Walton, George, Signer, as Governor of Georgia

Autograph letter signed ("Geo Walton"), 1 page (7 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.; 184 x 160 mm), Augusta, 16 December 1779, to Major General Benjamin Lincoln (at Charleston), verso with autograph direction to Lincoln and reception docket.

Georgia's governor entreats the Continental Commander of the Southern Department for salt for the state's militia. "When I was in Charles-Town I think you told me, or probably it was before the lines of Savannah, that you had given directions that quantities of salt should be purchased and sent up for the use of the Militia of this State. I am told also that you mentioned the same intentions to the colonels. Supplies were certainly expected, and the disappointment great. And I must now request, that you will supply, lend or sell two or three waggon loads, for their use; until Government can be enabled to provide for them." Salt was a vital commodity for preserving meat and fish and became very scarce once the British Navy interdicted its importation from the West Indies. 

Walton was one of Georgia's three Signers of the Declaration of Independence, but he returned home from Congress in 1778 when a British invasion of the state seemed imminent. Serving as a Colonel of Militia, he was wounded and taken prisoner during the siege of Savannah and was not exchanged until September 1779. The British occupation of Savannah threw Georgia's civil government into chaos, and two opposing factions each selected a governor, with Walton eventually gaining general recognition over John Wereat. Walton was again elected to the Continental Congress in January 1780 and resumed his seat in Philadelphia on 15 May. Despite there being three examples in the Copley Library, autograph letters signed by George Walton are uncommon.