1787 SHAYS REBELLION Document SIGNED Revolutionary War ENGINEER Jeduthan Baldwin

Description

- 1787 “SHAY’S REBELLION” Military Document -
- Written in the FIELD – “Camp at Hadley” in MA -
- SIGNED by Rev War ENGINEER Jeduthan Baldwin -
Historic,
SHAY’S REBELLION hand-written document from the “Camp at Hadley”
.   Document is
dated
February 1st 1787
, just 6 days after Shay’s rebels attacked the Springfield Arsenal, and is
addressed
to Massachusetts Quartermaster General Amasa Davis.  Document is
genuinely SIGNED at the conclusion by Colonel Commandant Jeduthan Baldwin
.   Baldwin was a Colonel and ENGINEER with the Northern Department during the Revolutionary War.  He was active in constructing defenses around New York in 1776, and helped in the fortification of Fort Ticonderoga in 1777 and West Point in 1780.
This document relates directly to action undertaken by Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin during a critical period of Shay’s Rebellion
.
The FRONT of the document
reads
in
full
, “
Sir, please to Deliver the bairer
(bearer)
Benjamin Eagleston a Sorrill
(sorrel)
horse which was taken by a Comp’y
(company)
of horse under my command the night before last – said horse being his property.  Jedu’n Baldwin
(SIGNED)
Col’o Com’dt
(Colonel Commandant)”.
The BACKSIDE of the document
reads
as follows - “
Rec’d
(received)
the within mentioned Horse
” and is SIGNED by Benjamin Eagleston attesting to that statement.  There is also a filing notation / docket as well as that
reads
- “
Col’o Baldwin’s Order for a Horse Feb’y 1st 1787
”.
JEDUTHAN BALDWIN (1732 - 1788)
was born in Woburn, Massachusetts and was a career soldier.  He was appointed Chief Engineer in the Northern Department of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.  Prior to the war, Baldwin was a Captain in the French and Indian War and served in the Massachusetts Provincial Congress (1774 – 75).   During the siege of Boston (1775 – 76), Baldwin displayed important engineering ability and helped design the defensive fortifications of the American forces.  Baldwin’s “Revolutionary Journal” was published in 1906 and remains a valuable source of details on that campaign.  On March 16th 1776, he was appointed an assistant engineer with the rank of Captain.   Captain Baldwin was thereafter ordered to New York City where he was actively engaged in constructing the city’s defenses.   He became a Lieutenant Colonel on April 26th 1776 and was promoted to Colonel of Engineers on September 3rd 1776.   The following year he served under General Arthur St. Clair, while working with General Thaddeus Kosciuszko in the fortification of Fort Ticonderoga.  Baldwin was associated with these same two men again in 1780, constructing the defensive works at West Point.  As engineer for the Northern Department, Colonel Baldwin was also tasked with raising several companies of quartermaster artificers during the war.  He resigned from the army on April 26th 1782 but was
called into service again
during Shay’s Rebellion
.  As a resident of Brookfield, Massachusetts, Colonel Baldwin commanded a company of volunteers from the town.  Along with a company of cavalry under Colonel Ebenezer Crafts, Baldwin and his men were sent to Murrayfield to cut off a supply of provisions destined for the aid of Daniel Shay which was guarded by a band of his rebels.  Attacking at midnight, they captured the whole party of insurgents along with 14 sleigh loads of provisions
.  The next day they pursued and defeated what was left of Shay’s rebel group.  Colonel Baldwin died the following year, in 1788, in North Brookfield.
SHAY’S REBELLION
- the armed uprising in Massachusetts during 1786 – 87 that was led by Rev War veteran Daniel Shays, Luke Day and others who opposed the state’s economic and tax policies.  These policies led to poverty and property foreclosures in the western part of the state.  Shays forces sought to disrupt the January 1787 session of the Hampshire County Court in Springfield, Massachusetts and also seize the cache of weapons at the arsenal there, which was guarded by a garrison of 1,100 militia under General William Shephard.   Shays rebel’s attacked on January 26th 1787 but fled in confusion after four insurgents were killed.   Shay’s men then regrouped a few miles from the scene of the conflict, but soon dispersed after General Benjamin Lincoln arrived with troops to augment the garrison.   Shay’s main force retreated to the northeast, passing through the towns of Ludlow, South Hadley, Amherst, and Pelham.  General Lincoln’s men pursued them but halted their advance at Hadley to discuss surrender proposals with Shays.  Shays insistence on an unconditional pardon for his rebels was denied, and he relocated his men to Petersham where they set up camp.   General Lincoln pursued them through a bitter snowstorm and attacked on the morning of February 4th.   After the capture of 150 or so of Shay’s rebels, the resistance was effectively broken.  In the aftermath, thousands signed confessions and received amnesty.  Several hundred were indicted on charges relating to the rebellion and 18 were convicted and sentenced to death.  While most of them were pardoned or their sentences were overturned on appeal, two were hanged on December 6th 1787.   Daniel Shays himself was pardoned in 1788 and returned to Massachusetts from Vermont, where he was hiding in the woods.
CONDITION:
document is neatly penned and measures about 4 5/8 x 7 ¾ inches in size.  It is in EXCELLENT original condition with a dark, bold signature by Jeduthan Baldwin.  Document has a single horizontal fold and a small ½ inch fold split (unrepaired) along the right edge.  Document has two small chips with a very small loss of paper – one along the left edge and one in the top right-hand corner, but neither of these affect any text (see SCANS).
The
signature / autograph of Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin is guaranteed authentic
.   Winning bidder to pay
for shipping, postage & INSURANCE
.   Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
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