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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.

Speed, Joshua F. (Joshua Fry), 1814-1882 to William T. Sherman

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05607 Author/Creator: Speed, Joshua F. (Joshua Fry), 1814-1882 Place Written: Louisville, Kentucky Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 12 November 1861 Pagination: 3 p. : docket : Height: 20.7 cm, Width: 25.6 cm Order a Copy

Also signed by James Speed, Joshua's brother who served as Attorney General under president Abraham Lincoln. Signed by 32 others. Speed, a close friend to Lincoln, expresses his regret on behalf of the citizens of Kentucky that General Sherman will be leaving the Department of the Cumberland. Requests Sherman to use his influence to remain in Kentucky. States that though the Department will welcome the new leadership of General Buel (possibly Don Carlos Buell), "We still feel that your services will be of great value to out Common Country and almost indispensable to us in the field."

Speed, Joshua F. (Joshua Fry), 1814-1882
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Speed, James, 1812-1887
Buell, Don Carlos, 1818-1898
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

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