Lot 1245

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Description:

MASSACHUSETTS REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER'S LETTER
Good content war-date letter of a Lexington and Concord Minuteman, Pvt. Matthias Bent of Capt. Nathan Drury's (6th) Company, Col. Abner Perry's regiment, 2pp. 8vo., Framingham, Aug. 2, 1780 to his lover Polly Coolidge in Waltham, with integral address leaf. In part: '...I take this Oppertunity to write to you these Lines...I Long to See or here from you to: but as times have turned I have Been unable. I must Inform you that Last friday Night I let out for Rhod island upon the Alarm. I have Been their I Returnd Back Yesterday, and I expect to Let out again tomorrow morning early when I Shall Return God only Knows, but I hope it will not be Long the militia here are are all Gone. I pleased my Self Last Night of paying you a Visit this afternoon but finding my time So Short I thought it would be to hard for me. When at home or abroad I Often think of my Dear friend Polly...I pray you not to forget me entirely though I am but Little worth. I hope you will keep up a good Spirit. Hopeing that we Shall yet Live to Se and Rejoice in each other again...I Shall Return as quick as possible I hope then to Come and Se you again. the Call for Defence of Contry is Loud to every friend of it. I hope you will excuse me for the Present So I Remain your true Lover & friend...' A few toned spots and a repair to address leaf, else very good. Bent, living in Framingham, served as 4th Sergeant in Capt. Simon Edgell's Company which answered the alarm of April 19, 1775 to defend Lexington and Concord. In this instance, he had served for 14 days in the Rhode Island alarm. The arrival of a British fleet, consisting of sixteen ships of war, off Newport in July, 1780, produced a season of alarm throughout the state. The forts and batteries along the shore were manned, and the several companies of militia in the state were dispatched to support them. It was not until the middle of the next month that the enemy's fleet withdrew.

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July 29, 2022 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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$100 $499 $20
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$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
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