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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.

Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 to M. Jefferson Thompson

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05025 Author/Creator: Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 Place Written: New Orleans, Louisiana Type: Letter signed Date: 17 September 1862 Pagination: Order a Copy

Proposes an exchange of prisoners in response to Confederate General Richard Taylor's threat to execute ten Union prisoners from the 8th Vermont regiment. Refers to the deprivation of some property on Taylor's plantation and remarks that he believes it very unjust of Taylor to allow personal feelings to get involved. Makes no threat of retaliation and informs that he will not harm the prisoners he has captured. Written on stationary from the headquarters of the Department of the Gulf. 1 black and white bust engraving of Benjamin F. Butler.

Thompson, Meriwether Jeff, 1826-1876
Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893
Taylor, Richard, 1826-1879

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