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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.

Maitland, Joseph M., 1836-1918 to Bell Wharton

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.10.127 Author/Creator: Maitland, Joseph M., 1836-1918 Place Written: La Grange, Tennessee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1 July 1864 Pagination: 4 p. : Height: 20.1 cm, Width: 25 cm Order a Copy

Maitland writes to Bell from camp outside La Grange. Complains of very dry, hot weather and dusty roads. Writes, "I dont think I ever suffered as much in my life with the heat as I have within the past week." Expresses concern over her lack of letters to him and asks if she has forgotten him. Mentions its been a year since the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi, but still no end to the war in sight. Writes "If General [Ulysses] Grant could only succeed in taking Richmond...." Reminds her his service will de done in little over a year and imagines what it will be like to come home. Reports on the cost of food; butter is sixty cents a pound, cheese is fifty cents a pound and potatoes are three dollars a bushel.

Maitland, Joseph M., 1839-1918
Wharton, Bell, 1843-?
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

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