Heath, William (1737-1814) [Application and petition on behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Massachusetts regiments of the Continental Army for compensation as a result of their services during the American Revolution]
High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10244 Author/Creator: Heath, William (1737-1814) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Printed document Date: 28 February 1792 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 38 x 23.3 cm. Order a Copy
Written by a Committee appointed "by the Officers of the Massachusetts line of the late army to attend to and prosecute their memorial to the Congress of the United States, on the subject of compensation for the losses sustained by them and the soldiers who served during the war ... " States that they have yet to receive anything for their services from the government and will continue to petition "until we obtain consideration and relief; or until it shall be declared by the voice of the United States in Congress, that our claims are visionary and without foundation; and that a hard-earned bona fide debt can be honourably and justly cancelled by certificates received in the first instance by a kind of compulsion, alienated in most cases from necessity, unsupported by funds, and passing in exchange for only a sixth or an eight of their nominal value." Sends an agent, General William Hull, to Congress in Philadelphia to plead their case. Noted as a circular. With clerical signatures of Heath, J. Brooks, T. Edwards, H. Jackson, W. Eustis, and Jo. Crocker. Signatures appear to be written by the same hand directed to Henry Knox. Watermarked with a hunting horn inside a crest.
Heath was an American farmer, soldier, and political leader from Massachusetts. He served as a Major General in the Continental Army during the Revolution. Brooks was Governor of Massachusetts from 1816 to 1823 and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution as a Captain. He was later appointed Major General of the Middlesex Militia which he led in suppressing Shays' Rebellion. He was appointed Adjutant General and won the governorship with the Federalist Party in 1816. During Brooks's tenure that Massachusetts's territory of Maine became an independent state. Jackson was the founder of "Jackson’s Additional Continental Regiment" which was officially designated the 16th Massachusetts Regiment. Although this unit was disbanded in 1781, Jackson remained in service until 1784 and commanded the last remaining regiment in the Continental Army. William Eustis was a United States Secretary of War and Ambassador to Holland under President James Madison. He also served as a Republican Representative from Massachusetts from 1801-1804 and 1819-1822 and later as Governor of Massachusetts. Hull was a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and a brigadier general during the War of 1812. He also served as the governor of the Michigan Territory under President Thomas Jefferson.
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.