[AUTOGRAPH MEMORANDUM REGARDING THE DETENTION OF THE SHIP HOLLAND ON AUGUST 7, 1796].

John Trumbull's undated account of the British detention of the ship Holland of Philadelphia, captained by Joseph Dawson. During a period when he engaged in commercial trading in Europe, Trumbull was travelling with his cargo of brandy from Rochefort, France, to Gothenburg, Sweden, aboard the Holland when she was stopped and boarded by the British fourteen-gun brig-sloop Suffisante under the command of Capt. Nicholas Tomlinson. Captain Tomlinson demanded to see the Holland's papers and then went about detaining most of the ship's crew aboard his own vessel. Trumbull, highly outraged at the delay of his cargo and the imposition upon his fellow countrymen, wrote the following note, included in the memorandum, to Capt. Tomlinson: "To Captain Tomlinson of the Armed Brig the Suffisante in the Service of his Britannic Majesty. Colonel Trumbull, late Secretary to Mr. Jay, who negotiated the present Treaty between Great Britain and America, and Owner of the Cargo of the Ship Holland, presents his Compliments to Captn Tomlinson; has the Pleasure to send him a Copy of the Treaty abovenamed; and begs Captain Tomlinson to Reflect whether consitantly [sic] with the Articles which Mr. T has marked, it is Justifiable to divert the Holland from her Course, the ship being American built, the Property of Mr. Johnson, the American Consul in London, and the Cargo the property of Col. Trumbull, who also is a well-known American. If Captn. Tomlinson persists in taking the ship out of her Course, Col. Trumbull particularly protests against his removing either Capt. Dawson or any of the People from on board. But, Captain Tomlinson should be very secure that He is Justified by his Instructions on this occasion, as either He or his Instructors must answer for the consequences of an Act against which Colonel Trumbull hereby formally protests, as a direct violation of the Treaty, & good Harmony which subsist between the United States of America and Great Britain." Shortly thereafter Capt. Dawson and his crew were returned to the Holland and Capt. Tomlinson even came aboard and "behaved very civilly, drank a glass of claret with us, and returned on board his Brig." There is no indication of the intended audience for this document. It has the appearance of a draft, as there are several bits crossed out or amended. It is possible that this episode was recorded for inclusion in Trumbull's autobiography, though it does not appear in that volume, or for possible diplomatic use later. Hailed as the official painter of the Revolution, Trumbull studied painting and art in England and France. The youngest son of the governor of Connecticut, the elder John Trumbull very much wanted his son to go into law. Trumbull did study the law, but gladly joined the fight against the British when the Revolution broke out. He eventually served as Washington's second aide-de-camp, having been brought to the General's attention through some very accurate drawings he had made of British gun emplacements. He rose to the rank of colonel as a deputy adjutant-general, but resigned the commission he finally received because it was dated three months late, a slight his honor could not tolerate. He refused to return to the law, finding it quite distasteful, and chose instead to pursue his true passion, art, against his family's wishes. Although he was never particularly wealthy in this pursuit, he did achieve a certain amount of success in his own lifetime. Among his most famous works are those commissioned in 1817 by Congress to adorn the Capitol building: "The Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga," "The Surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown," "The Declaration of Independence," and "The Resignation of General Washington." DAB XIX, pp.11-15. Helen A. Cooper, John Trumbull: The Hand and Spirit of a Painter (New Haven: Yale Univ. Art Gallery, 1982), pp.10-11. Theodore Sizer, ed., The Autobiography of John Trumbull, Patriot-Artist, 1756–1843 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1953). O.…