Auction # 58 - Winter 2014 Auction

(Naval) [Dorr's Rebellion] 1842 (May 18) Kingston, R.I. to Navy Yard, New York, N.Y. Datelined folded letter to Lieu. A. A. Harwood (later Commodore during the Civil War) at the Navy Yard entered mails with red "New York May 20" cds and red ms. "1" cent drop rating, letter from Henry H. Harwood to his father reads "Gove. King decamped his men before the Arsenal to defendit when Dorr came up with his men and arranged them in order of battle and planted his cannon on top of the hill so as to have a good shot at us and then commanded his men to fire twice but the would not then he took a match and tuched one off but it flashed in the pan and his men began to move off and then Dorr ran when the Gove. and then, he was no were to be found.", Very Fine.
Estimate; $300 - 400.

The Dorr Rebellion (1841-1842) was a failed attempt to force broader democracy on the U.S. state of Rhode Island, where a small rural elite was in control of government. It was led by Thomas Wilson Dorr, who mobilized the disfranchised to demand changes to the state's electoral rules. After the defeat described in this letter, Thomas Dorr and his supporters retreated to Chepachet, where they hoped to reconvene the People's Convention. Charterite forces were sent to Woonsocket to defend the village and to cut off the Dorrite forces' retreat. The Charterites fortified a house in preparation for an attack; but it never came, and the Dorr Rebellion soon fell apart. Governor King issued a warrant for Dorr's arrest, with a reward of $5,000. Dorr fled the state.