Hancock, John | Signed Revolutionary War military appointment, 1776

Hancock, John

Military appointment signed by Hancock as the president of the Continental Congress for John Armstrong as "Ensign of Captain Jeremiah Olney's Company in the Eleventh Regiment of foot commanded by Colonel Daniel Hitchcock," 1 January 1776

Partly printed document (sheet: 237 x 312 mm). Laid paper, accomplished in a neat clerical hand, signed by Hancock in the lower right, countersigned by Charles Thomson in lower left, with remnants of a paper seal at right edge, contemporary ink annotation on the verso; the document with uneven sun-fading and light toning, splitting along old folds and a few edge tears with expert paper restorations on the verso, a few short splits, a tiny hole, chips and tears unrestored, the manuscript ink fading in a few areas. Matted and framed with a portrait of Hancock.

An uncommonly early Revolutionary War commission, signed by John Hancock, for a ensign in a regiment that participated in battles throughout the war, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown.

While we are unable to trace this particular ensign, the Hitchcock's 11th Infantry Regiment was a storied unit throughout the Revolutionary War. It began as the 14th Continentals in May 1775, made up of volunteers from Rhode Island. The regiment participated in the the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Siege of Boston. The unit was renamed the 11th Infantry on 1 January 1776, the day Armstrong received this commission. Soon after, the 11th fought in the Battles of Long Island, Trenton and Princeton, before being renamed the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment on 13 January 1777. The regiment would continue as the 2nd Rhode Island until 1 January 1781, when it merged with the 1st Rhode Island. Its final engagement was at the Battle of Yorktown, where it was led by Jeremiah Olney.

PROVENANCE

Kenneth W. Rendell Gallery