Lot Details
Lot 29
GREENE, NATHANAEL Autograph letter signed. Headquarters, South Carolina: 14 November 1781. 3 pp. autograph letter signed Na...
. Headquarters, South Carolina: 14 November 1781. 3 pp. autograph letter signed "Nath Greene" on recto and verso of one folded sheet. 12 1/2 x 7 3/8 inches (32.5 x 19 cm). Stabilized by a tissue lining, small losses affecting several words, should be seen.
This war-date letter begins with an introduction of Colonel John Eager Howard, recently injured in the Battle of Eutaw Springs in September 1781. The letter quickly becomes accusatory, "since you have separated yourself from any military connection you are so eager in the pursuit of wealth as not to write a line of remembrance of your former friends ... You have never felt the ravaging hand of war nor the insolence of British tyranny." In closing, Greene comments on the recent Battle of Yorktown: "I congratulate you upon your great good fortune in Virgina. But I think the enemy made a poor defence. This event is no less important to the public then it is glorious to General Washington ... Nature in her gifts is too sparing to be great and good at the same time; but those qualities are happily combined in him."
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