Beschreibung:

HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY President . Autograph letter signed ("Willm. Henry Harrison Major Genl. Command[in]g") to Lieutenant Robert Burtin,[?], Head Quarters, Cincinnati, [Ohio], 25 May 1813. 1 page, 4to, integral address leaf, a small brown stain in blank portion, silked from verso [ with ] Autograph endorsement ("Public Service from Genl. Harrison Paid") on integral cover sheet addressed in Harrison's hand to Lt. Burtin Shawnee Town Illinois Territory," no postmark, but with ink notation of postal fee ("17"), seal hole patched. "Upon the receipt hereof you will be pleased to immediately to set out to join your Regiment by the way of this place...on the Sciota [River]. If you have any Recruits belonging to the Region they will be brought on with you...." The practice of adding the note "on public service" to franked covers was common practice among Army officers at this date to certify that the letter was official business. If the addressee had the franking privilege and could receive free mail (like the Quatermaster General, for example) then the postmaster would mark the letter "free"; if the recipient did not have the privilege of receiving free mail, "the certification was at least a justification that the postage was a legitimate expense to the Army" ( Stampless Cover Catalogue , p.210). While not a true frank, we have not located another example of this form of cover signed by Harrison in either the Edward Stern collection or, more recently, in the Morton Dean Joyce or Louis Grunin sales.