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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.

Coit, Charles M., 1838-1878 to his family

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03603.183 Author/Creator: Coit, Charles M., 1838-1878 Place Written: Fredericksburg, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: January 16, 1863 Pagination: 2 p. : Order a Copy

Writes that he has been using his new knife and passed part of an evening whittling. Gives an update to the news of Sumner's order regarding food purchase at the commissary. An order by General Burnside has dictated that the men may purchase whatever they would like from the commissary at the prices the government pays. Writes of his fondness for photographs of his family and about the general craze for photographs by the other men. His family has sent him $5 and he feels terrible that he has not been able to send any home.

Coit, Charles M., 1838-1878

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