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 A superb document signed by Gad Smith, a veteran of Bunker Hill who served under Captain Luke Drury in Colonel Jonathan Ward's Regiment. Manuscript Document Signed "Gad Smith," 1p. (5.5 x 8 in.), Dorchester, November 6, 1775, a promissory note to Lexington Alarm minute man Ebenezer Phillips for seven shillings. In a second signed endorsement below, Smith requests that Captain Luke Drury "Stop the Said Sum above mentioned out of my Wages..."
Inventory# 20781.07 $450 Historical Background:
Besides a serious lack of basic supplies including guns, powder, clothing, and tents, one of the primarily complaint in the Continental Army was a lack of pay. The men of Drury's company went months without drawing their wages and used an improvised system of I.O.U.'s to transact business in the meantime. The pay situation would not improve as the war progressed as the supply of hard currency evaporated and the paper currency issued by Congress became virtually worthless. Many soldiers were induced to join with promises of land in the west in exchange for their services. Later that month, Washington sent Henry Knox up to Fort Ticonderoga to bring captured British cannons. After he successfully returned, the cannon were secretly moved up to Dorchester Heights, and the British were forced to withdraw from Boston without another battle. On March 4, 1776, troops from the Continental Army under George Washington's command occupied Dorchester Heights, a series of low hills with a commanding view of Boston and its harbor, and mounted powerful cannons there. General William Howe, commander of the British forces occupying the city, considered contesting this act, as the cannon threatened the town and the military ships in the harbor. After a snowstorm prevented execution of his plans, Howe decided instead to withdraw from the city. The British forces, accompanied by Loyalists who had fled to the city during the siege, left the city on March 17 and sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Condition: Light creases, margins slightly irregular, else near fine condition.
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