Gunsmith and soldier from Massachusetts (1706–1777) who served in the French and Indian War. At age 70, he fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill with John Stark’s 1st New Hampshire Regiment and was named Brigadier General in the Continental Army for his service. Due to failing health, he declined the commission and served instead as a major general in the Massachusetts militia. The following year, marching his unit to New Jersey upon request from George Washington, he fell ill and died. ALS, one page, 6 x 7.75, May 20, 1745. Letter to his wife written from Camp Cape Breton. In part: “I have an opportunity once more to write altho many of our army are dead…We are still without the walls of Louisburg but dayly battring of them with our cannon, but there fortifications are all but impregnable. But if God has designed it for us we shall have it…Of late we have had some sad accidents, by a barrel of powder catching fire, it killed 2 men, wounded several more, a Cannon Split killed 2 wounded many more, several killed by accidents other ways & many in the army sick…My company are all alive none wounded nor much sick.” Second integral page bears an address panel to Pomeroy’s wife Mary. Letter is behind glass with an overall size of 14.25 x 9.75. In good condition, with intersecting folds, several small areas of paper loss, and scattered toning and soiling, including some over signature.
British colonists in New England, increasingly wary of the threat that the French fortress at Louisbourg posed to their fishing fleets, saw the mutual declarations of war between France and Britain in 1744 as an opportunity to seize control. Upon landing at Cape Breton on May 11, 1745, they were not met on the shores: the French defenders, seriously out-manned, remained within the walls of the fortress. From within, they successfully stopped several assaults, inflicting heavy losses on the New England troops. It is from the midst of this battle that Seth Pomeroy, a volunteer soldier and skilled gunsmith from Massachusetts who would later fight at the Battle of Bunker Hill, wrote to his wife on his 39th birthday: “many of our army are dead…We are still without the walls of Louisburg but dayly battring of them with our cannon, but there fortifications are all but impregnable.” After 46 days of heavy bombardment, the British New Englanders finally established batteries at Lighthouse Point and commanded the island, causing the fort’s defenders to abandon. This successful capture was the only major event of King George’s War, third of the four French and Indian Wars. A stirring letter written at the height of the battle, Pomeroy shares a glimpse into the brutal reality of a “successful” attack. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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