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.

Mortimer, Caleb C.E. (1835-1862) to his wife

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01898.10 Author/Creator: Mortimer, Caleb C.E. (1835-1862) Place Written: Hall's Hill, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 19 December 1861 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope ; 21 x 13.5 cm. Order a Copy

Mentions doing drills with General Daniel Butterfield and General John Henry Martindale's brigades. The whole division under command of General Fitz-John Porter staged an imaginary battle. Stationary embossed "Farrar, Follett & Co. Metals, Boston." and "Stand by the Flag" with an image of an American flag.

Caleb Mortimer enlisted on 5 September 1861 as a 1st Lieutenant and was commissioned into the Massachusetts 3rd Light Artillery. He was wounded at Gaines' Mill, Virginia on 27 June 1862 and died the next day.

Mortimer, Caleb C.E., 1835-1862
Porter, Fitz-John, 1822-1901
Martindale, John Henry, 1815-1881

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