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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.

French & Co. Scene in front of Vicksburg

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05111.01.0087 Author/Creator: French & Co. Place Written: Vicksburg, Mississippi Type: Photograph Date: June 1865 Pagination: 1 albumen print Height: 24.1 cm, Width: 29.4 cm Order a Copy

A print of a photograph showing the Mississippi River as seen from the town of Vickburg, MS. Title from inscription on recto: "Scene in front of Vicksburg. "Desota" [De Soto] under water. 7 feet. Iron clads & tin clads in the Mississippi 1865." Inscription on verso: "Gun boats assembled June 1865." Also stamped "Kean Archives, Phila." The "De Soto," [a small U.S. army tug] after losing its rudder in the mud, was burned by its officers to keep it out of Confederate hands. In the inscription, "7 feet" may refer to depth at which the "De Soto" lies under water. The river has overflowed its banks and flooded the surrounding land as evidence of the small buildings and trees standing amidst the water in the background.

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