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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.

Smith, Asa to mother

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03696.05 Author/Creator: Smith, Asa Place Written: Camp Hamilton, Hampton, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 12 December 1861 Pagination: 4 p. ; 20.6 x 12.8 cm. Order a Copy

to mother [Ann Smith] Life in camp is dull. The regiment has a new lieutenant. His company is very good at drilling, and they are practicing under Col. Max Weber from Europe. The brigade practiced firing, and he says "there is music in the whistle of minnie balls especially when you hear some three thousand of them at once." He answers a question about his daily schedule. The sutler's store is closing, and he is glad. He received a letter from Natick, Massachusetts. Numbered in pencil "32."

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