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Lot 66

GEORGE III
Autograph letter signed ("George R"), to his son Frederick, Duke of York, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, approving the Ministry's proposals put to him through Lord Hobart, Queen's House, 24 January 1803

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £812.50 inc. premium

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GEORGE III

Autograph letter signed ("George R"), to his son Frederick, Duke of York, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, approving the Ministry's proposals put to him through Lord Hobart, that "a reinforcement to be sent of Ireland" of 2000 men, with Frederick's suggestion that the 79th, 90th and 93rd also be sent; and also approving that "the reducing the Standard of the Regiment of the line one Inch by way of forwarding Recruiting" although he does not think this will have much effect while militias are enrolling; finally, he states that "The 53rd Reg.t of Foot proceeding to Scotland and the first Corps arriving from abroad having the same destination is perfectly proper considering the reduction of force in that part of the Kingdom by the proposed reinforcement to Ireland"; subscribing himself "Your most affectionate Father", 1 page, integral blank, contemporary docket, guard to blank, 4to, Queen's House, 24 January 1803

Footnotes

ʻA REINFORCEMENT TO BE SENT TO IRELAND': following the rising of 1798, unrest was once again threatening in Ireland with Robert Emmett's attempted seizure of Dublin Castle taking place that July. Meanwhile the Peace of Amiens, signed the previous year, was beginning to unravel and war was renewed that May. Fearing invasion, the British home army had grown enormously: the peacetime force of 52,000 troops was expanded by recruitment, backed by the embodied militia and by a supplementary militia which by that July numbered 70,000; by the following January there was an army of over 230,000 men in Britain plus a force of 400,000 volunteers (John D. Grainger, The Amiens Truce: Britain and Bonaparte, 1801-1803, 2004, p. 205). The proposal that "the Standard of the Regiment of the line" be reduced by one inch presumably refers to minimum heights in recruiting.

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