniformity in arms manufacture and the necessity to control the flow of supplies. Many of his arguments about the tendency to waste in military expenditures resonate with modern critiques.
Item #23067.03, $1,000
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James Madison’s Second Inaugural Address,
in a Rare New York Irish Newspaper
[JAMES MADISON],
Newspaper. The Shamrock, or, Hibernian Chronicle, New York, N.Y., March 13, 1813. Madison’s second inaugural address begins on p. 2 and concludes on p. 3. 4 pp., 12 x 19 in.
“On the issue of the war are staked our national sovereignty.”
Item #30001.01, $1,000
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Jonathan Williams - First Superintendent of West Point and First Head of the Army Corps of Engineers - Assesses New York Harbor Defenses
JONATHAN WILLIAMS,
Autograph Letter Signed, to Richard Whiley, December 1, 1809, New York. 2 pp., 7¾ x 10 in.
As Commander of the Corps of Engineers, Jonathan Williams planned and supervised the construction of New York Harbor’s defenses. In this letter to the commander of Fort Columbus on Governors Island, Williams gives a detailed report on the state of the fortifications and their capacity for additional artillery.
Item #23067.02, $1,100
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Receipt for Jewelry for Rachel Jackson
[RACHEL JACKSON],
Manuscript Document Signed by the recipients, January 10, 1828, New Orleans, Louisiana. 1 p., 6¾ x 7⅞ in.
In January 1828, a well-known Connecticut jeweler and watchmaker who had established a business in New Orleans supplied jewelry purchased by or for Rachel Jackson.
Item #26377.03, $1,250
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Elisha Boudinot: Vermont Voters Disgraced Themselves by Reelecting a Congressman Who Was Jailed for Violating the Sedition Act
ELISHA BOUDINOT,
Autograph Letter Signed, to Governor Isaac Tichenor, February 12, 1799, “New Ark,” N.J. 1 p., 8 x 12¾ in. With integral address leaf (half missing). ,
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