Pulaski, Casimir. Autograph letter signed, (June 12) 1778, to Thomas Johnson, Governor of Maryland

PULASKI, CASIMIR 

AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("C. PULASKI") TO THOMAS JOHNSON, GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND, REGARDING JOHNSON'S RECOMMENDATION OF A SOLDIER FOR HIS LEGION 

Half page (13¼ x 8⅜ in.; 335 x 212 mm) on a single leaf, Baltimore, (June 12) 1778, addressed to "His excellency Thomas Johnson Esquire | Maryland | Anapolis" on verso; tipped onto another sheet, scattered minor soiling, seal repair obscuring a portion of the date, a few repairs to verso.

Pulaski came to the United States in 1777, recommended by Benjamin Franklin as one of the most distinguished soldiers in Europe. He fought at Brandywine before he had been commissioned, at Germantown, and he took part in the Valley Forge winter of 1777-1778. Dissatisfied and often at odds with American commanders, he received permission to form an independent cavalry unit which was raised primarily at Baltimore in 1778. His "Pulaski Legion" was ordered to the South in early 1779. 

"I received your kind favour wherein you recommended to me mr. baynes(?); the report that you make of his attention and exactfulness to his duty is enough for me, Sir, to intitle the bearer to give the place which you call for in my legion; knowing your rightness and your wise judgment I depend intirelly upon what you say... I hope to have the honour to see his excellency as soon as I shall have got my bisiness done here."

One of the rarest Revolutionary autographs, with only six examples recorded at auction since 1974, the earliest of which is the present example.

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's New York, 11 Jun 1974, lot 103