Our Collection

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.

Washington, George, 1732-1799 to Thomas S. Lee

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01273 Author/Creator: Washington, George, 1732-1799 Place Written: Yorktown, Virginia Type: Manuscript letter Date: 29 October 1781 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Order a Copy

Asks Governor of Maryland Lee to intervene on the behalf of Captain Thomas Shilds, who Henry Knox ordered to gather supplies for the siege of Yorktown. Shilds was authorized to impress material and he confiscated wooden planks from a man named William Adams, who consequently brought a suit against Shilds. Clerical copy in the hand of Samuel Shaw and signed by him for Washington. See GLC02437.01200 for a related document.

Washington, George, 1732-1799
Lee, Thomas Sim, 1745-1819
Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794
Shilds, Thomas, fl. 1781

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources