Letter from John Trumbull to Lord Sidmouth, June 1813

Abstract

A letter from John Trumbull to Lord Sidmouth, dated June 22, 1813. The letter requests a visit with Lord Sidmouth. Trumbull notes that he is the former Secretary to John Jay and asks for “the honour of a few minutes conversation”. An attached sheet contains Lord Sidmouth’s reply, dated June 24, 1813. He requests that Trumbull visit him at the Home Office the following day at half past twelve. The reverse side of this letter contains notes that Trumbull made about their conversation, much of it concerning the War of 1812. Some of his notes follow:

“conversation turned on the destruction of small towns on the Chesapeake. I expressed my high satisfaction that the officers & troops in Canada, instead of retaliating the threats held out in Gen’l Hull’s proclamation, of giving no quarters & the conduct of the commanding officer of Fort Niagara, in firing hot balls upon the Village of Newark—had conducted the war with humanity and restrained the savages in a great degree from their usual habits of indiscriminate destruction & burning…His [Lordship] made many professions of gen’l good will to the U.S.—regretted the war which had been forced upon Great Britain by the unreasonable pretensions of the American Government”