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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.

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8 May 1863

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Manuscript document

Title: to Ambrose Powell Hill

Pendleton signs as Assistant Adjutant General, marking the document official. Contains the clerical signatures of General Robert E. Lee and John Archibald Campbell, Confederate Assistant Secretary of War. Pendleton informs Hill "Your letter of March 11th/63 was forwarded to the A & I Genl Richmond with the following remarks, a copy of which was sent to your at the time." Includes the statement (which accompanied Hill's letter to the Adjutant and Inspector General, Samuel Cooper). The statement, possibly issued by Lee, asserts: "My opinion is that my Chiefs of Staff in executing my…

GLC03080

12 November 1861

Johnston, Joseph Egleston, 1807-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Says he "will not object to any enterprise" of the recipients, so long as it is based on solid knowledge of the enemy. As long as a move is based on "precise information" he will approve it and support an offensive action. Also asks a question about the enemy's position. Written to an unknown "General."

GLC03082

1813/07/23

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Dev[ereux] DeLacy re: inland navigation, defending Chesapeake Bay

Incomplete. Lined verso. The third line up from the end lacks the line "power. There is a proposition now pending in Congress for an amendment" supplied by the polygraph copy at the Library of Congress. De Lacy came from Charleston, S.C. Most of Jefferson's letter concerns the possibility of stationing warships at Lynnhaven ("Lynhaven") Bay at the mouth of the Chesapeake. Jefferson says that he suggested a canal between Lynhaven River to East River, to allow communication between the Chesapeake and its inner waters near Norfolk. (President Madison rejected the suggestion.) Jefferson…

GLC03084

21 February 1846

Cheatham, Henry, fl. 1846 Cheatham, Henry, fl. 1846

Broadside

Title: Assignee's sale

Broadside announcing sale of "real and personal property," including enslaved people, from the estate of William R. Robertson. Lists 600 acres of land in the town of Union, Missouri, 19 or 20 enslaved people, farming utensils, horses, cattle, and hogs. States the enslaved people consist of "...men, women, girls, and boys, comprising several good house and farm servants, and some good weavers." Cheatham is the assignee.

GLC03085

15 January 1861

Curtin, Andrew Gregg, 1815-1894

Broadside

Title: Daily telegraph --- extra. Inaugural address of Gov. Andrew G. Curtin

Broadside of inaugural address of newly-elected Pennsylvania Governor Curtin, who would serve through the Civil War. Top of the broadside says "Daily Telegraph --- Extra," which is probably a reference to the "Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph," based out of Harrisburg. Begins as a feel-good speech, which says he will fulfill his duties to the utmost of his abilities. Wants to maintain good economic management and keep paying off the state debt. Becomes more relevant when he references the growing secession crisis and says "No one who knows the history of Pennsylvania and understands the opinions…

GLC03086

circa 20 April 1865

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Photograph

Title: [General Robert E. Lee and staff]

Image showing General Robert E. Lee and two members of his staff. The staff members are identified as possibly Lee's son G.W. Custis Lee (on his right) and Aide Col. Walter H. Taylor (on his left). Brady photographed Lee after his return from Appomattox to his home in Richmond, April 1865. (Other copies: GLC00957 and GLC00579.)

GLC03088

1865

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Header Record

Title: Charleston, S. C. prints [photographs showing destruction]

GLC03089

1865

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Photograph

Title: Charleston, South Carolina 1865.

One photograph entitled, "Charleston, South Carolina, 1865" taken by Mathew Brady. Image shows the interior of Fort Sumter prior to the ceremony for the fourth anniversary of its bombardment.

GLC03089.01

1865

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Photograph

Title: Charleston, South Carolina. 1865.

One photograph entitled, "Charleston, South Carolina. 1865" taken by Mathew Brady. Image shows Union troops lounging on the front steps of Charleston City Hall. The building appears to have suffered minor damage.

GLC03089.02

1865

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Photograph

Title: Charleston, South Carolina. 1865.

One photograph entitled, "Charleston, South Carolina. 1865" taken by Mathew Brady. Image is of Roper's Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina. The long, three story building, stands in the background. The foreground are high wooden fences with piles of debris. During the war, the hospital aided Confederate soldiers and served as a prison for Union troops.

GLC03089.03

1865

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Photograph

Title: Charleston, South Carolina. 1865.

One photograph entitled, "Charleston, South Carolina," taken by Mathew Brady dated 1865. Image is of an unidentified street scene showing storefronts with stripped awnings. The sidewalk and small parts of the buildings are in disrepair. A man sits in front of one of the stores while two men on a small carriage pass by.

GLC03089.04

1863 ca.

Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882

Photograph

Title: Dead soldier on a battlefield

GLC03090.01

1864 ca.

Wynkoop, George, fl. 1864

Photograph

Title: Carte de visite portrait of George Wynkoop

Standing portrait of Lt. Colonel of George Wynkoop of the 98th PA Volunteers.

GLC03090.02

1864 ca.

Photograph

Title: [James A. Garfield]

Carte de visite portrait of Garfield in uniform, 3/4 sitting.

GLC03090.03

1861-1865 ca.

Photograph

Title: 3 portraits of Civil War soldiers in uniform: 1 quarter type, 2 sixth type

3 tintype images accompanied by a "Union" military case with cannon.

GLC03090.04

28 June 1864

Russell, Andrew J., 1829-1902

Photograph

Title: Front of Arlington House

Image of Robert E. Lee's estate at Arlington, Virginia. Union soldiers sit on the front steps of the portico, dwarfed by the immense columns they lean on. The estate was used by Union soldiers as a hospital and later turned into Arlington National Cemetary. Captain Russell photographed in the field. (See GLC03029.03 of Arlington House). Russell's name was scratched into the negative by the sidewalk. There is some damage and discoloration on the right edge of the image.

GLC03092.01

circa 1862

Russell, Andrew J., 1829-1902

Photograph

Title: [View on the James River]

One undated image was taken by Andrew J. Russell. The image is of a stretch of the James River; the specific scene has not been identified. The image may have been taken during General George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. It depicts the banks of the river, rising towards small bluffs with a sparse scattering of trees. The mount has suffered some damage.

GLC03092.02

circa 1862

Russell, Andrew J., 1829-1902

Photograph

Title: [Photograph of the effect of a shell explosion near Fredericksburg, Va.]

One undated photograph was taken by Andrew J. Russell. The image shows General Herman Haupt leaning against a stump and surveying the damage to artillery caissons caused by a shell. The caissons lie in wreckage next to the dead mules who had hauled them. The image is damaged on the left margin of the photo negative.

GLC03093

22 April 1865

Gutekunst, Frederick, 1831-1917

Photograph

Title: Albumen of Ulysses S. Grant at time of Lincoln funeral

Portrait of General Ulysses S. Grant. Grant wears a black mourning armband, his left hand tucked in his coat in a "Napoleonic" pose. Probably taken while Lincoln's courtege traveled through Philadelphia. (See GLC01270, carte de visite).

GLC03094