** THE 7 YEARS WAR - RARE LETTER FROM CAPTURED FRENCH CAPTAI...

Hammer

£1,400

** THE 7 YEARS WAR - RARE LETTER FROM CAPTURED FRENCH CAPTAIN TAKEN INTO CHARLESTON USA; Fine and remarkable 27 May 1762 EL (in French; with full typed transcript & translation) from "Charleston" to Bordeaux with manuscript "4[d]" British charge (1d Ship Letter plus 3d inland to London) as well as French "30" arrival charge on the front, having two very fine London "20/IY" transit Bishop Marks on the reverse. The letter was sent to his wife by a French Merchant Ship's Captain who had just arrived having been captured in mid-Atlantic by a British frigate; "My Dear Wife, I am sorry to tell you that having left on the 10th from the Cape [Haiti?] and being on the 19th at the latitude of 9°N, 30°W in longitude, I met a frigate from London armed with 24 canons, which was going from Antigua to Carolina. Having given chase to me for 9 hours, she caught me and I was forced to surrender. She drove me to Carolina, which we have reached today. I beg you not to worry and am your sincere husband, F. Suau. Time is short." Very rare cover from a French P.O.W. in British hands in America during the 7 Years War. [Not recorded in MFPWE.] Cross Reference: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, OFFICIAL MAIL, FRANCE, HAITI