Bartlett, Josiah, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Hampshire

Autograph letter signed  ("Josiah Bartlett Chairman"), one page (11 1/4 x 7 in.; 285 x 180 mm), State of New Hampshire in Committee of Safety, 28 September 1781, to Brig. Gen.  Benjamin Bellows, enclosing an order by Maj. Gen. Heath to send Lieut. Col. Runnels to Charlestown, and an order by the Committee to Col. Hunt to supply them with provisions (enclosures not present); left margin dampstained, some ink feathering. Together with envelope franked "public service"; dampstained. Mounted, glazed and framed with a portrait of Bartlett.

Autograph letter signed ("Josiah Bartlett Chairman"), one page (11 1/4 x 7 in.; 285 x 180 mm), State of New Hampshire in Committee of Safety, 28 September 1781, to Brig. Gen. Benjamin Bellows, enclosing an order by Maj. Gen. Heath to send Lieut. Col. Runnels to Charlestown, and an order by the Committee to Col. Hunt to supply them with provisions; left margin dampstained, some ink feathering. Together with envelope franked "public service"; dampstained.
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On the very day that the siege of Yorktown had begun, Bartlett forwards to General Bellows a letter from General Heath ordering Lieutenant Col. Runnels to march his regiment to Charlestown as soon as possible. The Committee of Safety has requested Colonel Hunt "to supply them with provisions as issuing Commissary in case there is no Continental issuing commissary there, and if there is not any Continental Stores there, we have directed him to call on Esqr. Blood for Beef and Bread ... As we have no money in the Treasury to purchase with we must Rely on the Towns Supplying with the Necessary Quantities. We shall request of Majr. Genl. Heath that the men may remain in this State of parts Adjacent that they may be ready to assist in case the Enemy should attempt to make any inroads from Canada." Complete wartime letters by Bartlett are scarce. Of the eleven to have been sold at auction since 1979, only five of them date from the Revolutionary period.