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Middleton, Peter (d. 1781) to Myles Cooper

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01450.138 Author/Creator: Middleton, Peter (d. 1781) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 December 1777 Pagination: 3 p. : address : docket ; 31.1 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Written by Middleton as a Loyalist and former medical professor and governor at King's College (now Columbia University) to Cooper, the former president of King's College who fled New York in 1775 after revolutionary violence erupted. Reports on Burgoyne's failed campaign at Saratoga. Is very critical of the general's performance in the field, saying "Where do you find in the British Annals that a disciplined [&] gallant Army ever surrendered themselves with Arms in their Hands to a Rabble, to Militia?" Applauds the speech of the Archbishop of York that claims Presbyterians need to be restricted in the same way Catholics are in Britain. Claims their loyalty needs to be purchased and that their seditious history validates the archbishop's claims.

Middleton was one of the founders of Queen's College. An extremely rare item. Peter Middleton came to New York City from Scotland in 1752 and founded St. Andrew's Society in 1756. A physician, he was one of six who proposed that King's College open a medical school, which it did in November 1767.

Middleton, Peter, ?-1781
Cooper, Myles, 1737-1785
Burgoyne, John, 1722-1792
Markham, William, 1719-1807

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