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.

Lee, John F. (1813-1884) to Henry Jackson Hunt

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02382.090 Author/Creator: Lee, John F. (1813-1884) Place Written: Upper Marlboro, Maryland Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 20 April 1871 Pagination: 1 p. ; 20.5 x 12.3 cm. Order a Copy

Declares "You are a trump, a soldier & a gentleman and a scholar. You did it up well. got the truth... Your narrative needed no addition... Let it stand." Possibly refers to writing Hunt completed for Emily Virginia Mason, who was working on a biography of Robert E. Lee. Regrets his reflections on soldiers' vanity which he included in a previous letter to Hunt (refer to GLC02382.090).

Hunt had served as Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac. After the Civil War, he occupied various military posts. In the early 1870s, Hunt served at Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island.

Hunt, Henry Jackson, 1819-1889
Lee, John F., 1813-1884
Mason, Emily Virginia, 1815-1909
Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

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