Rutledge, Edward, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from South Carolina

Autograph letter signed ("E. Rutledge"), 4 pages, folio (14 3/4 x 9 1/8; 375 x 232 mm), Cane Acre, South Carolina, 23 April 1782, to Arthur Middleton, mentioning Generals Greene and St. Clair, a skirmish with the British in Dorchester, denouncing the exchange of General Cornwallis, and his thoughts about admitting Vermont to the Union; pages 3 and 4 silked closing several small tears and fold separations. Blue cloth folding case, teal morocco spine lettered gilt; head of spine slightly faded.  

"Correspondence of Hon. Arthur Middleton" (ed. Joseph W. Barnwell) in The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 1 (January 1926), pp. 13–16

In this lengthy letter to his fellow signer, Rutledge touches upon many subjects. He regrets St. Clair's furlough as he felt his absence made Greene's troops more vulnerable to British attacks. Although the war technically had been over since Cornwallis's surrender in October 1781, skirmishes still continued. Rutledge describes one such encounter in Dorchester which cost half a dozen American lives. He is also disgruntled that the British have yet to evacuate Charleston (they would not leave until December 1782) and rails about Cornwallis's upcoming exchange: "[H]e should have been held a Prisoner for Life as a Rascal & the World should have known that he was precluded from the Benefits of Freedom, because he was a Monster & an Enemy to Humanity."  

Lastly, Rutledge opines about the controversy over Congress's design to admit Vermont to the Union. New Hampshire, New York, and the Southern states were vehemently opposed; and Rutledge pinpoints the reasons for their disinclination: "I do not recollect the Words of the Confederation, but ... the Idea was to permit them the Exercise of no other Power than what was really & expressly given them: & this Power was given for the purpose of preserving the Independence, & Sovereignity of the 13 States, not for the purpose of mutilating their Territory ... As to the Threat of their having resolved in the last Event to go over to the Enemy ... must we ... establish a precedent which by dividing the several Governments so early, will necessarily weaken the Union ... " Great Britain had sought to detach Vermont from the American cause by offering the self-governing status that Congress was reluctant to grant, but finally in 1791, Vermont was admitted to the Union.