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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.

Pendleton, Edmund, 1721-1803 to James Madison

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00099.068 Author/Creator: Pendleton, Edmund, 1721-1803 Place Written: Caroline Type: Autograph letter signed Date: May 7, 1781 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 22 cm, Width: 17 cm Order a Copy

The letter discusses the state of the British, the war in Virginia, and British plundering "their plunder is immence particularly in slaves." Also mentions: French fleet, Spanish fleet, Dutch fleet, Sir Henry Clinton, General Phillips, James River, Williamsburg, VA, Battle at Blandford, Marquis de Lafayette, Richmond, VA, Benedict Arnold, possibly Manchester, MD, General Muhlenberg, York Town, VA, plunder of British Troops, and General Greene.

Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801
Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, Marquis, 1738-1805
Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834
Clinton, Henry, Sir, 1730-1795
Muhlenberg, John Peter Gabriel, 1746-1807
Madison, James, Sr., 1723-1801
Pendleton, Edmund, 1721-1803
Phillips, William, 1731-1781
Greene, Nathanael, 1742-1786

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