Letter Signed Regarding the annual Lady Washington Reception

(1827-1894) Born in Carrollton, Illinois, he graduated in the West Point class of 1847 and was assigned to the 3rd U.S. Artillery. He served during the Mexican War under General Winfield Scott, and was later on frontier duty and garrison duty as an assistant to Major George H. Thomas. He was adjutant at the United States Military Academy from 1854 to 1859, under Colonel Robert E. Lee. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commanding a battery of light artillery in the defenses of Washington, when he was assigned as chief of staff to General Irvin McDowell serving in the Battle of 1st Bull Run. Afterwards he served as chief of staff under General Don Carlos Buell, in the Army the Ohio, taking part in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, and the pursuit of General Braxton Bragg's army in Kentucky. Fry was appointed Provost Marshal General of the United States Army, on March 17, 1863, and promoted to rank of brigadier general. General Ulysses S. Grant was quoted as saying that General Fry was the officer best fitted to handle the position. General James B. Fry was brevetted to brigadier general, and major general, in the Regular U.S. Army, for faithful, meritorious, gallant and distinguished service during the Civil War. After the war Fry remained on active duty in the Regular U.S. Army, and served as the adjutant general of the Division of the Pacific, and as adjutant general of the Department of the East, until his retirement from the Army on July 1, 1881. General Fry died in Newport, Rhode Island, and was buried at the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia.

Letter Signed: 4 1/2 x 6 3/4, 2 pages in ink, on his imprinted letter sheet with his initials "JBF" at the top center.

Dear Madam,

I deeply regret that an engagement of long standing for the 22 instant which cannot be broken or accommodated to any other will deprive me of the pleasure & the honor of availing myself of your kind offer to escort one of the ladies at the opening of the "Lady Washington Reception" on the 22 inst.

Very truly yours,
James B. Fry

To:
Mrs. John D. Townsend
353 West 34th Street

Neatly written. Very fine letter. Interesting content relating to the very 1st Lady, Mrs. Martha Washington, the wife of President George Washington.

The "Lady Washington Reception" was an annual tradition that started in Philadelphia on May 7, 1789, during President George Washington's first term in office. This grand ball attended by a group of notables of the period was an event that provided the model for what would become the first official inaugural ball of the newly elected President and his 1st Lady. The term "Lady Washington" was a term used relating to British peerage and was meant to be a title of honor.