Clinton, George; Hastings, Hugh [introduction]. Public Papers of George Clinton, First Governor of New York (Military - Vol. IV) Revolutionary War. New York and Albany: James B. Lyon, 1900. First Edition. [7947]
Coral & blue cloth, silver New York State emblem on front, 6 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches, armorial bookplate of S. F. Jenkins, Jr., light wear to binding, lightening of cloth at the fore-edges. Frontispiece portrait of George Clinton's New York City Residence, xxxix., 874 clean pp.; Portraits of Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, Isaac Barré, Rochambeau, Earl of Chatham, Admiral Howe, and Lord Cornwallis. Good. Hardcover.
This book is part of New York State's War of the Revolution Series.
"The contents of Volume IV of the George Clinton papers are of more than passing interest and value. While the grand operations of the war, during the period involved in this volume - September, 1778 to June, 1779 - were conducted in other parts of the country, New York occupied a strategic position of great importance and was forced to endure a number of Indian atrocities along her unprotected frontiers, that stand without parallel in the history of war. Many of the details now appear for the first time in print and are so largely at variance with generally accepted statements that have stood unchallenged for one hundred years and more, that the historian of the future, will be compelled, in the interest of accuracy and truth, to revise and remodel all of the standard histories so far as those histories touch upon the border wars of New York State."
This volume is full of military matters regarding the atrocities on the western frontier of New York, and of militia matters in general.
George Clinton (1739-1812), one of the "Founding Fathers" of the United States and the "Father of New York State", first and third governor of the state, Brigadier General during the Revolutionary War, Vice President under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Clinton served as an officer in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War and held both the office of Governor and the rank of Brigadier General during the Revolution, building two forts along the Hudson River and charged with its defense. A friend of George Washington, he supplied food for the troops at Valley Forge and rode with Washington to the first inauguration, presiding over the celebratory dinner. His public papers are in 10 volumes, encompassing his service during the Revolution and full of primary source material. They also contain illustrations of prominent figures of the Revolutionary War, including John Jay, the Marquis de Lafayette, Morgan Lewis, Count de Grasse, Anthony Wayne, Robert R. Livingston, John Stark, Major Benjamin Tallmadge, and Benedict Arnold. The last volume includes letters from the Governor's office for the years 1782 to 1785, in addition to illustrations of taverns and other establishments in New York. Volumes 9 and 10 include an analytical index to the papers. Volume 10 also provides an account of the exhumation and reinternment of Governor Clinton's remains in 1908.