1812 Henry Lee Memoirs + Original Manuscript Letters & Robert E Lee SIGNATURE

Description: Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. By Henry Lee, Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the Partisan Legion During the American War. In Two Volumes. Philadelphia: Published by Bradford and Inskeep. 1812. First Edition. Complete set, [4], 432 p + [4], 486 p., Signed binding (on the base of the spine) by previous owner John Francis Mercer with rare Mercer family bookplate; two tipped-in manuscript letters with excellent Revolutionary War-related content written by Col. Charles Simms to Mercer and a pasted-in ROBERT E. LEE SIGNATURE IN VOLUME II. Uniform leather binding measuring 8.5 x 5.5", 8vos. In fair condition. Leather boards scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Front hinges split on both volumes, boards attached by cording ONLY. Heads and tails of spines bumped, Vol. I's head chipped. Title label of Vol. II exhibits loss near rear hinge: "L" in "Lee" and "M" in "Manuscript" lacking. Tails of spines exhibit custom previous ownership name plates for "J. F. Mercer." Gilt lettering on spines dulled & soiled, but legible. Vol. II exhibits water or tea dampness staining to bottom corner of fore-edge. Mercer's bookplates found on both front paste-downs. Front gutters split. Vol. II exhibits moderate water dampness staining to tail of gutter throughout text-block. Off-setting found on title pages from frontispieces. Light foxing and toning throughout Vol. I's text-block. Bindings remain intact, but front hinges fragile. Manuscript letters found tipped-in to front end-page & fly-leaf of VOLUME II. Letters are fragile, brittle & split at most creases, however, all pieces are included. ROBERT E. LEE'S SIGNATURE found pasted-in to VOLUME II, front fly-leaf (verso). Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Manuscript letter 1 (sent to Col. John Francis Mercer, Annapolis]: "Alexandria, Jan'y 10th, 1810. Dear Sir: The Books extant upon our Revolutionary War deal so much in the general so to overlook all the minutia, which can only be sought for in the memory of the living actors, or in the manuscripts of the dead. A Gentleman well qualified for the task, has been for some time engaged and made considerable progress for in composing memoirs of that War, particularly of the Southern Campaign. Knowing that you bore a conspicuous part in the campaign in Virginia, he requests the favour of you to communicate a full narrative of that campaign, so far as came within your knowledge. You will add to the favor by adding whether you did not have the army with Gen'l Lee was disgraced being one of his Aide-de-Camp or when did you leave the army, in what station and what was the nature and strength of the Corps of Horse you commanded in that campaign, in what rank were you and how Commissioned when in that service, whether Gen'l Nelson continued in the field after Lafayette or whether he acted separately, when and where Wayne joined the marquis. With such other circumstances as you may deem material to a correct history of that Campaign, your compliance with this request will generally oblige the author, and will benefit posterity in its tendency to exhibit an accurate account of that interesting period. Very Respectively, I am Sir, Yr Obe'd Serv't, Ch. Simms." Manuscript Letter 2: "Alexandria, April 16th, 1810.Dear Sir,I have received your Letter [?], enclosing your answer to Wilsons Bill and a Ten dollar note, Cartons Deed of Trust has been duly recorded. I transmitted your narrative of the campaign in Virginia to the Gentleman for whom it was intended and received from him the following reply: 'I received two hours ago your letter and enclosure, and "thank the writer for the enclosure," and you too for your attention to my wishes. It will aid me extremely in my finish of the Virginia Campaign, the most tasteless[?] part of my work, and yet as I always presumed, full of rich matter. Mercers narrative shows that my conception was well founded, but he is the only man of many addressed thro my friends that has acted the proper part. I thank him and would do so by Letter, if I had not determined to hold myself out of sight, and to record my conviction of truth without permitting suspicion of bias from any influence, none on me so operative as the honourable aid which I derive from the full answer to my inquiries, given by the writer of the narrative enclosed. Once more you must trouble your obliging and [?] friend: Can he ascertain the fact that Tarlton conferred by agent or personally with the French General? [Did he] surrender to the regular troops because he feared his life if [he] submitted to the militia? The paragraph, from the narrative, that Col. Mercer might answer himself of its accuracy and add any further circumstance he may recollect applying to the fact. The day before the surrender and when the capitulation had been agreed on at York, Colo Tarleton came out and dined with General Cheron [?] & his object seems to represent that his life might be endangered if he surrendered to the militia and the General was accommodating as to order that not infantry excepting that of the Legion of Lan? and my corps should be present at the surrender should you so obliging as to favour the Gentleman with any further information. I will forward it to him without delay. I am very respectfully, Sir, Your obedient Serv't. Ch. Simms." Author: Henry Lee III (1756 – 1818) or, as he was referred to after the American Revolution, “Light-Horse” Harry Lee, was one of George Washington’s most tenacious cavalry commanders. Lee was best known for leading the Second Partizan Corps or "Lee's Legion" during the conflict. Being the father of Civil War General Robert E. Lee has overshadowed many of his other personal achievements. Lee at times was impetuous and was an aggressive fighter. His loyalty to the American cause and George Washington made him a popular figure after the war. Additionally, his personal memoirs, written after the war to extricate him from his problem with debt, provide a comprehensive and sometimes altered view of the Southern Campaigns. Thomas Jefferson hated the memoirs, as seen in a letter he wrote to James Monroe on January 1, 1815: "...the lying [Henry] Lee has put all those imputations among the romances of his historical Novel, for the amusement of credulous & un-inquisitive readers." In November 1780, Lee was promoted to lieutenant colonel and his cavalry augmented by three companies of infantry, thus creating "Lee's Legion". At the personal request of Nathanael Greene, Lee left Washington's command to join the Southern Army. Lee cooperated with Brig. Gen. Francis Marion's militia in operations around Georgetown, South Carolina earlier the following year before playing a major role in covering Greene's army in the latter stages of the "Race to the Dan". Several weeks later Lee and Andrew Pickens, set out to locate Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion. Rather than encountering Tarleton, Lee and Pickens came across another Loyalist militia unit of about 400 men under John Pyle who was hoping to connect with Tarleton. In an element of surprise and brutality, Lee marched his men up next to Pyle’s column and ambushed them. Lee's legion suffered just one casualty. Later, there were many claims that the Americans gave no quarter to Pyle’s men. Lee was highly criticized for the action, but it had a significant impact on keeping other Loyalists from joining Cornwallis’ army. Assigned to carry dispatches to Washington, Lee arrived at Yorktown in time for the British surrender. Many believe his many quarrels with other officers and what he perceived as a lack of respect led to his resignation. Lee’s temperament was probably his biggest flaw. After the war, he dabbled in many business ventures that led to his eventual bankruptcy. He was elected Governor of Virginia and to a term in Congress. His natural profession, military arms, eluded him except for a brief period when he led militia forces in 1794 to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1782, he married Matilda Ludwell Lee, and resided at her plantation, Stratford Hall, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. One of his proudest moments came when he gave George Washington’s eulogy to Congress, where he said famously "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” By 1812, Lee, a staunch Federalist, became more of an outcast due to his political views. That year in Baltimore, he was badly beaten by an anti-Federalist mob. He never fully recovered from his wounds and died in 1818. Provenance: John Francis Mercer (1759 - 1821) was born at “Marlborough Point” in Stafford County, Virginia on May 17, 1759. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1775. He later studied law with Thomas Jefferson, who also became his political mentor. During the Revolutionary War, he served as first lieutenant of the 3rd Virginia Regiment; he participated in several battles, and rose to the rank of colonel by the end of the war. Mercer entered politics in 1782, serving as a Virginia delegate in the Continental Congress, a position he held three years. He served as a delegate to the 1787 U.S. Constitutional Convention, but resigned before signing the constitution, which he did not support. However, Mercer served as a delegate to the 1788 State convention that ratified the federal constitution. He also served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1788, from 1791 to 1792, and from 1800 to 1801, and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1792 to 1794. The Maryland Legislature elected Mercer governor on November 9, 1801. He was reelected to a second term in 1802. During his tenure, the voting qualification of owning property was eliminated, and the initiation of the secret ballot was sanctioned. Mercer did not run for reelection and left office on November 15, 1803. He was again elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served from 1803 to 1805. Governor John F. Mercer passed away in Philadelphia on August 30, 1821. His final resting spot is in a private cemetery on his Cedar Park estate in West River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Author of Manuscript Letters: Charles Simms (1755–1819) was a Virginia lawyer, Revolutionary War officer and politician. A friend of George Washington, Simms thrice represented Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Virginia House of Delegates as well as at the Virginia Ratification Convention of 1788, and also served as mayor of Alexandria (then in the District of Columbia) during the War of 1812. Simms is mentioned in Lee's Memoirs, Vol. I pages 31-3. Simms is the author of the manuscript letters, and was acting as an intermediary between the anonymous Lee (then in debtor’s prison) and Mercer, a devoted Jeffersonian who may not have replied if he had known it was really for the Federalist Lee. The letters are dated 1810, and are previously unknown to historians. Though Mercer’s response to Simms (not included here) was published in Fragments of Revolutionary History; Being Hitherto Unpublished. Edited by Gaillard Hunt, 1892. The pasted-in R.E. Lee signature was most likely a later addition. But it is possible Lee used this copy when editing his own edition of his father’s memoirs (the third that would be published) in 1869. His intro to that book represents Robert E Lee’s only piece of substantive original writing for publication prior to his death in 1870. Manuscript letters discussing the American Revolution to and from such prominent participants are rare and historically valuable. Lee’s signature is also a highly regarded collectible and very few other books from Mercer’s library are currently known to exist. Robert E Lee had a complicated relationship with his father and it could be argued that these memoirs, which did not sell well and are consequently rare in their own right, provide a direct link between the founding generation’s memories of the American Revolution and Lee’s own understanding of the Civil War. A RARE PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY! RAREA1812NZEN 08/24 - HK2052

Price: 8000 USD

Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-09-30T19:20:49.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15.13 USD