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47 lines in two hands, on both sides of a stamped folio leaf; a few tears along old folds, sl. marked. A manuscript document 'By His Excellency Sir Charles Hardy Knt., Captain General, Governor & Commander in Chief & Over His Majesty's Province of New York.' to Henry Cruger, Paul Richard and William Walton, giving authority for them to audit the accounts of Peter Van Brugh Livingston and Lewis Morris Junior, who had 'supply'd sundry warlike & naval stores, provisions, sums of money & other necessaries for his Majesty's Service under his said General Shirley's Command in North America'. The reverse is the manuscript response from the auditors: 'Pursuant to the within warrant we the subscribers have examined the accounts of sundry warlike and naval stores, provisions, cloathing, sums of money and other necessaries. Merchants amounting to eighty seven thousand six hundred and seven pounds seventeen shillings and one half penny upon which by their account current attested of this date there appears to be due to them the sum of eleven thousand five hundred and thirty six pounds fifteen shillings and seven pence halfpenny current lawful money. which we find right. and properly vouch'd'. This large sum, the equivalent of £19 million today, was for supplying General Shirley's expedition into the Canadian Maritime provinces to forcibly remove the Acadian people as part of the military campaign against New France. Between 1755 and 1764, 11,500 Acadians were deported and dispersed within the British colonies. The result was the desolation of the Acadian people; thousands died in the expulsions and, by 1764, only 2,600 Acadians remained in Acadia. A record in the National Archives ('Memorial of Peter Van Brugh Livingston and Lewis Morris jnr.'), suggests that they had not been paid by December 1756. It details 'what they have done and supplied for the forces and asking for money due to them'. Peter Van Brugh Livingston, 1710-92, and Lewis Morris, 1726-98, were wealthy merchants and landowners from prominent American families. Both were Patriots during the American Revolutionary Wars with both becoming members of the New York Provincial Congress. Despite Morris's brother, Staat Morris, being a general in the British Army, Lewis signed the Declaration of Independence stating: 'Damn the consequences. Give me the pen'. Although Livingston did not sign the Declaration of Independence, his brother Philip did; his younger brother William, was a signatory on the United States Constitution. PLEASE NOTE: For customers within the UK this item is subject to VAT. Seller Inventory # 93317
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