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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.

Bushnell, David (1740-1826) to unknown

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.09701 Author/Creator: Bushnell, David (1740-1826) Place Written: Constitution Island, West Point, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 25 March 1783 Pagination: 1 p. ; 18.9 x 19.5 cm. Order a Copy

Requests a furlough for Josiah Robbins to go to Wethersfield, Connecticut.

David Bushnell built the first man-propelled submarine boat, called the "American Turtle." It featured a wooden magazine containing gunpowder and a clock mechanism for igniting it at any particular time. Although he was not successful in his attempts to destroy British ships during the American Revolution, he is recognized as the father of the modern submarine. While it could not be definitively confirmed that the writer of this document is the same Bushnell as the inventor of the submarine, it appears likely, as the inventor served as Captain of a corps of sappers and miners during the Revolution. David Bushnell's birth date appears as 1740 in most sources. His death date appears as either 1824 or 1826.

Bushnell, David, 1740-1826

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