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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.

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870 to Sidney Smith Lee

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00215 Author/Creator: Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870 Place Written: Mexico City, Mexico Type: Autograph letter signed Date: May 21, 1848 Pagination: 1 p. : envelope Height: 27 cm, Width: 21 cm Order a Copy

It is a secretarially written and signed letter. Written to his brother (addressed "My dear Rose") as Engineer accompanying the Mexico expedition. A joyous Lee proudly announces the final ratification of a Peace Treaty between the United States and Mexico, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which the United States gained its entire western territory, from Texas to California. Lee comments that he is "exhilarated by the prospect of getting home, when I shall again see you & my dear Sis Nanie." Envelope addressed to Sidney Smith Lee, Annapolis. According to Paul C. Nagel book, The Lees of Virginia, "Rose" was Sidney S. Lee's nickname. With envelope and carte de visite.

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870
Lee, Sidney Smith, 1802-1869

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