Revolutionary War-dated partly-printed DS, signed “John Hancock, President,” one page, 15.25 x 9.75, January 1, 1776. As president of the Continental Congress, Hancock appoints Reuben Scofield as a "Second Lieutenant of Captain Joseph Haits Company in the Nineteenth Regiment of foot Commanded by Colonel Charles Webb in the Army of the United Colonies, raised for the defence of American Liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof." Prominently signed at the conclusion by Hancock, and countersigned by Charles Thomson as secretary. In very good to fine condition, with scattered light toning, and archival reinforcements to the intersecting folds on the reverse.A citizen of Stamford, Connecticut, Scofield served as a Second Lieutenant in Colonel Charles Webb's Regiment of the 19th Continental in 1776. The regiment began the year marching under General Washington to New York by way of New London and vessels through the Sound, and served in that vicinity from April to the close of the year. It assisted in fortifying the city, and was ordered to the Brooklyn front on August 27th; although it did not engage in the Battle of Long Island, and only partially engaged at the Battle of White Plains, the 19th fought valiantly at the Battles of Trenton on December 25th. An extremely desirable 1776 document signed in the year Hancock famously applied his name to the Declaration of Independence.Format: DS