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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.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 [Printed letter from Lincoln to McClellan].

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08245 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Place Written: s.l. Type: Document Date: circa 1862 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 25 cm, Width: 19.6 cm Order a Copy

Contemporary printed copy of Lincoln's April 9, 1862 letter to McClellan castigating him for failing to adequately defend Washington and for his lack of action: "The country will not fail to note--is noting now--that the present hesitation to move upon an entrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated...you must act."

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