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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Brewster, Caleb, 1747-1827 to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01755 Author/Creator: Brewster, Caleb, 1747-1827 Place Written: Fairfield, Connecticut Type: Manuscript letter signed Date: December 21, 1782 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; Height: 33.6 cm, Width: 21 cm Order a Copy

Written by Captain Brewster to Major General Knox. Claims Knox is the "Commanding Officer of the Corps to which I have the honor of being annexed." Sends along the account of a sea battle he had with Captain Hoit in Long Island Sound. While in Stamford with Major Tallmadge, he said he heard that Hoit was in the Sound with 3 ships and he went to attack him with 6 ships. Split his boats up -- sending 3 to the "North Side" of the island and 3 to the "South Side," to prevent their escape. After a short time he saw Hoit across the Sound from Huntington and immediately chased them. He eventually caught them and relates the story of the battle in gory detail, including hand-to-hand fighting.

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