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.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 to Benjamin Lincoln

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01308 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Manuscript letter Date: 23 December 1781 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 23.1 cm, Width: 18.7 cm Order a Copy

Later copy. Duplicate of GLC02437.01309. Writes to respond to General Benjamin Lincoln's request of his opinon on where to store 4,000 barrels of public powder now in Boston. Declares that West Point is so important that they should do everything possible to provide ample supplies. Thinks 1,000 barrels should be sent to West Point as soon as the snow allows transportation. Also thinks that 1,000 barrels should be deposited at Springfield, and that the remaining 2,000 should be split between Reading, Easton and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through this arrangement "if either of the two objects proposed for the operations of the next Campaigns should be attacked, the whole of the continental powder not appropriated to the defence of posts would be brought together without much difficulty." Then explains how powder could be transported if either Charleston or New York were attacked. Explains that land transportation of the items will be very expensive, but it is unavoidable, unless they transport to portions of Pennsylvania over water, but that is very dangerous.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Lincoln, Benjamin, 1733-1810

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources