Our Collection

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.

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913 to John Damuth

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.14.16 Author/Creator: Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913 Place Written: Helena, Arkansas Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 17 March 1863 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope Height: 12.5 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Writes to his brother with little war news. Asks John if he is a member of the Democratic Club and warns him that "I would shoot my own brother as soon as I would a snake if I should see him in the ranks of such a Good forsaken set of trators." Says that any Democrat who speaks or writes to him will be purposefully trying to insult him. Takes pride in enlisting and opines, "thear can be but two parties engaged in it [the war] Patriots & Trators." More of the men are dying of typhoid fever.

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources