To Alexander Hamilton from Tench Coxe, 6 August 1794
From Tench Coxe1
Treasury Department, Revenue Office, August 6, 1794. “I have the honor to request you will place the sum of four thousand & forty seven dollars & 22 cents in the hands of Nathaniel Gorham Esquire of Boston for the purpose of paying for a quantity of copper & tin, necessary for making ten eight inch Howitz, and for a small advance upon the workmanship, agreeably to a contract with Paul Revere for that purpose.”2
LC, RG 75, Letters of Tench Coxe, Commissioner of the Revenue, Relating to the Procurement of Military, Naval, and Indian Supplies, National Archives.
1. For background to this letter, see Henry Knox to H, March 29, April 21, 1794; H to Coxe, April 4, 1794.
2. A draft of the contract between Revere and Coxe on behalf of the United States, dated July, 1794, may be found in RG 58, Records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, General Records, 1791–1803, National Archives.
On August 6, 1794, Coxe wrote to Gorham, supervisor of the revenue for Massachusetts: “You are hereby authorized to purchase such quantity of copper as may be wanted by Mr. Paul Revere for the casting of the ten Howitzers for the United States.… I shall immediately take the necessary measures for having the money … for the advance to Mr. Revere placed in your hands…” (LC, RG 75, Letters of Tench Coxe, Commissioner of the Revenue, Relating to the Procurement of Military, Naval, and Indian Supplies, National Archives). On August 7, 1794, Warrant No. 3932 for $4,047.22 was issued to Gorham for the advance to Revere (D, RG 217, Miscellaneous Treasury Accounts, 1790–1894, Account No. 7701, National Archives).