Autograph letter signed : "No. 38 Newman Street" [London], to [Sir James Pulteney], 1809 Apr. 19

Record ID: 
389244
Accession number: 
MA 1272.10
Author: 
Robertson, Walter Philip Colyear, 1743-1818.
Credit: 
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1899.
Description: 
1 item (1 p.) ; 25.0 cm
Notes: 

Endorsed.
Volume 15 (MA 1272) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 1272.1-57).

Summary: 

Submitting a proposal "for covering the Front of Bodies of Infantry with Musket-proof Shields;" expressing his frustration that it has not been well received among Officers of Artillery or Engineers "notwithstanding their having been informed that I had proved the Practicability of the thing by numberless Experiments - They gave no Reason whatever for giving a contrary Opinion to Doctor Hutton, or for pronouncing an Invention to be useless which two Generals who had commanded Armies thought worthy of Attention."

Provenance: 
Purchased from the Ford Collection of Manuscripts.