Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 70,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World to soldiers’ letters from World War II and Vietnam. Explore primary sources, visit exhibitions in person or online, or bring your class on a field trip.

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13 January 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to Col. Alexander McDougall re: army supplies

Washington writes that he is told that a vessel has just arrived with gun powder, which he asks McDougall to obtain. (Name is McDougall, per Fitzpatrick.)

GLC00154.03

21 January 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to Jonathan Trumbull

Written by Washington as commander of the American army around Boston to Trumbull as Governor of Connecticut. Trumbull was the only colonial governor to join the patriot cause. References his hasty dispatch of 19 January 1776. Says he forgot to inform Trumbull that he will give troops heading north to Canada a month's pay in advance, on behalf of Congress.

GLC01138

1 February 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript document

Title: Lucy Knox and Henry Knox

Invitation to dinner, from George and Martha Washington.

GLC02437.00247

11 February 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter

Title: to Henry Knox

Invites Knox to join him for "Dinner to day at 2 o Clock." The year is not given, but has to be 1776 as Knox was a Colonel then.

GLC02437.00531

13 February 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to Thomas Mumford, Groton, re: begging for gunpowder

Docketed. Containing the comment that gunpowder "will be of the utmost service to the cause of Liberty & America." Free franked "On the service of the United Colonies" (probably not GW's hand), but not signed.

GLC01117

10 March 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter

Title: to Henry Knox

"His Excellency," George Washington, compliments Colonel Knox, asks him to come to headquarters immediately, and invites him to dinner at 2 o'clock that night. The letter must be from 1776, since this is the only year in which Knox is a Colonel in March. He would also be in camp with Washington at Boston at the time.

GLC02437.00546

24 March 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Josiah Quincy

Written just one week after Continental forces captured Boston. Thanks Quincy and the nation for their praise, saying "To obtain the applause of deserving men, is a heart felt satisfaction - to merit them, is my highest wish. If my conduct therefore...hath merited the approbation of the great Country, I shall esteem it one of the most fortunate & happy events of my life." Despite the joy of his victory, Washington cautions that the Americans must remain on guard.

GLC04442

1776/07/

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Benjamin Franklin] re: belated peace initiatives of the Howe brothers

A cryptic but important letter written in the same month as the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, as commander in chief, in response to Franklin's letters. Possibly a draft since Washington has left the day and a name blank, but soon or shortly after July 30, when Franklin's response to Howe was delivered.

GLC01588

1776/07/21

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to unknown captain re: orders to reinforce Hudson Highlands against attack

GLC07482

1776/08/13

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Washington writes from Headquarters, New York, to an unidentified correspondent, verifiying receipt of a letter and promising to forward it "by the first opportunity." Washington signs as "Your most Obed.[ient and] H.[um]ble Servant." The letter has been carefully mounted on heavy bond paper.

GLC07867

14 November 1776

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to Charles Lee

Anticipates a prisoner exchange. Worries the British will try to exchange men who are not really continental soldiers, therefore requests Lee to order all officers to make lists of those in their units who are missing or dead. Encloses "a recommendation of the officers for the State of Rhode Island." Postscript states British forces suspected to be moving to South Carolina. Saw small number of British troops near Mount Washington, and speculates as to their possible movements.

GLC07491

23 January 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to Pres. of the Convention of New Hampshire

Washington pleads for the troops alloted to the state of New Hampshire and argues that "nothing but their [i.e., British] ignorance of our number protects us." The second leaf is not conjugate.

GLC00639.28

25 January 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Broadside

Title: Proclamation [Trenton proclamation]

Signed in type by Washington. The proclamation allowed residents of Trenton and Central New Jersey to reaffirm their loyalty to the United States, after devastating British campaigns.

GLC00070

29 January 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to Apollos Morris

Politely refuses to forward a letter offering peace intermediation by Morris because British General William Howe still refuses to negotiate with Congress, "the only great representative Body of this Continent." With two drafts of Morris's reply, defending himself and explaining his intentions, on the verso and blank areas of the address leaf.

GLC03155

9 February 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to James Clinton

Ordering Clinton to go to Albany to "assist in the command of the Northern department" under General Schuyler. Warns Clinton that there is not time for delay. "General McDougal will take the direction of matters in the Highlands when you are gone."

GLC02366

[12 March 1777]

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript document

Title: [Orders to submit a regimental return]

A working draft of a clerical copy of a circular letter from George Washington. These, or comparable, orders were given by George Washington on 12 March 1777 to various colonels of the Continental Army. (See Fitzpatrick and the GW Papers at the Library of Congress for numerous examples, which demonstrate slightly varied wording.) Instructs recipient to "march all the Recruits you have to Philadelphia, where they will be inoculated and receive farther Orders from the Commanding officers of that City ...

GLC01205.04

21 April 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Captain Caleb Gibbs

Headquartered at Morristown after a brutal winter, reorganizes his personal, offical and family possessions for residence in Philadelphia as he re-builds the Army to answer Cornwallis's New Jersey campaign: "Bring...my sword, my gun etc..

GLC08341

22 July 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to Stephen Moylan

Written by General Washington to Colonel Moylan as commander of the First Pennsylvania dragoons. References Moylan's letter of 21 July 1777. Encloses a letter he asks Moylan to forward to General David Forman (known by the nickname of " Black David" among the Jersey loyalists, owing to his excessive cruelty toward those who did not favor the Revolution). Wants Forman to tell him if the British fleet has gone out to sea. Wants Forman to send his dispatches to Moylan, who is supposed to forward them to Washington by express.

GLC03353

1 August 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to Anthony Walton White

Washington writes that the recipient should scrutinize the characters of his men and immediately dismount any suspicious ones since "the loss of a worthless soldier will occasion less regret when it is not accompanied with that of a Horse and Accoutrements." Written in response to the disappearance of a horse from White's unit.

GLC04859

23 September 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to John Hazelwood

As commander-in-chief, sending confidential orders to Commodore John Hazelwood, introducing Captain Samuel Treat, who is delivering "a message of so interesting and important a nature, that I thought it unadviseable to commit it to writing.…" Per the orders conveyed by Capt. Treat, Hazelwood's garrison at Fort Mifflin on the Delaware River delayed the British fleet until Washington's troops could safely reach winter quarters at Valley Forge.

GLC09378

24 September 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to Caesar Rodney

Discusses poor performance of militia and possibility of losing Philadelphia. "The conduct of the Militia is much to be regretted. In many instances, they are not to be roused, and in others, they come into the Field with all possible indifference, and to all appearance entirely unimpressed with the importance of the Cause in which we are engaged. Hence proceeds a total inattention to order and to discipline, and too often a disgraceful departure from the Army, at the instant their aid is most wanted.

GLC06482

25 September 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Bryan Fairfax re: allowing Fairfax to visit to discuss British peace proposal

With a note in a different hand on the address leaf stating "containing a pas[s]port to travel to the camp." Washington also assures Fairfax of his friendship, despite "the difference in our political Sentiments...."

GLC03674

1777/10/06

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to William Woodford re: supplies for winter encampment at Valley Forge

GLC07847

11 October 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Letter signed

Title: to John Page, W[illia]msburg, re: battle of Germantown and maneuvers

Describes the attack at Germantown and the loss of victory due to a retreat caused by fog. He closes by mentioning that the troops were in good spirits. Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, calls the "retreat" a panic caused by confusion in the fog; he concludes that Washington's plan of attack was flawed.

GLC00496.097

26 October 1777

Washington, George (1732-1799)

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

General Washington writes to Knox, Chief of Artillery for the Continental Army. Informs Knox he will soon be called to a council of War, and will be asked his opinion on several issues: whether the Continental Army should engage in a general attack against the British; if not, what stance the army should take; where Continental troops should be stationed in reference to the British occupation of Philadelphia; how to prevent the British from drawing supplies from the city during the winter, etc.

GLC02437.09370

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