Sold – Rare George Washington Free Frank From Valley Forge
It accompanied his letter of March 20, 1778. In it, short of effective troops and fearing an imminent British attack, he ordered that recruits be sent immediately to the encampment.
At Valley Forge, on March 20, 1778, there was still ice on the river and the soldiers were still undersupplied and exposed to the elements. It was a nice day, but the next day the very cold temperatures would return. However, the weather was no longer Washington’s chief concern. That day, with...
At Valley Forge, on March 20, 1778, there was still ice on the river and the soldiers were still undersupplied and exposed to the elements. It was a nice day, but the next day the very cold temperatures would return. However, the weather was no longer Washington’s chief concern. That day, with spring coming and his army undermanned, he feared the British would take advantage of this fact and attack, perhaps even that very day. He wote Gen. John Cadwalader explicitly articulating his concern, saying “I have every reason, short of absolute proof, to believe that General Howe is meditating a stroke against this army. He has drawn, some say two thousand, and others 2,500 Men from New York, which I believe are arrived at Phila., as a number of Transports have just past Wilmington in their way up the Delaware; and reports from Newport say, that the Garrison there had orders to Be in readiness to imbark by the 20th.” Joseph Stoudt, in his book “Ordeal at Valley Forge,” quotes a source from that day as writing, “His Excellency has reason to believe that General Howe is meditating a stroke against our army…Our stores at Reading are to be removed to a place of greater safety. Our advanced pickets are to be strengthened in anticipation of an advance by the Enemy….”
To meet this threat, Washington sought to have all troops who were being held back in their localities to be inoculated against smallpox rushed to the front. On March 20, 1778, at Valley Forge, he wrote to the Commanding Officer at Alexandria, VA with these instructions. That general was George Weedon, an old friend of Washington who had just recently left Valley Forge. The text of that letter is published in “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources,” in Volume 11.
This is the original free frank to that letter. It is addressed to “The Commanding Officer at Alexandria“ and has Washington’s signature at lower left. At upper right is written “On the public service,” and it is docketed by the recipient “His Excellency 1778.” “The Writings of George Washington” indicates that this was Washington’s sole letter in 1778 to the “Commanding Officer at Alexandria.“
We have only seen a handful of free franks from Valley Forge in all our years collecting.
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