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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.

Johnston, Witter H., fl. 1861-1864 to Miss Sue Johnston

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02167.30 Author/Creator: Johnston, Witter H., fl. 1861-1864 Place Written: Hilton Head, South Carolina Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 31 August 1864 Pagination: 4 p. : Height: 21 cm, Width: 26 cm Order a Copy

There is a recruiting agent whose job it is buy colored troops to fill up their qouta. He talks about the difficulties of the draft and the reservations of the one-year men.

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