Papers of British Secretary of War Henry Fox relating to Braddock's defeat near Fort Duquesne and the recall of William Shirley due to the "Intercepted Letters Scandal" [Decimalized .01-.22]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09054 Author/Creator: Place Written: s.l. Type: Header Record Date: December 1755-1 July 1756 Pagination: 22 documents Order a Copy
Official papers relating to the conduct of Major-General William Shirley (1694-1771), who served briefly as Commander-in-Chief until he was dismissed and nearly court-martialled. The most serious charge against him was that he was the source of secret information which a spy had attempted to send to the French government in letters intercepted in England and gathered by the Secretary of War, Henry Fox. As the autography letters in the present collection were sent to Fox, and many of the fair copies are of letters sent by Fox, it seems reasonable to suppose that the archive was formed by him. The presence of three original autograph letters, two from Halifax, and one from Barrington, proves that this group of papers is the official War Office file on Shirley's part in this "wonderfull mysterious matter."
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