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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.

Abercrombie, Gus (fl. 1861) to Paul J. Semmes

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00572.26 Author/Creator: Abercrombie, Gus (fl. 1861) Place Written: Columbus, Georgia Type: Telegram Date: 16 January 1861 Pagination: 1 p. ; 21.3 x 13.7 cm. Order a Copy

Telegram to Semmes requesting the service of his troops in Pensacola, Florida immediately. Advises him to go see Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown for further details. On telegram stationery of The Magnetic Telegraph Company. Written six days after Florida's secession. The Confederacy maintained control of Pensacola, but Fort Pickens, one of three forts guarding the harbor, was held by Union forces throughout the war. Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederacy on February 18, 1861 in Montgomery Alabama. Semmes's Columbus Guards served as an honor guard at the ceremony.

Abercrombie, Gus, fl. 1861
Semmes, Paul Jones, 1815-1863

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