Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Jackson, Henry, 1747-1809
2. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
3. Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829
4. Emmet collection
5. Ford collection

Description

1. .1 linear foot (1 folder)

Summary

1. Henry Knox (1750-1806), United States Army general, was chief artillery officer of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and first United States Secretary of War from 1789 to 1794. The Henry Knox papers consist of letters sent by Knox to military officers and government officials on various matters, as well as a few personal letters and miscellaneous military documents. The bulk of the letters are written in his capacity as Secretary of War, mainly to state governors and U.S. Commissioners of Loans in several states. These concern strengthening frontier defense, pension payments to invalid soldiers, and instructions on naval matters such as the repatriation of prizes seized by proscribed privateers and maintaining the embargo of 1794. Letters written during the Revolutionary War, chiefly to Army Quartermaster General Timothy Pickering, concern requests for ordnance, horses and drivers, and payroll matters. Personal letters to General Henry Jackson and M.M. Hays pertain to Knox's land purchases and related debt. A letter to U.S. Vice President Thomas Jefferson dated March 9, 1800 introduces Mr. Pope, inventor of improvements to a horizontal wind mill, and expresses disappointment with the path of his son Henry's naval career. Documents signed by Knox consist of a certificate of debt settlement and military discharge, and a warrant to survey land for a soldier's military bounty.

Subject

1. Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
2. United States. War Department
3. Military pensions -- United States -- Revolution, 1775-1783
4. United States -- History -- 1783-1815
5. United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783

Genre/Form

1. Military documents.

Call number

1. MssCol 1661

Access (note)

1. Apply to Manuscripts and Archives Division for access at http://www.nypl.org/mssref.
2. Digital images must be used in lieu of originals.

Additional formats (note)

1. Available as digital images.

Funding (note)

1. Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.

Source (note)

1. Donated by John S. Kennedy, 1896, as part of the Emmet collection, and J. Pierpont Morgan, 1899, as part of the Ford collection, and purchase, 1941.

Provenance (note)

1. Most material was originally received as part of the Ford and Thomas Addis Emmet collections.

Author

1. Knox, Henry, 1750-1806.

Title

1. Henry Knox papers, 1779-1800.

Restricted access

1. Apply to Manuscripts and Archives Division for access at http://www.nypl.org/mssref.
2. Digital images must be used in lieu of originals.

Additional formats

1. Available as digital images.

Funding

1. Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.

Finding aids

1. Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Provenance

1. Most material was originally received as part of the Ford and Thomas Addis Emmet collections.

Source

1. Donated by John S. Kennedy, 1896, as part of the Emmet collection, and J. Pierpont Morgan, 1899, as part of the Ford collection, and purchase, 1941.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Collection guide and digital images

Occupation

1. Soldiers.
2. Statesmen.

Added author

1. Jackson, Henry, 1747-1809, recipient.
2. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826, recipient.
3. Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829, recipient.
4. Emmet collection.
5. Ford collection.

Research call number

1. MssCol 1661