James Mease to Thomas Jefferson, 1 October 1815
From James Mease
Philadelphia Oct: 1: 1815.
Dear Sir
I wish to preserve an account of the various medals which were struck by order of Congress during the War of the revolution and have been able to see and describe, those for the evacuation of Boston.—Burgoyne’s Capture;—Battle of Eutaw: Do Cowpens presented to General Morgan.—Do to Col: Howard on the same occasion.—The one presented to Col: Washington for his gallantry at the same battle: Those presented to Colo: Fleury for his bravery in the Storming West Point, and to Paul Jones for capturing the Serapis, I have not seen. one was also struck on the declaration of Independence, and another on the Capture of Andrei:—but I have not Seen them.
If you have any of the medals which I have not met with, and will favour me with a description of them, I shall esteem myself much indebted to you.—I would not trouble you, was my own gratification concerned, but I wish to present the account to the historical Society of New York—.
I rejoice to find that you continue to enjoy good health.—May it long Continue.
James Mease
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 6 Oct. 1815 and so recorded in SJL.
The French officer François Louis Teissèdre de fleury was awarded a silver medal by the Continental Congress for his actions in 1779 at Stony Point, near west point, New York (, 230; R. W. Julian, Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century, 1792–1892, ed. N. Neil Harris [1977], 118). Mease communicated his research on medals issued by the United States to the New-York historical society in 1818 and published his initial findings as “Description of some of the Medals, Struck in relation to Important Events in North America, before and since the Declaration of Independence by the United States,” in New-York Historical Society, Collections 3 (1821): 387–404. He published an expanded version of this article under the same title in Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections, 3d ser., 4 (1834): 297–320.
Index Entries
- André, John; medal commemorating capture of search
- Boston, Mass.; British evacuation of during Revolutionary War search
- Burgoyne, John; medal commemorating surrender of search
- Declaration of Independence; medal commemorating search
- Description of some of the Medals, Struck in relation to Important Events in North America (J. Mease) search
- Fleury, François Louis Teissèdre de; medal commemorating Revolutionary War service of search
- Howard, John Eager; medal commemorating Revolutionary War service of search
- Jones, John Paul; medal commemorating Revolutionary War service of search
- Mease, James; and medals search
- Mease, James; Description of some of the Medals, Struck in relation to Important Events in North America search
- Mease, James; letters from search
- medals; commemorating Declaration of Independence search
- medals; commemorating Revolutionary War service search
- Morgan, Daniel; medal commemorating Revolutionary War service of search
- New-York Historical Society; publications of search
- Revolutionary War; medals for service in search
- Serapis, HMS; medal commemorating capture of search
- Washington, William; medal commemorating Revolutionary War service of search