Description:

OLIVER DELANCEY PROVIDES A PASS TO ENTER THE NEW YORK LINES
OLIVER DELANCEY, JR. (1749-1822) Loyalist officer during the Revolutionary War who replaced John Andre as Adjutant-General in North America after Andre's execution in the Benedict Arnold treason affair. He remained in the British Army after the war, rising to the position of Lieutenant General and Barrack Master General. He also served in Parliament. Manuscript D.S. "Ol DeLancey" 1p. legal folio, [New York], Jan. 24, 1783. A pass permitting General Washington's aide-de-camp, William S. Smith, to bring money to Massachusetts prisoners held by the British in New York City in the final months of war. The document grants: "Permission ... to Lieut Colonel W.S. Smith, Mr. Merrit and Colonel Smith's Servant to come to Paulus Hook from whence they are to be forwarded to the House of Mr. Dunant Deputy Commissary of Prisoners at New York. By order of the Commander in Chief..." Although Cornwallis had surrendered Yorktown in 1781, the British maintained firm control of New York City and would for the next two years until they eventuated the city in November 1783 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Until then, passes were required for individuals to cross British and American lines, and both sides were still essentially ready for further engagement. In this order, Carleton's Adjutant General, Oliver DeLancey, Jr., issues a pass and directs subordinate officers to allow three Americans to come to Paulus Hook, N.J., still in British hands, where they would be taken to the office of the Deputy Commissary of Prisoners in New York. Washington had written to William Stephens Smith on January 2, 1783: "Capt Merrit…the bearer of this has permission from the Executive of…Massachusetts to go into New York for the purpose of delivering some Money to our Naval Prisoners". Washington desired him to "facilitate the execution of this business". It seems clear that DeLancey's pass was a direct response to this mission, and that Smith accompanied Merrit to New York. More than eleven thousand American prisoners died from disease and malnutrition on the infamous British prison ships that stood in the East River during the war.

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January 20, 2010 10:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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