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 Alexander McDougall

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10097 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 February 1783 Pagination: 4 p. : docket ; 34.5 x 23 cm. Order a Copy

Discusses affairs concerning the military and Congress with General McDougall. Declares, "We are in an unhappy predicament indeed not to know who are responsible [to us] for a settlement of accounts posterity will hardly belive that an army shall continue incessantly for eight years [struck: to establish themselves] under a constant pressure of misery to establish the liberty of their country, without knowing who are to compensate them, or whether they were ever to receive any reward for their services." Calls for a more efficient system of government, and wishes to know who will address the army's grievances. Suggests ways to implement settlement of soldiers' account. Notes that General [Benjamin] Lincoln's sentiments [correspond] with his own (and McDougall's) regarding payment of soldiers.

General Alexander McDougall served as Continental Congressman (1781) and State Senator (1783-1786).

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
McDougall, Alexander, 1732-1786
Lincoln, Benjamin, 1733-1810

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