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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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1865

Morey, Charles C., fl. 1830-1865

Diary

Title: [Diary of Sergeant in 2nd Vermont Vols.]

Autograph manuscript signed. About Petersburg.

GLC01921.05

29 November 1864

Roy, Thomas B., fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Gustavus Woodson Smith

Roy, Assistant Adjutant General, writes from Head Quarters of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Relates the orders of the Department Commander, Lieutenant General William Joseph Hardee, to Smith. Hardee instructs Smith to "proceed at once with the first two trains of your troops which may arrive at Savannah to night... if you find yourself the ranking officer present... assume command and drive the Enemy back to their gunboats."

GLC01937

28 July 1864

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George G. Meade

Grant, commander-in-chief of the United States Army, writes to Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac. Writes that General Winfield Scott Hancock will return (possibly to City Point) and will be too fatigued for active operations against Petersburg the following morning. Asks Meade if he thinks the necessary preparations can be made for a morning assault.

GLC01953

7 August 1864

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry W. Halleck

Gives a detailed description of the unsuccessful cavalry raids by George Stoneman and Daniel McCook, Jr. at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Both took place on the June 27, 1864 in accordance with Sherman's Order 42. Before the raids, Stoneman asked Sherman's permission to attempt to free union prisoners held in Macon and Andersonville after the battle. Sherman consented. McCook heroically led the raid against a superior force, and was mortally wounded. Sherman was criticized for this attack against General Johnston's entrenched forces, which resulted in heavy union casualties.

GLC01961

1863

Marshall, William Edgar, 1837-1906

Sketch signed

Title: [Pen and ink drawing of council of war at Gettysburg]

Signed in pencil by Marshall, and apparently intended for publication. The original pen and ink drawing shows Meade, Sykes, Newton, Butterfield, Getty, and Howard. Mounted; dimensions refer to the image.

GLC02057

7 August 1781

Dunlap, John, 1747-1812

Newspaper

Title: The Pennsylvania packet, or, the general advertiser [Vol. 10, No. 765 (August 7, 1781)]

Reports news on the Charleston campaign and peace negotiations during the American Revolution. Contains news from other papers in America and around the world. An article from the London Evening Post discusses the "infamous letters, published...under the signature Cicero" by Joseph Galloway, a Pennsylvania lawyer and politician. Prints a British letter from George Germain intercepted on a ship to New York. Contains other news from around the colonies and many advertisements. Width unfolded is 52.8 cm.

GLC02059

18 September 1862

McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Leonard Ross

Discusses an exaggerated news report regarding the battle of Antietam. Writes "The substance of the news is that 'Genl McClellan has driven the Rebels out of Maryland with great slaughter and has bagged Genl Lee.' The bagging part I think is prospective and the other like all telegraphic news from the Associated Press must be taken with some grains of allowance. The dispatch says 'Bully for Mc'...I think on the whole it is good." Seems skeptical of the good news, and rightly so. Lee was not captured, and though he was driven from Maryland, both sides suffered heavy losses. Written on…

GLC02063.01

12 May 1861-1865

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Header Record

Title: Collection of Jeremiah M. Tate, H company, 5th regiment, Alabama, infantry [decimalized .01-.63]

Private Tate served for a time with Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah; he appears to have come from Pickensville, Alabama. Tate's letters, written to his mother and sister Mary Jane at Jenna Point (Tuscaloosa County, Alabama), concern First Bull Run, Peninsula Campaign, Seven Pines, Antietam, Stonewall Jackson, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg (letter #34 dated near Carlisle), and Petersburg. A number of letters concern fraternizing with Yanks and songs he sings. The collection has been itemized on inventory. His first name "Jeremiah" per coded name in letter #31. Some itemized letters are…

GLC02082

26 June 1861

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

Written in pencil from Fairfax Court House, Virginia. Comments on the possibility of battle if the Yankees don't run. Expresses desire to capture Yanks and kill them. Describes a hard march to Fairfax.

GLC02082.05

27 July 1861

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his mother

Written in pencil. Discusses First Bull Run, 10,000 fighting against 800, and 15,000 killed and wounded

GLC02082.06

8 August 1861

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

Written in pencil. Discusses First Bull Run.

GLC02082.07

1 November 1776

Hawkes, W., fl. 1776

Map

Title: The Country twenty-five miles round New York

Irregular shaped paper. Engraving with letterpress chronological table of events from 1773-Oct. 1776, engraved by J. Barber and printed by W. Hawkes. Irregularly shaped. Nebenzahl, Battle Plans of the American Revolution, 110, who notes that a later state is printed by Sayer & Bennett; Streeter Sale 2: 786.

GLC02005

1860-1866

Painter, Heber, 1841-1900

Header Record

Title: Collection of Heber Painter, I company, 58th regiment, Pennsylvania, infantry [Decimalized .001-.182]

The collection mostly consists of correspondence from Painter to his aunt and sisters. His letters contain descriptions of camp life, his feelings towards slavery, and anti-Yankee sentiment in Virginia shortly after the war. More specifically he witnesses fighting between the Monitor and Merrimac, the Battle at Batchelder's Creek, the Battle of Fort Harrison/Chaffin's Farm, the fall of Richmond, and the Union occupation of Petersburg. A collection inventory is available.

GLC02016

10 October 1778

Gaylord, Moses, Mrs., fl. 1778

Autograph letter signed

Title: Mrs. Moses Gaylord

Connecticut Revolutionary War soldier's letter to his wife in West Hartford. Mentions that there is not much news. Says a flag of truce was flown after a packet of materials came in from Congress. Suspects that it involves the exchange of 500 French troops in New London. Describes the fortifications at Fort Griswold and Fort Trumbull. Says he saw several privateers and captured ships in the harbor. Says they will fire their cannons from the forts on 17 October in remembrance of Burgoyne's surrender on 17 October 1777.

GLC02023

January 29, 1862

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

Gives news of Battle of Cumberland Gap. Reports that Beauregard is to command in the west.

GLC02082.13

23 April 1862

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

Discusses Peninsular Campaign and Yorktown battle action. Also relates news of conscript law.

GLC02082.14

11 May 1862

Tate, Jeremiah M., fl. 1829-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

Written in pencil from the "Chickahominy River" on small sheet of paper (appears to have been taken from a pocket diary). Discusses marching 8 days and nights, and military action.

GLC02082.15