Letter Signed ‘Amherst’ as Commander-in-Chief, to Captain Polson, 60th Foot, informing him that His Majesty has granted Polson “leave of absence for the recovery of your Health” by AMHERST, Jeffrey, 1st Baron, Field-Marshal

Whitehall, 18 December 1781. 1 page 9 x 7 inches, in good condition, a little dusty, with the integral blank leaf docketed by the recipient. The desirable autograph of General Jeffrey Amherst (1717-97) who commanded the British expedition against the French in Canada in 1758-60. In 1760 he was appointed governor-general of British North America. He had less success against Pontiac in the Indian rebellion which followed, and Amherst returned to England in 1763. In 1772 he became commander-in-chief, and in 1796 a field-marshal. Captain John Polson, 60th Foot, commanded the expeditionary force which set out from Jamaica in 1780 for an attack on Nicaragua, the expedition in which the 22 year old Horatio Nelson distinguished himself.