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For sale rare1785 report is by Captain Andrew Moodie to Governor George Clinton New York
in OK condition, have some damage, please look the picturesnice to have for the collectionthank you for looking and good luckfrom research:The report is by Captain Andrew Moodie, dated May 5, 1785, and addressed to Governor George Clinton of New York. It lists cannon and their equipment at former military positions around New York. sheet can be an antique printed facsimile
Who wrote and signed it?
The signature reads “Andʷ Moodie,” an abbreviation of Andrew Moodie. The reverse explicitly identifies the report as being “by Capt. Moodie.”
Andrew Moodie was an American Revolutionary War artillery officer. The National Park Service identifies him as a captain in the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, and the Library of Congress’s Washington papers identify him as Captain Andrew Moodie of the Second Continental Artillery. Washington’s correspondence discusses Moodie’s earlier reports on artillery and ordnance stores at Fort Schuyler. These records make him a strong historical match for this document.
That is the recipient’s name, not another signature. The report is addressed to Governor George Clinton; it is not signed by George Washington.
What kind of document is it?
It is an official artillery inventory, called a return. Here, “return” means a report of equipment on hand.
My reading of the heading is:
“A Return of the ordnance on the lines at Fort Washington
& the adjacent Redoubts. May the 5th 1785”
The table records the following equipment. Blank spaces and ditto marks are interpreted as zero where appro
There was another cannon in the river below Fort Washington, near a rocky point. The tide was too high to identify it properly. Moodie also warned the people whose land held the guns not to sell or otherwise dispose of them, following the governor’s orders.
It is an interesting report about locating and protecting military property after the Revolutionary War, rather than a description of a battle.
The reverse reads:
“5th May 1785
Return of Ordnance in
the Vicinity of New York
by Capt. Moodie.”
1858 facsimile can itself be a legitimate antique—approximately 168 years old
