THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN NATION:
TREASURES OF THE SOL FEINSTONE COLLECTION
An Exhibit of Manuscripts Drawn from the Sol Feinstone Collection
To Commemorate the Thirtieth Anniversary of the
David Library of the American Revolution
Curated by Richard A. Ryerson, Academic Director of the David Library
In the 1940s Sol Feinstone, a Philadelphia businessman, conservationist,
philanthropist and avid independent scholar with a passionate love of the American
Revolution and a deep admiration for its central figure, George Washington, began
collecting letters by and to Washington, his generals, and other leaders of the new
American nation. By the 1970s he had assembled one of the finest private collections of
Revolutionary era manuscripts in America, and had founded the David Library of the
American Revolution, the nation’s only library devoted entirely to the Revolutionary era.
Sol Feinstone had a fine eye for the historically important letter and a firm belief
that Americans could best learn the origins of their political freedom as he had done,
through a careful reading of the words of the nation’s founders. As an immigrant from a
Lithuanian village under the control of Tsarist Russia, an absolute monarchy, he highly
valued American freedoms, and wanted to see a deeper appreciation of liberty in his
adopted country.
To achieve his dream, Mr. Feinstone first began making letters from his collection
available for viewing by visitors to Pennsylvania’s Washington Crossing Historic Park,
near his home. In the 1970s he made sure of his collection’s constant accessibility and the
broadest possible use by building and endowing a library, on the grounds of his farm, that
would be open to the public, free of charge. The David Library of the American
Revolution, named for a member of his family, and located at 1201 River Road,
Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, opened to the public in 1974, and remains open to
this day.
Mr. Feinstone had his manuscript collection microfilmed for use at the David
Library, and deposited the originals at the American Philosophical Society, where any
researcher may consult them. From that point, he and his successors at the Library
acquired thousands of reels of microfilm, containing images of millions of pages of
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manuscripts from archives in several nations, as well as several thousand books, to create
a truly impressive resource for anyone interested in the American Revolution. This
exhibit shows a small selection of the most interesting and important items from the
Collection, arranged in four cases that show four central areas of Mr. Feinstone’s
historical interests.
Case 1
FOUNDING FATHER:
GEORGE WASHINGTON IN WAR AND PEACE
At the center of Sol Feinstone’s interest in the American Revolution was George
Washington, and he is the dominant figure in the Feinstone Collection, which contains
over 300 letters by Washington, many of which are written entirely in his hand, as well as
many letters to Washington. These letters cover Washington’s entire adult life, but for
this exhibit, which focuses on America’s founding, the letters selected trace
Washington’s public career from his taking command of the Continental Army in 1775 to
near the end of his presidency in 1796.
The eight letters in this case highlight Washington’s national vision as a leader. In
letters 1 through 4, written during the war, he addresses a Massachusetts militia general
(Palmer), a Connecticut governor (Trumbull), his own chief of military intelligence
(Tallmadge), and a member of Congress (Gerry). Always his focus is on the relationship
of his Continental Army and his own office of Commander in Chief to the interests of the
whole nation. Whether the issue is balancing appointments among the states (letter 1),
reducing civil conflict between Patriots and Tories (letter 2), securing secret intelligence
from civilian sources (letter 3), or securing supplies for the army from civilians (letter 4),
Washington sees leaders and followers, soldiers and civilians, in a dynamic relationship
that would, if properly supported, lead to peace and freedom for the nation.
In letters 5 and 6, written from his retirement at Mt. Vernon after the war, he
again addresses national issues: of commerce to Sir Edward Newenham, a prominent
member of the Irish parliament; and of public order and the prospects for a new
constitution to one of his closest confidants from the war, General Knox. And in letters 7
and 8, President George Washington, as he begins his first term in office, expresses his
belief to another wartime colleague, General Schuyler, that America has just survived a
difficult time; and near the end of his presidency urges South Carolina’s Charles C.
Pinckney to put the nation’s interest first and accept a diplomatic appointment.
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Case 1
1)
GENERAL WASHINGTON to GENERAL JOSEPH PALMER,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 7 August 1775.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2226.
2)
GENERAL WASHINGTON to GOVERNOR JONATHAN TRUMBULL,
West Point, New York, 30 September 1779.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1607.
3)
GENERAL WASHINGTON to MAJOR BENJAMIN TALLMADGE,
Morristown, New Jersey, 10 May 1780.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2447.
4)
GENERAL WASHINGTON to ELBRIDGE GERRY,
Pennybecker’s Mill, Pennsylvania, 27 September 1777.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2174.
5)
GEORGE WASHINGTON to SIR EDWARD NEWENHAM,
Mt. Vernon, Virginia, 10 June 1786.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1576.
6)
GEORGE WASHINGTON to GENERAL HENRY KNOX,
Mt. Vernon, Virginia, 8 March 1787.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2194.
7)
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON to GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER,
New York City, 9 May 1789.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1591.
8)
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON to CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY,
Mt. Vernon, Virginia, 8 July 1796.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2462.
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Case 2
FOUNDING COMRADES IN ARMS: AMERICA’S GENERALS
The eight letters in this case were all written by men who fought for several years
in the Revolutionary War and reached the rank of either brigadier or major general. Most
of these men retired from national public service after the war. Only two, Henry Knox
and Anthony Wayne, continued as soldiers or administrators in America’s small post-war
army, and none held national office unrelated to war. In contrast, only one of the eminent
civilian leaders featured in case 4, Alexander Hamilton, served in the army. At the
national level at least, military and civil careers attracted different groups of men, with
only two great figures, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, achieving
distinction in both spheres.
Three of the letters in this case need some comment:
a) Benedict Arnold wrote his letter of 4 September 1780 (letter 9) just 19 days
before his plot to betray the fortress at West Point was discovered. The accompanying
graphic illustration features key figures in the conspiracy, including British Major John
André, whom the Americans captured and hanged as a spy, the Loyalist leader Beverley
Robinson, who assisted André and Arnold, and Arnold himself, who escaped and became
a British general. Major Benjamin Tallmadge, however, was not an Arnold conspirator,
but General Washington’s faithful spy master who suspected Arnold of treason.
b) When Horatio Gates wrote his 1774 letter to Charles Lee, (letter 10) both men
were retired British generals living in Virginia, but within a year both would accept
commissions as generals in America’s Continental army, and go on to have quite
dissimilar careers. On Lee, see letter 14 in this case; on Gates, see letters 19 and 20 in
case 3.
c) In February 1777, Charles Lee wrote a brief letter directed to either of two
member of Congress, Robert Morris and Benjamin Rush, from New York City, where he
was a prisoner of war (letter 14). Captured in December 1776 through his own
foolhardiness, Lee would not be exchanged for another year, just in time to rejoin the
army and make his last blunder, at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778.
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Case 2
9)
GENERAL BENEDICT ARNOLD to JOHN DENNY,
Near West Point, New York, 4 September 1780.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 65.
Engraving of central figures in Arnold’s treason. (APS)
10)
GENERAL HORATIO GATES to GENERAL CHARLES LEE,
Traveller’s Rest, Virginia, 1 July, 17 August 1774.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 362.
11)
GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE to COLONEL HENRY
HOLLINGSWORTH, Morristown, New Jersey, 10 December 1779.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 426.
12)
GENERAL HENRY KNOX to COLONEL HENRY JACKSON,
Mt. Vernon, Virginia, 15 November 1781.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 702.
13)
GENERAL GILBERT DU MOTIER, MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, to
GENERAL GEORGE WEEDON, Raccoon Ford, Virginia, 8 June 1781.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 749.
A small profile engraving of Lafayette, and a medallion portrait of the Marquis.
(APS)
14)
GENERAL CHARLES LEE to ROBERT MORRIS and BENJAMIN RUSH,
New York City, 9 February 1777.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 790.
15)
GENERAL JOHN SULLIVAN to GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON,
Near Newport, Rhode Island, 19 August 1778.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1341.
16)
GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE to “POLLY” (MARY PENROSE) WAYNE,
Ramapo, New Jersey, 29 June 1780.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2308.
The storming of Stony Point, New York, by General Wayne (APS).
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Case 3
FOUNDING EVENTS:
CRISES AND TURNING POINTS DURING
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR
The six letters and one brief narrative in this case feature five crucial campaigns
of the Revolutionary War: 1) Washington’s disastrous retreat from New York in the
summer and fall of 1776; 2) his brilliant counter attack at Trenton and Princeton in the
winter of 1776 – 1777; 3) America’s great victory over General Burgoyne at Saratoga in
the fall of 1777; 4) General Nathanael Greene’s gradual defeat of the British in the South
in 1781; and 5) Washington’s and Rochambeau’s Franco-American victory over Britain’s
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, in October 1781, which effectively ended the
war.
Four of the items in this case deserve special comment:
a)
The “Relation of the Engagement” (item 18) is a rare contemporary
account of Washington’s night march with his army from the heights above Assunpink
Creek, south of Trenton, to Princeton, where he surprised and defeated units of the
British army and escaped to safe winter quarters at Morristown.
b)
Burgoyne’s letter to Gates (letter 19), written just two days after his
devastating loss at the Battle of Bemis Heights, is an unusually personal note, asking for
the protection of Lady Harriet Acland, whose husband, Major John Acland, had just
become an American prisoner. The illustration shows Lady Acland being rowed down
river to visit her husband.
c)
In a letter to the defeated General Burgoyne (letter 20), written from
Washington’s winter quarters at Valley Forge just after the most difficult month at that
encampment, the American commander magnificently expresses both his deep empathy
for the captured British general and his satisfaction that his countrymen have defeated
Burgoyne’s army.
d)
In his letter to a European correspondent, Thomas Jefferson (letter 21),
theonly non-soldier in case 3, refutes British reports in Europe that the British are doing
well on the battlefield in America, and declares that the Americans are killing, wounding,
and capturing far more British forces than they are losing. To prove his point, he encloses
a slip of paper (also displayed here), on which he lists all the major engagements and
campaigns in the war from Lexington and Concord through Saratoga, and gives the
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casualties and captures in each event. He considerably exaggerates British losses,
especially of the number killed in battle, but his general point was sound, especially after
Britain’s loss at Saratoga.
Case 3
17)
GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON to SAMUEL WASHINGTON,
Harlem Heights, New York, 18 October 1776.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1613.
18)
“RELATION OF THE ENGAGEMENT AT TRENTON AND PRINCETON
ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THE 2nd AND 3d OF JANUARY 1777 BY
MR. HOOD 3d BATTALION.”
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1907.
19)
GENERAL JOHN BURGOYNE to GENERAL HORATIO GATES,
Saratoga, New York, 9 October 1777.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 133.
Engraving of Lady Acland’s visit to her husband. (APS)
20)
GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON to GENERAL JOHN BURGOYNE,
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 11 March 1778.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2443.
21)
THOMAS JEFFERSON to GIOVANNI FABRONI,
Williamsburg, Virginia, 8 June 1778.
(With enclosed list of British and American casualties of war from April 1775
through November 1777).
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 640.
Cartoon of the British cow of commerce being milked and de-horned by Holland,
France, and Spain after Britain’s devastating surrender at Saratoga. (APS)
22)
GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON to GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE,
New Windsor, New York, 18 April 1781.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1552.
23)
GENERAL HENRY KNOX to JOHN JAY,
Yorktown, Virginia, 21 October 1781.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2378.
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Case 4
FOUNDING BROTHERS – AND SISTERS – OF THE REPUBLIC
This case displays eight letters written by six men and two women who played
prominent roles in the development of the American republic. Nearly all of these writers
knew all the others personally, and sometimes intimately, as friends, as spouses, or as
political enemies, and all became known by name, if not by sight, to most Americans
during or shortly after the American Revolution. All were supporters of republican
government in America, although they did not always agree on what that meant.
Several of the letters in this case, unlike those in cases 1 through 3, have been
selected to show the interrelationships between their authors. Letter 24, placed at the
bottom center of the case, contains brief character assessments of Franklin, Jefferson,
John Adams, and Hamilton, as well as of Washington, and key passages from Madison’s
text have been transcribed for the viewer. Five of the other letters are worthy of special
comment:
a)
John Hancock’s letter to his wife (letter 26) shows that the unusually large
and elegant signature that he affixed to the Declaration of Independence was no
aberration; he signed all of his letters this way. (Note the accompanying graphic portrait,
with his signature at the bottom.)
b)
An interesting fact about letter 27 is its date, just one day before the death
of Dr. Rush, who in 1813 was Philadelphia’s most famous surviving member of the
Revolutionary generation. But John Adams, writing the letter some 300 miles to the
northeast, had no inkling that the life of his old friend, who was nearly ten years his
junior, was about to close.
c)
Hamilton’s letter to President John Adams’s former Secretary of War,
James McHenry (letter 29), contains a sharp attack on Adams by his bitterest political
enemy.
d)
Jefferson’s letter to his friend, the American diplomat William Short
(letter 30), has two distinctions. First, it effectively states Jefferson’s continuing hostility
towards his Federalist opponents (including John Adams and the late Alexander
Hamilton) nearly four years after he first defeated them to become president. Second, this
is a kind of “bicentennial letter,” as it was written just 200 years before the opening of
this exhibit.
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e)
Martha Washington’s letter to Mercy Otis Warren of Massachusetts (letter
31), is an exchange between two of the Revolution’s prominent “sisters”: one was
America’s first First Lady at the time of this letter, and the other was America’s most
accomplished political dramatist and would become an important historian of the
Revolution.
Case 4
24)
JAMES MADISON to J. K. PAULDING,
Montpelier, Virginia, April 1831 (with a transcription of key passages describing
several of his contemporaries).
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 871.
25)
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN and others to the SPEAKER of the RHODE
ISLAND ASSEMBLY,
London, England, 24 December 1774.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 346.
26)
JOHN HANCOCK to DOROTHY QUINCY HANCOCK,
Howland’s Ferry, Rhode Island, 10 August 1778.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 511.
Engraving of John Hancock, seated (based on the Copley portrait). (APS)
27)
JOHN ADAMS to BENJAMIN RUSH,
Quincy, Massachusetts, 18 April 1813.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 15.
28)
ABIGAIL ADAMS to THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS,
Quincy, Massachusetts, 26 April 1795.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1803.
29)
ALEXANDER HAMILTON to JAMES McHENRY,
New York City, 6 June 1800.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 485.
Engraving of Alexander Hamilton (APS)
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30)
THOMAS JEFFERSON to WILLIAM SHORT,
Washington, D.C., 10 November 1804.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 1931.
31)
MARTHA WASHINGTON to MERCY OTIS WARREN,
New York City, 12 June 1790.
Sol Feinstone Collection No. 2292.
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