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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.

Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850 to Hancock Taylor

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00040 Author/Creator: Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850 Place Written: Vincennes, Indiana Type: Autograph letter signed Date: May 20, 1813 Pagination: 3 p. : address ; Height: 24.6 cm, Width: 19.2 cm Order a Copy

Expresses his disappointment that they have not yet taken offensive action against "some of the Indian Towns on the Wabash." Indicates that the rains had caused the delay. Discusses other news, including the appointment of Brigadier General Benjamin Howard to command in the Indiana Territory (and all the forces west of the Mississippi), General Green Clay's defeat at the siege of Fort Meigs, Commodore Isaac Chauncey and Brigadier-General Zebulon Pike's capture of York (the capital of upper Canada), and Pike's demise in an explosion. Notes that the Indians continue to steal horses, but no people had been killed recently. Asks for news from home about the neighborhood and crop prospects. Taylor would take over for Howard after Howard's death in 1814. Hancock was Zachary's brother.

Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850
Taylor, Hancock, 1781-1841
Howard, Benjamin, 1760-1814
Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 1779-1813
Chauncey, Isaac, 1772-1840
Clay, Green, 1757-1828

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