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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.

Shaw, Samuel (1754-1794) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01331 Author/Creator: Shaw, Samuel (1754-1794) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 10 January 1782 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 24 x 19.5 cm. Order a Copy

Comments that he hoped he would receive news that Knox had gotten the promotion he deserved, but was disappointed to find that Congress had decided not to consider it at present. Comments, "However disagreeable it would be for an officer in your station to quit the army, especially at a juncture so promising as the present, yet I am to well persuaded of your inflexibility in a resolution taken upon the clearest grounds, that I look on your resignation as a certain consequence, Should they refuse or unnecessarily delay to comply with the reasonable expectations of yourself and friends." Adds that he knows Knox's desire to fight for his country is great, but that Knox would never do anything to injure his own personal honor. Extends congratulations regarding the birth of his son: children "are a treasure which will support a person under every kind of adversity, and even compensate him for the ingratitude of his country."

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794

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