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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.

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913 to Maria Damuth

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.14.12 Author/Creator: Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913 Place Written: Helena, Arkansas Type: Autograph letter signed Date: February 6, 1863 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope Height: 12.5 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Worried that his sister is sick with diphtheria. Many of the men in camp are sick, and the first man in Damuth's company has died. Damuth's friend Jesse has been vaccinated for small pox and complains of feeling unwell. Comments on a black servant who does the cooking - "a good fellow but is an exception to his race." Complains about division in the North between Republicans and pacifist Democrats.

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