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.

Welles, Gideon (1802-1878) to unknown

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08577 Author/Creator: Welles, Gideon (1802-1878) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 11 April 1861 Pagination: 1 p. ; 25 x 19.5 cm. Order a Copy

Pass for London Times correspondent William H. Russell, on a "tour through the Southern states." Addressed "To the Commander of the Home Squadron or Commandant of any U. S. Vessel of the Squadron." Parts of Howard's book, "My Diary North and South," would come from this trip.

Gideon Welles was the Secretary of the Navy for the duration of the Civil War.

Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878
Russell, William Howard, 1820-1907

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