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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.

Porter, David Dixon (1813-1891) to Richard T. Renshaw

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02254.26 Author/Creator: Porter, David Dixon (1813-1891) Place Written: City Point, Virginia Type: Manuscript document signed Date: 6 April 1865 Pagination: 1 p. ; 19 x 34.5 cm. Order a Copy

Orders Renshaw to move on to Beaufort, North Carolina and telegraph a series of dispatches to General Sherman. "Use all the haste you can as these dispatches are very important." He is then ordered to return to the Sounds of North Carolina via Hatteras Inlet and join Commander William H. Macomb of the U.S.S. Shamrock. Written by Porter as he hosted Lincoln on a visit to occupied Richmond. Rear Admiral Porter writes from aboard the Flag Ship Malvern. Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Porter had met on March 27th to plan the final Union push to victory. AN: One of the dispatches sent by this order for Renshaw to have telegraphed to Sherman must have been Grant's of this same date, informing Sherman of the final push to defeat Lee's army, and telling Sherman to "push Johnston … and let us finish up this job all at once."

Porter, David Dixon, 1813-1891
Renshaw, Richard T., 1822-1879
Macomb, William Henry Alexander, 1819-1872
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

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