HIGHLAND TROOPS SENT TO PROTECT SOUTHERN FRONTIER, 1757.

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/26/2018

Two letters: PITT, William (1708-1778), as Prime Minister. 1) Letter signed ("W. Pitt") to Gov. William Henry Lyttelton (1724-1808) of South Carolina, dated Whitehall, 31 March 1757. 3 pages, bifolium; 2) Letter signed ("W. Pitt"), to Lt. Col. Archibald Montgomery, Whitehall, 31 March 1757. 2 pages, bifolium. Both FINE. William Pitt, The Prime Minister of Great Britain, orders "1,000 Private Men to Virginia". Two fine French & Indian War letters relating to Pitt's sending of a Highland regiment from Britain to check "the designs of the French to make some attempt on South Carolina." Pitt writes Lyttelton that the King has "taken into consideration the dangers to which your Government and the other Southern Colonies may be exposed," and "has been pleased to order a Highland Battalion of Foot, consisting of 1000 private Men, besides officers, to proceed to Charles Town, in South Carolina; and you will see by the inclosed copy [present] of my letter to Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery, by whom the said Battalion is commanded, the orders he has received from the King, to assist & cooperate with you, & the other Governors of the Southern Colonies, in the Defence & Protection of His Majesty's Dominions in those Parts, as the Exigency may require....You will therefore, on the arrival of Lieut. Colonel Montgomery, give him the best Information you shall have been able to procure, of any Motions of the Enemy..." The enclosed order to Montgomery commands him to sail from Cork harbor "for North America and be landed at Charlestown in South Carolina...on your arrival in North America you are to follow such Orders as you shall receive from the Earl of Loudon or the Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Forces...for the Defence and protection of His Majesty's Dominions according as the Exigencies of War shall require..." Montgomery's 77th Regiment of Foot (also referred to as the 1st Highland Battalion), operated under Jeffrey Amherst in repelling Cherokee attacks on the South Carolina frontier. The following year they moved north to join in the Forbes campaign in Pennsylvania in 1758, and helped capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1759. Two fine war-date letters on the Southern theatre. Together 2 items (2). Provenance: Willliam L. Clements Library Duplicate Sale, 1 May 1996; private collection; Christies Manuscript Americana Sale, 19 May 2011, NYC, lot 117 with $5-7000 est. (sold: $8750).