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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.

Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) to Gen. Rufus Saxton

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00790 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 25 May 1862 Pagination: 1 p. ; 13 x 18.8 cm. Order a Copy

"If Banks reaches Martinsburg is he any the better for it?" re: Gen. Banks's retreat before Jackson.

Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), Vol. V 1861 - 1862,
p. 237

Notes: Not in Basler but compare related ALS to General Saxton of May 24, 5:234.

Washington City, D.C.
May 25. 1862 4 1/4 P.M.
Gen. Saxton
Harper's Ferry
If Banks reaches Martinsburg is he any the better for it? Will not the enemy cut him off from thence to Harper's Ferry? Have you sent any thing to meet him & assist him at Martinsburg? This is an enquiry, not an order.
A. Lincoln

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