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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.

Paxton, John C. (fl. 1863) to Eliakim P. Scammon

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02414.216 Author/Creator: Paxton, John C. (fl. 1863) Place Written: Gauley, West Virginia Type: Manuscript telegram Date: 17 March 1863 Pagination: 4 p. ; 22 x 13.5 cm. Order a Copy

Telegram from Colonel Paxton to Brigadier General Scammon. Reports on men that are supposedly heading bushwhacking companies around Clay Court House in West Virginia. States that he divided his men and they went searching for them house to house but the men escaped to the woods. Says they returned to camp because the men and horses were tired. He has seven prisoners. Informs that on Monday the men will gather at Logan Court House to elect a Colonel. Writes, "...Union men selling salt to go to Dixie for 350 per bushel. The people are all hostile." On stationary of the U.S. Military Telegraph.

Paxton, Elisha Franklin, 1828-1863
Scammon, Eliakim Parker, 1816-1894

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