RECEIPT FOR CLOTHING FOR THE CONNECTICUT LINE, SOON TO BE ENCAMPED AT VALLEY FORGE

Autograph document signed by Lt. Daniel Barnes, 8th Connecticut. White Marsh, Maryland, 2 December 1777. 2 pages, 8vo. Docketing to verso. 

A receipt for clothing signed by Lt. Daniel Barnes of the 8th Connecticut. The receipt included "Eleven flannel Shirts four pairs Overhalls one pair Breeches two pairs Shoes two pairs Stockings and four Great Coats." There is a postscript below making note of having received an additional "two Shirts two pairs wooling Stockings and one pair of Shoes." 

This clothing was delivered by a man named William Byington "to the Soldiers in Capt. Mattock Comp in Coll. Chandler Regt." There are two notes — one under Barnes's first signature and as part of the verso's docketing — that indicate Barnes was acting as the company's temporary commander in Capt. Mattocks's absence. It's unclear where Mattocks would have been at this time. 

Not much is known about Daniel Barnes. According to a copy of Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1783, Barnes enlisted as first lieutenant of the 8th Connecticut on 1 January 1777, since that was when the regiment joined the Continental Line under Col. John Chandler. From there, he received promotions for captain-lieutenant on 1 June 1778 and captain on 20 April 1779. He resigned from the regiment on 21 August 1780 (F.B. Heitman, 75). 

Capt. Samuel Mattocks (1739-1804) served in the 8th Connecticut alongside Barnes, with both likely resigned prior to the regiment's merge into the 1st Connecticut at the start of 1781. After his service in the military, Mattocks became heavily active in Vermont politics. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1781-1784, followed by a yearlong stint in the Governor's Council in 1785-1786. Additionally, he was an assistant judge of Rutland County from 1784-1789 and 1795-1786, as well as the county's chief judge in 1789-1790. At the same time as all these different terms, Mattocks served as Vermont's second treasurer, in which he acted as treasurer during Vermont's transition to statehood. 

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] 

Old folds, creasing, toning, occasional brown stains.