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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.

Powell, Jeremiah (1714-1789) to John Waite

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01450.025 Author/Creator: Powell, Jeremiah (1714-1789) Place Written: Massachusetts Type: Letter signed Date: 30 June 1779 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 24.5 x 19 cm. Order a Copy

Informs Waite of the General Court decision to undertake the Penobscot Expedition. Orders were issued to detach 1500 men from the militia of Massachusetts, 100 artillery men, and a number of vessels to Penobscot Bay to dislodge the British stationed there. Reports that orders were given for provisions, ammunition, and firearms to be sent. The council also requested the assistance of the state of New Hampshire. Powell signed as President of the Massachusetts Council. The Penobscot Expedition occurred July-August 1779 in present-day Maine (then Massachusetts). The Americans suffered defeat and failed to drive the British forces from the area.

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Powell, Jeremiah, 1714-1789
Waite, John, fl. 1742-1817

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