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.

Jones, William E. (1824-1864) to Captain Duncan

High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02711.24 Author/Creator: Jones, William E. (1824-1864) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1 April 1857 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 24.7 x 19.5 cm. Order a Copy

Requests the Board of Officers to examine his "horse equipage."

Jones attended Emory and Henry College before entering West Point, where he graduated in 1848, ranked 10th in his class. He served as a recruiting officer in St. Louis. He also served on the frontier until 1857, when he resigned from the Army and returned to his Virginia farm. He later became a controversial Civil War figure as a cantankerous, court-martialed outpost officer.

Washington, D.C.
April the 1st, 1857

Capt Duncan

If it should not be deemed incompatible with your sense of duty I would be much obliged to you for the nature of the instructions given to the Board of Officers of which you were a member called by this city in the month of February, for the purpose of examining horse equipage. Were the equipments adopted by that Board, the result of the study & evidence of the officers composing the Board or were they instructed merely to chose between certain examples presented--and left without any other discretion?

W.E. JONES

Jones, William E., 1824-1864

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources