This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/18/2024
[BATTLE OF YORKTOWN]. TITCOMB, Moses (1746-1830). Autograph Letter Signed. Boston, Octob. 10, 1781. Addressed to his brother, Andrew, “Brother Andrew”. One 4to page on one 4to leaf. On plain white laid paper. Approximately 257 x 241 mm. Two horizontal and two vertical creases; toned, worn, soiled, with several tears along the creases. On verso is “Mr. Andrew Titcomb Falmouth [Maine]” with remnant of a wax seal. The letter begins with Moses relating to Andrew the goods that their father, Benjamin, has purchased. Then: “By a gentleman just arrived from Newbury we have the following Acct, By a Vessel arrived there from Bilbao, viz That the British & Combined fleets have had an Engagement in the Channel which terminated in favour of the Latter the British had returned into Port with the Loss of 6 or 7 Ships of the Line taken & left ye Combin’d fleets masters of those Seas. In Last, I am yr. Affectionate Brother Moses Titcomb”. This letter relates the successful blockade of the British fleet, keeping them out of Chesapeake Bay and unable to reinforce Cornwallis during the Siege of Yorktown. Three weeks after the blockade, Cornwallis was forced to surrender, thus ending the American Revolutionary War. A successful merchant from a merchant family, Moses Titcomb was a militia captain under James Sullivan and was also a member of the Committee of Safety at Falmouth and a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Inspection.