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 Tench Tilghman

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01658 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Manuscript letter Date: 10 October 1782 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Height: 33.2 cm, Width: 20.5 cm Order a Copy

Written to Colonel Tilghman as an aide-de-camp to General Washington. Says seven prisoners of war who have been confined at West Point have petitioned him for relief. They were taken in the Northern Department and sent to West Point from Albany a year before. Lists their names and the circumstances of their capture. Says that they have families and that most of them have connections in Canada. If they cannot be released, they would like to go to Albany where they might assistance from their acquaintances. Says "their confinement is rather more rigorous than usually falls to the lot of prisoners of war captured under common circumstances." Says there are also 2 Germans who were sent to him 3 or 4 weeks ago "when you sent some tories and a letter for Governor Clinton." Says they were captured by militia when they attempted to depart for Pennsylvania and that the simply wish to go home. Written and signed for Knox in the secretarial hand of Samuel Shaw, Knox's aide-de-camp. See GLC02437.01656 for the petition.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Tilghman, Tench, 1744-1786
Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources