Sell or Auction Your Benedict Arnold Autograph Letter Signed for up to Nearly $17,500 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
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Free Appraisal, Auction or Sell Your Benedict Arnold Autograph Letter Signed
Below is a recent realized price for a Benedict Arnold autograph letter signed. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions can obtain up to this amount or more for you:
Benedict Arnold Autograph Letter Signed. Sold for Nearly $17,500.
The following are some prices we have realized for Benedict Arnold autograph items:
Benedict Arnold in 1780 Accused of War Profiteering, Abuse of His Powers and Then Spying for the British Unbelievably Writes: “…My character has been most cruelly and unjustly aspersed…”
Fantastic and scarce Benedict Arnold autograph letter signed “B Arnold” from Philadelphia, 20 March 1780, the year his betrayal to America was exposed. The notorious turncoat here tries to clear his name by requesting that the “good men of Delaware” have his court martial acquittal read aloud in the Delaware legislature (he writes to Delaware Governor and Declaration signer Caesar Rodney). Even though a court martial had cleared General Arnold of most charges, he was, whilst writing this letter, actively giving secrets to the British; his treason wouldn’t be fully discovered until six months later when Major Andre was captured with plans of West Point provided by Arnold. Letter reads in full: “Sir / The President of Council of the State of Philadelphia having published, & officially transmitted to the different States, sundry Resolutions of theirs, dated Philadelphia February 3, 1779, containing heavy Charges, tending to prejudice the minds of my Fellow Citizens against me previous to a trial, which with much difficulty I have at length obtained. The Justice due to my own Character (and to the Public who have been so greatly deceived) will, I trust, excuse the Liberty I take in transmitting to your Excellency the Proceedings of the Court Martial on my Trial, which I must request you will do me the Favor to lay before the Council of General Assembly, as I would wish to take off from the Minds of those Gentlemen every unfavorable Impression, which the unprecedented publication of the President of Council of Pennsylvania may have made, and to convince them that my Character has been most cruelly and unjustly aspersed. I have the Honor to be with the greatest Respect / Your Excellency / Most Obedient and / very humble Servant / B Arnold”. Arnold had been publicly accused of war profiteering and abuse of his powers as an American general the previous year. He demanded a court-martial to clear his name. The trial was not held for almost a year; in the meantime he began actively negotiating and sharing secrets with the British. The precise wording of Arnold’s statement is quite clever and even honest in a sense. Arnold was keenly aware of his own guilt, so he doesn’t actually claim that he has been slandered. He only wishes to convince the good men of Delaware that he has been slandered. Arnold would be publicly rebuked by George Washington just three weeks later, but the discovery of his treachery and his defection would not come for six more months. Provenance: Birch’s Lawrence Washington sale, 21 April 1891, lot 384; Parke-Bernet’s Oliver R. Barrett sale, 30 October 1950, lot 59. Single page letter is toned and with repaired seal holes. Dark Benedict Arnold autograph. Measures 8″ x 13.25″. Near fine. Sold for $28,100.
Benedict Arnold Autograph Note Signed — 1786
Revolutionary War General and defector, Benedict Arnold autograph note signed “B. Arnold” with a flourish underneath. Datelined St. Johns, 26 May 1786, Arnold requests of James Hayton: “Sir…send me by…my Servant. Fifty Pounds Currency & charge to acct. of…B. Arnold”. The most notorious American traitor, Benedict Arnold received from the British government an annual pension of 360 pounds and a lump sum of over 6,000 pounds when his plot against America was discovered in 1780. Benedict signed this note after he and his son Richard moved to Saint Johns, New Brunswick, where they speculated in land and established a business trading with the West Indies. Single page has browning to upper right corner and fading to writing. Overall in very good condition with a nice Benedict Arnold autograph. Sold for $3,670.
Benedict Arnold Autograph Letter Signed — 1786
Benedict Arnold autograph letter signed to James Hayt in New Brunswick, Canada, dated 17 October 1786. Arnold, the infamous turncoat, was a loyal American until 1780 when he was passed over for promotion and investigated for mishandling of funds. His plan to surrender West Point to the British in 1780 was discovered and Arnold fled. By the date of this letter, he was living in New Brunswick, running a trading business with his son Richard and friend Monson Hayt. Letter reads in part, “Pray forward the inclosed & oblige, B. Arnold / Should you & Mr. Huey send a vessel here this fall, she must leave St. Johns, by the middle or so Novr. B.A.” Moderate paper loss and toning to 7.5″ x 9″ letter with wax seal residue. Overall very good condition. A rare Benedict autograph letter signed. Sold for $3,604.
Here are some additional Revolutionary War items we have sold:
George Washington Military Document Signed as Commander of the Continental Army
George Washington document signed, “G Washington” as Commander of the Continental Army. Document discharges the soldier John Martindale, datelined Headquarters (Newburgh, NY), 8 June 1783. Countersigned by Jonathan Trumbull Jr. and H. Savage. Signed by Martindale on verso. Two-page document on a single sheet measures 8″ x 10.75″. Separation to folds and an additional half sheet patched onto verso. Overall in very good condition with a large, excellent signature. Sold for $13,728.
John Hancock military document signed from 1776, as President of the Continental Congress, appointing an Ensign to the 1st New Hampshire Regiment, headed by Colonel John Stark. At the Revolutionary War Battle of Bennington, Stark rallied over 1,400 untrained militiamen, without uniforms and using their personal firearms, to thwart a British raid on Bennington, Vermont, famously telling his troops, “We’ll beat them before night or Molly Stark’s a widow!” Dubbed “The Hero of Bennington” and promoted to General, Stark also proved himself at Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton and the Siege of Boston.
John Hancock’s large, eloquent signature is on full display here, with his characteristic paraph below. Dated 8 November 1776, document is countersigned by Charles Thomson as Secretary of the Continental Congress. Measures 12″ x 8.25″. Reinforced with paper on verso. Some separation along folds, with folds touching the ends of Hancock’s signature. Overall very good condition given age, and with a bold, attractive signature by Hancock. Sold for $9,375.
Marquis de Lafayette signs a letter as major general in the Continental Army. Handwritten by his nephew, George Augustine Washington, the letter is signed, ”Lafayette” in the Marquis’ hand. On 27 July 1781, from Malvern Hill [Henrico County, Virginia], he writes to Brigadier General George Weedon, ”…I make no doubt before this you have heard of the enemy’s being in Hampton Road. About two thousand five hundred have embarked and every thing in readiness to sail, supposed for N. York, but I cannot ascertain the certainty. They have on board pilots for the rivers and bay. I wish you to pay the most particular attention to have persons that you can confide in at the mouths of the rivers to give you the earliest information. Upon you I depend for the first disposition and the earliest information. Should they move up Potomack I will move there with the greatest rapidity as my present situation is as nearly calculated to protect the different parts of the state as possible…” Two page folio letter runs 8.25” x 12.75”. Small stains on the signature and elsewhere, but overall near fine. Published in ”Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution,” IV:280-1. Sold for $7,199.
Revolutionary War Broadside From Boston in 1775, With Loyalists Bidding Farewell to Colonial Governor Thomas Gage, the First British Commander-in-Chief — “…dark Contrivances of ambitious Men…”
Scarce Revolutionary War broadside, datelined Boston, 6 October 1775, after the commencement of fighting at Lexington & Concord, and Bunker Hill. Broadside consists of three letters by Tories in America, thanking Massachusetts Bay Governor and British Commander-in-Chief Thomas Gage for his service following his resignation. Each letter is answered, in turn, by Gage. As the first British Commander during the Revolutionary War, Gage was perhaps a scapegoat for the heavy losses sustained by the British at Bunker Hill. After the battle, he wrote to the English Secretary of War, “…They are now spirited up by a rage and enthusiasm as great as ever people were possessed of and you must proceed in earnest or give the business up…” Gage was then promptly relieved of his command and replaced by William Howe, although his reputation improved after the war’s end. Sold for $4,600.
Revolutionary War Document Regarding the Siege of Boston — Receipt for Lodging of Troops Who Fought at Bunker Hill
Revolutionary War document regarding the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the first battles in the Revolutionary War during the Siege of Boston. Datelined 1 August 1775 from Medford, Massachusetts, document serves as a reimbursement receipt to Seth Blodget of Medford, who quartered soldiers who fought at Bunker Hill. Reads in part: “barracking 100 Soldiers [for] 2 weeks” beginning 21 April 1775 (two days after Lexington & Concord) for “Cap Lynn’s & part of Major Moore’s Companies”, as well as “3 rooms Cap Kinsman’s Company & others to June 10th 1775″. On 17 June 1775, the 1st New Hampshire Regiment companies of Captains John Moore and Aaron Kinsman — referenced in this document, fought at Bunker Hill, one week after Kingsman’s company left the residence of Seth Blodget. In fact, in this document dated approximately two weeks after Bunker Hill, Moore is referenced as Major, a promotion he received on 18 June to replace Major McClary who was killed during the Battle. Although the British were able to capture the Charlestown Peninsula as a result of Bunker Hill, it was a pyrrhic victory, as they lost 1,000 men in killed and wounded, including almost 100 officers. After Bunker Hill, the British declined to attack again until they ultimately retreated to Nova Scotia in March 1776, thereby ending the Siege of Boston. Document is signed by J. Gilman, likely John T. Gilman of New Hampshire, who later served as the state’s Treasurer and Governor. Measures 8.25″ x 6.5”. In well-preserved, near fine condition given age. Sold for $1,006.
FREE APPRAISAL. To buy, auction, sell or consign your Benedict Arnold autograph letter signed that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
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