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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.

Polk, Leonidas, 1806-1864 to Jefferson Davis

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02460.12 Author/Creator: Polk, Leonidas, 1806-1864 Place Written: Murfreesboro, Tennessee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 6 December 1862 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 26 cm, Width: 20.2 cm Order a Copy

General Polk writes to Davis, President of the Confederate States (and Polk's former roommate at West Point). Recommends Captain E. M. [Rucker?] for promotion to Colonel of Cavalry. Notes that Rucker has a command of that post, but lacks the commission.

Polk, Leonidas, 1806-1864
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

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