presidents and first ladies As the war nears its end, Washington, still wary of the British, heeds concerns of the construction of a magazine at West Point 1. George Washington Letter Signed. Important war-dated LS, signed
“Go: Washington,” one page, 7.25 x 11.5, Newburgh, New York, August 6, 1782. Letter to Major Villefranche concerning plans for the French officer to construct a powder magazine at West Point. In full, “I was informed by the Genl. Paterson, that the place assigned by Majr. Genl. Knox & others for erecting the Magazine, was in your opinion very unfit for the purpose; if this is the case, I wish you to point out some other place on West Point, and give your reasons in writing, as soon as possible, why you prefer it to the place first mentioned.” In fine condition, with trimmed edges and light toning from prior display.
On July 4, 1782, the Board of War ordered that West Point become an official repository for gunpowder and authorized the construction of a magazine. Washington, in consultation with Henry Knox, selected a location and began construction. Villefranche’s case for why the location should have been moved is unrecorded in Washington’s papers, but his case must have been persuasive. The site of the magazine was evidently moved to Constitution Island, which lay directly across the Hudson from West Point. On August 12, construction began there on a magazine that would hold 1,000 barrels of powder. Washington was impressed enough with Villefranche to recommend his promotion to Congress in 1783, and in May 1783, he was made a lieutenant colonel. A fine content war-dated letter written in the closing days of the Revolutionary War with peace negotiations ongoing in Paris. Starting Bid $2500
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November 10, 2021 | PRESIDENTS AND FIRST LADIES
