Washington signed the letter on May 7, 1777. It was written in response to a letter, five days earlier, from Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons notifying Washington of “an Event very Alarming to the Country” — a British victory in Danbury, Connecticut.

George Washington, who had been leading the battle for independence from Britain for almost two years. But on May 7, Washington wrote a letter to a worried subordinate, saying the raid had not been a disaster.

A letter written by George Washington in 1777 that is valued at $150,000 is up for sale this Presidents Day. The letter, acquired by the Raab Collection, was written during the Revolutionary War, when the British took the war to Danbury,