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.

Knox, Henry (1750-1806) to Thomas Sim Lee

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01290 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: Baltimore, Maryland Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 18 November 1781 Pagination: 2 p. ; 22.8 x 18.5 cm. Order a Copy

Declares he intended to return to Annapolis but was unable due to circumstances outside of his control. Delivered to Colonel Carrington the horses Governor Lee provided, for use in the Southern States, but one died before they reached Alexandria. The cannon Governor Lee furnished the army with were initially to be used against Lord Cornwallis, but had to be left with Rochambeau to defend York and Gloucester. Suggests that if the state of Maryland needs cannon for its own use, it can take those captured from the enemy, although doing so would stop the cannon from being part of a "battery train for continental purposes."

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Lee, Thomas Sim, 1745-1819
Carrington, Edward, 1749-1810
Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, Marquis, 1738-1805
Rochambeau, Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de, 1725-1807

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