The United States Navy
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CATALOGUE TWO HUNDRED NINETY-ONE The United States Navy WILLIAM REESE COMPANY 409 Temple Street New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 789-8081 A Note This catalogue is devoted entirely to material relating to the United States Navy from its beginnings in the American Revolution. It is arranged chronologically. The catalogue is dedicated to two people: My father, Lieut. Commander William B. Reese, who spent four years in the Pacific theatre in World War II, and whose 100th birthday is the day I write this note. Former Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf II, one of the greatest collectors of Americana and naval Americana of the last half century, and a great American. William Reese Available on request or via our website are our recent catalogues 282, Recent Acquisi- tions in Americana; 283, American Presidents; 284, Latin American Independence; 285, The English Colonies in North America 1590-1763; 287, Western Americana; 288, The Ordeal of the Union; and 290, The American Revolution 1765-1783; as well as Bulletin 21, American Cartography; Bulletin 22, Evidence; Bulletin 24, Provenance, and many more topical lists. Some of our catalogues, as well as some recent topical lists, are now posted on the Internet at www.reeseco.com. A portion of our stock may be viewed via links at www. reeseco.com. If you would like to receive e-mail notification when catalogues and lists are uploaded, please e-mail us at [email protected] or send us a fax, specifying whether you would like to receive the notifications in lieu of or in addition to paper catalogues. Terms Material herein is offered subject to prior sale. All items are as described and are con- sidered to be on approval. Notice of return must be given within ten days unless specific arrangements are made. Connecticut residents must be billed state sales tax. Postage and insurance charges are billed to all nonprepaid domestic orders. Overseas orders are sent by air unless otherwise requested, with full postage charges billed at our discretion. Payment by check, wire transfer or bank draft is preferred, but may also be made by MasterCard or Visa. William Reese Company Phone: (203) 789-8081 409 Temple Street Fax: (203) 865-7653 New Haven, CT 06511 E-mail: [email protected] www.williamreesecompany.com FRONT COVER: 94. [Dale, John B.]: [Sketches of a Cruise Around the World...]. 1845. REAR COVER: 95. Marshall, David E.: [Illustrated Journals of an American Sailor...]. [ca.1845-65]. The Gaspee Incident: The Attack on a British Naval Vessel Which Helped Spark the Revolution 1. [American Revolution Broadside]: George III, King of England: BY THE KING. A PROCLAMATION: FOR THE DISCOVERING AND APPREHENDING THE PERSONS WHO PLUNDERED AND BURNT THE GASPEE SCHOONER; AND BARBAROUS- LY WOUNDED AND ILL TREATED LIEUTENANT WILLIAM DUDINGSTON, COMMANDER OF THE SAID SCHOONER. [Newport, R.I.]: Solomon Southwick, Aug. 26, 1772 [printed ca. Dec. 14, 1772]. Broadside, 16 5/8 x 11 inches. Woodcut seal of George III. Ornamental rule above the imprint. Expert restoration along old folds. Very good. The so-called Gaspee Incident can well be considered the beginning of the naval aspect of the American Revolution – the Boston Tea Party of the sea. This is the very rare reward poster for the capture of the revolutionaries who burned the Gaspee, the most important armed insurrection prior to Lexington and Concord. The H.M.S. Gaspee was sent to the waters of Narragansett Bay in March 1772 to halt smugglers who were avoiding customs duties. The commander of the Gaspee, Lieut. Dudingston, was particularly hated by the colonists because of his abuse of power and harassment of innocent merchants. On June 9, 1772 sailors from the Gaspee attempted to board the sloop Hannah, even though it had already reported its cargo to the Customs House. For several hours the Gaspee gave chase, while the Hannah deftly avoided capture. Eventually the Gaspee ran aground on a shal- low sand bar. Immediately word spread across Providence, and a group of angry colonists laid plans for an attack on the helpless vessel. In a night time raid the colonists shot Dudingston, captured the crew, and set fire to the ship. The text of the broadside reads as follows: A PROCLAMATION: For the discovering and apprehending the persons who plundered and burnt the Gaspee schooner, and barbarously wounded and ill-treated Lieutenant William Dudingston, commander of the said schooner. Whereas, we have received information that upon the 10th day of June last, between the hours of twelve and one in the morning, in the Providence or Narragansett river, in our colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a great number of persons, armed with guns and other offensive weapons, and led by two persons, who were called the captain and head sheriff, in several armed boats, attacked and boarded our vessel called the Gaspee schooner, then lying at single anchor in the said river, commanded by our Lieutenant William Dudingston, under the orders of our rear Admiral John Montagu, and having dangerously wounded and barbarously treated the said William Dudingston, took, plundered, and burnt the said schooner: We, to the intent that said outrageous and heinous offenders may be dis- covered, and brought to condign punishment, have thought fit, with the advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our royal proclamation. And we are hereby graciously pleased to promise, that if any person or persons shall discover any other person or persons concerned in the said daring and heinous offences above-mentioned, so that he or they may be apprehended and brought to justice, such discoverer shall have and receive, as a reward for such discovery, upon conviction of each of the said offenders, the sum of five hundred pounds. And if any person or persons shall discover either of the said persons who acted as, or called themselves, or were called by their said accomplices, the head sheriff or the captain, so that they, or either of them, may be apprehended and brought to punishment, such discoverer shall have and receive, as a reward for such discovery, upon conviction of either of the said persons, the further sum of five hundred pounds, over and above the sum of five hundred pounds herein before promised for the discovery and apprehending any of the other common offenders above mentioned; and if any person or persons concerned therein, except the two persons who were called the head sheriff and captain, and the person or persons who wounded said Lieutenant William Dudingston, shall discover any one or more of the said accomplices, so that he or they may be apprehended and brought to punishment, such discoverer shall have and receive the said reward or rewards of five hundred pounds or one thousand pounds as the case may be: and also our gracious pardon for his said offence; And the commissioners for executing the office of Treasurer of our Exchequer, are hereby required to make payment accordingly of the said rewards. And we do hereby strictly charge and command our Governors, Deputy Governors, Magistrates, officers, and all other our loving subjects that they do use their utmost diligence, in their several places and capacities, to find out, discover, and apprehend the said offenders, in order to their being brought to justice. And we do hereby command that this our Proclamation be printed and published, in the usual form, and affixed in the principal places of our town of Newport, and other towns in our said colony, that none may pretend ignorance. Given at our Court at St. James, the twenty-sixth day of August, 1772, in the twelfth year of our Reign. God save the King. Of particular importance was the royal decree that the suspects were to be brought to England for trial. This greatly angered the colonists and united their opposi- tion to the crown. Indeed, this decree was directly responsible for the formation of the Committees of Correspondence, and would be cited as a grievance in the Declaration of Independence. Two reward posters were issued after the incident – one issued under the name of Governor Wanton, and the present in the name of the King. Until the discovery of the present copy, this broadside was known in but one surviving example, located at the Rhode Island Historical Society. BRISTOL B3455. SHIPTON & MOONEY 42345. ALDEN 489. $42,500. The First American Navy: Massachusetts Establishes a Maritime Defense Force 2. [Massachusetts]: ACTS AND LAWS PASSED BY THE GREAT AND GENERAL COURT OR ASSEMBLY OF THE COLONY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN NEW-ENGLAND...AN ACT FOR ENCOURAGING THE FIXING OUT OF ARMED VES- SELS TO DEFEND THE SEA COAST OF AMERICA...[caption title]. Watertown: Benjamin Edes, 1775. 9-13pp. Folio. Dbd. Lightly toned. Very good. This act established a naval force for the colony of Massachusetts in July 1775, shortly after the Battle of Bunker Hill, and while the British Navy dominated Boston harbor and the coastline. The act begins with a polemic against the attacks of the British and sets forth the Assembly’s power, under the Charter of Massachusetts, to permit privateers, and the resolution of the Continental Congress that each colony should provide for its own naval defense. The act provides for granting letters of marque, seizure of the ships of Loyalists, the administration of Admiralty Courts, and disposition of captured or seized vessels. At the time this act was passed by the Massachusetts Assembly, it had settled in Watertown, to the west of Boston. This act was printed as a session law of the Assembly, and was issued separately; although paginated to later be bound with other laws, it is complete in itself.