Details
GATES, Horatio (1728-1806), Major General, Continental Army. Autograph document signed ("Horatio Gates"), comprising "Instructions to Col. [Edward] Wigglesworth, going on board the Fleet of the United States on Lake Champlain." Hd. Quarters at Ticonderoga, 6 September 1776. 1 page, folio, endorsed on verso: "General Gates's Instructions." Fine.
PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE OF VALCOUR ISLAND. Gates, commander at Ticonderoga, gives orders to Col. Wigglesworth, an officer detailed for service under Benedict Arnold, commanding the hastily-built American naval flotilla on Lake Champlain. Complimenting Wiggleworth as "an experienc'd, Active & Determined Officer," Gates entrusts him to "the Important Post of third in Command in this Lake. The Honl. Brigadier Genl. Arnold has the first Command of the Fleet...General Waterbury has the second. You will go on board the Royal Savage, Schooner, or such other Vessel as Genl. Arnold shall direct. You will command a division of the Fleet...On your joining the Fleet, you are to show these Instructions to Genl. Arnold..." He concludes with wishes for "Success, happiness & Victory..."
Wigglesworth, a Massachusetts sailor with artillery experience, took charge of the gunboat Philadelphia and joined Arnold on 9 September (J.K. Martin, Benedict Arnold: Revolutionary Hero, p.259). The flotilla took positions near Valcour Island, and from 11-13 October fought a valiant running engagement (the first American naval battle) against a superior British naval force commanded by Gov. Guy Carleton. Though the battle (in which Wigglesworth captained the Trumbull) resulted in the loss or deliberate destruction of most of the American vessels, Arnold's vigorous offense at Valcour Island is generally credited with forcing the British to abandon their attempt to take Ticonderoga until the following spring.
PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE OF VALCOUR ISLAND. Gates, commander at Ticonderoga, gives orders to Col. Wigglesworth, an officer detailed for service under Benedict Arnold, commanding the hastily-built American naval flotilla on Lake Champlain. Complimenting Wiggleworth as "an experienc'd, Active & Determined Officer," Gates entrusts him to "the Important Post of third in Command in this Lake. The Honl. Brigadier Genl. Arnold has the first Command of the Fleet...General Waterbury has the second. You will go on board the Royal Savage, Schooner, or such other Vessel as Genl. Arnold shall direct. You will command a division of the Fleet...On your joining the Fleet, you are to show these Instructions to Genl. Arnold..." He concludes with wishes for "Success, happiness & Victory..."
Wigglesworth, a Massachusetts sailor with artillery experience, took charge of the gunboat Philadelphia and joined Arnold on 9 September (J.K. Martin, Benedict Arnold: Revolutionary Hero, p.259). The flotilla took positions near Valcour Island, and from 11-13 October fought a valiant running engagement (the first American naval battle) against a superior British naval force commanded by Gov. Guy Carleton. Though the battle (in which Wigglesworth captained the Trumbull) resulted in the loss or deliberate destruction of most of the American vessels, Arnold's vigorous offense at Valcour Island is generally credited with forcing the British to abandon their attempt to take Ticonderoga until the following spring.
Special notice
Tax exempt.