Letter signed by Colonel George Bornford (1780-1848), to Major Matthew Mountjoy Payne (1784-1862). Ordnance Department, Washington, D.C., 18 December 1826. 1 page, 4to, handsomely matted and framed.

George Bomford (1780–1848), the son of a British Royal Artillery officer, secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1804 despite his parentage. Following in his father’s professional tradition, Bomford proved a highly capable engineer and artillery officer, eventually rising to become the second Chief of Ordnance of the United States Army, a position he held from 1832 until his death in 1848. A veteran of the War of 1812, he later designed the heavy coastal-defense artillery pieces known as Columbiads, weapons that would become a mainstay of American harbor fortifications throughout the nineteenth century.

The letter reads in full:

“An order was on the 16th instant transmitted to Governor Troup for the delivery to him, or to his order, of 200 Pistols, and 200 Cavalry Sabres, from the Arsenal under your Command, which on its presentation you will please comply with. Inclose herewith, a copy of the instructions for issuing arms &c to the Militia under the Act of April 1808, for your government in such cases.”

In this communication, Bomford instructs Major Payne, then commanding the Augusta Arsenal, to comply with an order authorizing the transfer of arms to George Troup (1780–1856), the governor of Georgia. The directive called for the delivery of two hundred pistols and two hundred cavalry sabers, issued under the provisions of the federal Militia Act of 1808.

The timing of this order places the document within a highly charged political and military moment in the American South. In 1825, the State of Georgia concluded the controversial Treaty of Indian Springs, which sought to force the removal of Creek Nation lands within the state. Governor Troup aggressively pressed for the enforcement of the treaty and the rapid expulsion of Native inhabitants, even in the face of federal opposition. The present order for arms to Georgia’s militia reflects the militarization of the crisis and the broader tensions between state and federal authority that accompanied early efforts at Native American removal.

As such, the letter provides a revealing glimpse into the logistical machinery of the early United States military establishment and its role in supplying state militias during a pivotal and controversial episode in American expansion. A significant document linking the U.S. Ordnance Department, the Georgia militia system, and the escalating conflicts surrounding Native American land cessions in the 1820s.

[Seminole Wars, Florida Wars]  [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [West Point, United States Military Academy at West Point] 

Not examined out of frame.