Ellery, William, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island

Autograph letter signed ("William Ellery"), one page (7 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.; 190 x 155 mm), Newport, 2 September 1782, to General Nathan Miller of Rhode Island, attempting to vindicate his reputation after Daniel C. Mowrey had slandered him; inlaid, washed and pressed. Blue linen folding case, blue morocco spine lettered gilt; spine faded to teal. 

Journals of the Continental Congress, 2:91

Ellery attempts to vindicate himself against a slanderous remark made by one Daniel C. Mowrey that he was an "enemy to Genl. Washington." He writes to Nathan Miller, formerly a Brigadier General of the Rhode Island militia and now a deputy to the General Assembly: "I have been informed that the honble Daniel C. Mowrey had told you that I was an enemy to Genl. Washington, and in proof of his assertions said that, upon a question in Congress, whether Genl. Washington or Genl. Gates should be Commander in chief of the armies of the United States, I had voted for Genl. Gates ... and that he had seen the vote in the journals of Congress, or had a copy of it at his house. ... As by a report of this sort my character hath been sensibly affected in this State ... I wish to know from you the expressions he made use of as exactly as you can recollect them." According to the entry for 15 June 1775 in the Journals of the Continental Congress, the vote for Washington as Commander-in-Chief was unanimous. The change of date and of the addressee on the docket seems to indicate that similar letters were circulated in Ellery's attempt to redeem his reputation.