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.

Chesnut, James, Jr. (1815-1885) to Jefferson Davis

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02469.03 Author/Creator: Chesnut, James, Jr. (1815-1885) Place Written: Richmond, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 31 July 1863 Pagination: 1 p. + docket ; 22.1 x 19.6 cm. Order a Copy

Colonel Chesnut writes to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, requesting a leave of absence so that he may visit home. Written on Confederate States of America Executive Department stationery.

Chesnut was a United States Senator from South Carolina 1857-1862, and a delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861. During the Civil War, Chesnut served as a colonel, brigadier general, and aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
Chesnut, James, Jr., 1815-1885

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