Autographs
1776-Dated Commander-in-Chief General Howe's Military Orders After the Battle of Long Island For: "All Them That Have Taken Up Arms Against The King to lay down their Arms and to take the Oath of Allegiance to the King"
(GENERAL WILLIAM HOWE) (1729-1814). British Commander-in-Chief of British Army in North America (1776-1778) who, despite several military successes, failed to destroy the Continental Army and stem the American Revolution.
September 2, 1776-Dated original Revolutionary War, contemporary period True Copy of British Commanding General Howe's express Military Orders given by him just after the Battle of Long Island, New York, 1 page, measures 7.5" x 9", at Huntington (Long Island, New York), Choice Extremely Fine. Manuscript Military Orders stating: "this by Order of Generl Howe By Direction of Oliver D. Lancey." Important orders as issued directly from Commander in Chief General William Howe to Colonel Phineas Fanning "or the Next Commanding Officer." Colonel Phineas Fanning, who had cast his lot with the British Loyalist Tories and, though he was thoroughly hated. This Command Order was issued just days after the British victory in the Battle of Long Island and General George Washington's Continental Army retreat to Harlem Heights - which allowed the British to occupy New York City. General Howe's Orders relayed here to Colonel Fanning direct, in part:
"Huntington - Sept. 2nd 1776. -- ... all the King's Captains or next Commanding Officers of the Militia, in the third Battalion in Suffolk County, to call their Several Companies together... to order them that have taken up Arms against the King to lay down their Arms and to take the Oath of Allegiance to the King and to sign a Note of Submission Disclaiming and Rejecting the orders of Congress...".
Major-General Oliver De Lancey (1718-1785), was a Merchant and British Loyalist Politician and soldier during the American Revolutionary War. His surname is also sometimes written as de Lancey or Delancey. DeLancey, in whose hand these Orders are, was the Commander of a Regiment of British Loyalist New Yorkers in the Battle of Long Island. He joined Sir William Howe on Staten Island in 1776, and he and his brother raised and equipped the three battalions of "DeLancey's Brigade," consisting of fifteen hundred Loyalist volunteers from the Province of New York. He served as the brigade's commanding officer on Long Island. His property was plundered by Patriots in November 1777 and confiscated in October 1779.
These Orders are well written and easily readable in rich brown ink on very clean quality large "British Crown" watermarked laid period paper. Ex: EAHA Auction, March 27, 2010, Lot 186 then selling at $3,540.
Provenance: Collection of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II.
William Howe, in full William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, (born August 10, 1729"died July 12, 1814, Plymouth, Devonshire, England), commander in chief of the British army in North America (1776"78) who, despite several military successes, failed to destroy the Continental Army and stem the American Revolution.
Brother of Adm. Richard Lord Howe, William Howe had been active in North America during the last French and Indian War (1754"63), in which he earned a reputation as one of the army's most brilliant young generals. Sent in 1775 to reinforce Gen. Thomas Gage in the Siege of Boston, he led the left wing in three costly but finally successful assaults in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Assuming "Supreme Command" the following year, Howe transferred his forces southward and captured the strategic port city of New York, severely defeating the Americans at the Battle of Long Island. A competent tactician, he preferred maneuver to battle, partly to conserve scarce British manpower, but also in the hopes of demonstrating British military superiority so convincingly that the Americans would accept negotiation and reconciliation with Britain.
When active operations were resumed in June 1777, Howe moved his troops to the south bank of the Delaware River and won two successive victories over the Americans at the Battle of Brandywine (September) and the Battle of Germantown (October). His next winter was spent in the occupation of Philadelphia. Howe recognized his failure, however, to destroy the modest force of Gen. George Washington, then encamped at nearby Valley Forge.
His Pennsylvania campaign had furthermore exposed the troops of Gen. John Burgoyne in upper New York state and led to the disastrous British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga that fall. Under increasing criticism from the British press and government, Howe resigned his command before the start of operations in 1778.
Returning to England, Howe saw no more active service but held a number of important home commands. He succeeded to the viscountcy on the death of his brother in 1799; upon his own death, without issue, the peerage expired.
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Major-General Oliver De Lancey (September 17, 1718 " October 27, 1785) was a merchant and Loyalist politician and soldier during the American Revolutionary War. His surname is also sometimes written as de Lancey or Delancey.
The son of Etienne Delancey and Anne Van Cortland (Cortlandt), Oliver De Lancey was born on September 17, 1718, in New York City, Province of New York. The De Lancey family was of Huguenot descent. From 1754-1757, De Lancey served as a New York alderman for the Out Ward and was a member of the New York assembly from New York County from 1756-1761.
During the French and Indian War, he was selected by the New York Assembly, with the support of his brother James, then acting Governor, to provide provisions for New York provincial units. During the war, De Lancey commanded the New York Provincial Militia, 1755-1763, and commanded a provincial detachment in the Ticonderoga campaign of 1758. In 1766, De Lancey was one of the judges in the Pendergast case, where the alleged leader of the Dutchess County land rebels was convicted and sentenced to death.
De Lancey was a member of the provincial executive council from 1760 until the American Revolutionary War. In 1768, he allied himself with Isaac Sears and the Sons of Liberty. De Lancey spoke out against the Boston Port Act of 1774 but did not support nonimportation. He was one of the persons responsible for the creation of the Committee of Fifty. In 1773, he was appointed colonel in chief of the Southern Military District.
During the war, De Lancey was a senior officer in the Loyalist irregular military hierarchy. He joined Sir William Howe on Staten Island in 1776, and he and his brother raised and equipped the three battalions of DeLancey's Brigade, consisting of fifteen hundred Loyalist volunteers from the Province of New York. He served as the brigade's commanding officer on Long Island. His property was plundered by Patriots in November 1777 and confiscated in October 1779.
De Lancey left New York for England in 1783 and died on October 27, 1785, in Beverley, Yorkshire.
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Colonel Phineas Fanning, who had cast his lot with the British Loyalist Tories and, though he was thoroughly hated, he stood as buffer between the Whigs and Tories.
New York Tempers were high and prejudices violent, but Phineas Fanning managed to steer a course of loyalty to his King and loyalty to his fellow townsmen of Southold, and by his efforts softened many a blow. So successful was he that he was allowed to retain his lands, although his contemporary, Parker Wickham, was stripped of his estates by a bill of attainder.