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1776 Soldier Enlistment Certificate

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American Revolution

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1776 Dated Soldier’s Enlistment Certificate

(REVOLUTIONARY WAR).
A rare and interesting, Revolutionary War-dated 1776 Soldier’s Enlistment Certificate for Simeon Barnes of Woodbury, (CT), June 27, 1776, 2.5” x 6.5”, Very Fine. Heavily toned and waterstained on the right side, but still pleasing and definitely rare. Partially printed and completed in manuscript, this was the soldier’s certification that he had, indeed, volunteered for service in the Continental Army. In full: “I, Nathaniel Bristol of Woodbury do acknowledge to have voluntarily inlisted myself a Soldier, to serve in the Battalion of Foot raised by the Colony of Connecticut, to join the Continental Army in New-York, to be commanded by Col. Fisher Gay Esq; until the Twenty-fifth day of December next. Witness my Hand, this 27 Day of June A.D. 1776.” (signed) Nathaniel Bristol

The Americans mounted an intense recruitment campaign in 1776 to oppose the British invasion of New York which, at the time, represented the largest expeditionary force ever sent overseas by the British. The Americans were handicapped by inferior numbers and a lack of experienced fighters. It was during this campaign that Nathan Hale was executed by the British as a spy.

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