Sir Order are this minut Recd from Col Silliman To Stop all the troops for that the Enemy are Retreated. Autograph document signed and attested to by Timothy Root. True Copy of an order issued by Major Thomas Bull to Captains Deming and Phelps. Newtown, [Connecticut], 27 February [ca 1775-1776]. "2 O Clock PM." 1p, approx. 7 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. Docketed to verso "To Capt Deming & / Capt Phelps."

The order reads, in full: "Sir Order are this minut Recd from Col Silliman To Stop all the troops for that the Enemy are Retreated. [Signed] Thos. Bull Majr. P.S. you are Desired to Send to Simsbury to Stop the Troops." 

The imminent skirmish, which seems to have been averted, was likely involving members of the Connecticut militia. Major Thomas Bull and Colonel Gold Selleck Silliman both served in the Connecticut militia. Multiple individuals with surnames "Phelps" and "Deming" served in the Connecticut militia as well. This formal military transcription of an order to stop the movement of American troops was distributed to Captains Deming and Phelps, possibly while Colonel Silliman and his troops of the Fourth Regiment Connecticut militia patrolled southwestern Connecticut. The southwestern border of Connecticut was continually harassed by Loyalists from Westchester County, New York. Newtown, though initially a Loyalist stronghold, had been subdued and was secured by the Patriots in 1775. The Fourth Regiment was largely composed of troops from Danbury and Newtown, who would have been active in patrol duties in the region.

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Revolutionary War, American Revolution] 

Light chipping, approx. 1 in. tear at center fold, verso with unrelated mathematical notations.