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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.

Custer, George Armstrong, 1839-1876 to Senator J. M. Howard

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09024 Author/Creator: Custer, George Armstrong, 1839-1876 Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: January 19, 1864 Pagination: 8 p. : Height: 25 cm, Width: 19.8 cm Order a Copy

Defends against accusations that he was "an opponent to the Lincoln admistration." States that he is against slavery, rumors of his disloyalty bear no truth, and are from "those who want to see me defeated ... I would, and do, favor a war of extermination. I would hang every human being who possesses a drop of rebel blood in their veins whether they be men, women, or children.

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