Beschreibung:

AMERICAN REVOLUTION]. CLINTON, Henry (1730-1795), British General . Letter signed ("H Clinton") to Colonel Alured Clarke (1745-1832), New York, 6 January 1782. 2½ pages, folio, recipient's docket , in very fine condition. PICKING UP THE PIECES AFTER YORKTOWN: PROTECTING THE LOYALISTS AND GUARDING AGAINST A SPANISH ATTACK IN FLORIDA. An important letter, written less than three months after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, in which the Commander-in-Chief addresses the defection of loyalists to the American cause and a potential Spanish attack upon the city of St. Augustine. Spain had declared war on Great Britain in June, 1779 and began operations against British posts along the Gulf Coast. Florida, taken from the Spanish at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, remained vulnerable to attack even after the conclusion of hostilities with the Americans. Writing to Clarke, commander of the 7th Regiment at Savannah, Clinton directs preparations to oppose a Spanish attack in Florida: "Should the Spaniards make an attempt against St. Augustine, I cannot doubt your taking every possible measure for its defence, and I desire you will be pleased to send me the earliest intelligence of their arrival on the Coast, with as exact an account as you can procure of their force, both by sea and land, that I may send you such assistance from hence as the occasion may require, and admit, in case the Admiral finds himself in force sufficient to afford it protection." Clinton notes the detrimental effect of the Yorktown surrender upon loyalists: "I am concerned to hear that the 10th Article of Capitulation at York Town has made an alarming impression on the minds of the people in general, and has occasioned the considerable defection of the Militia...whose fears I cannot see any occasion for, as when serving with the King's Troops, they are of course entitled to the same privileges and advantages that they are." He assures Clarke, however, that he will remedy the situation: "I desire that you will endeavour to restore the Confidence of those in your quarter by the fullest assurances that the Commander in Chief and every officer under his command, will pay the same attention to the interests and security of all his Majesty's Loyal Subjects of every denomination and Country, in all cases whatever, that they do to those of the Troops under their orders, and that they will not on any occasion, or in any event, make the least distinction, or discrimination between them." Cornwallis's efforts to gain immunity for loyalists within the surrender terms was rejected by Washington; "This article cannot be assented to, being altogether of civil resort" (Freeman, George Washington , 5, p. 384). Clinton closes with a comment on the payment of the militia "keeping a continual watch upon the frontiers of Georgia." Four months after this letter, Clinton was replaced and returned to London amidst mounting criticism for the British defeat. The loyalists, although eventually protected within the Treaty of Paris, found their property seized by angry patriots who gave them little recourse within local laws.