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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.

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) (1822-1885) [Draft of a telegram to Philip Sheridan]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02629 Author/Creator: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) (1822-1885) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph document signed Date: 25 January 1866 Pagination: 1 p. ; 18 x 18 cm Order a Copy

Ordering all American troops North of the Rio Grande. Also orders Sheridan to inspect any damage his forces may have done, so that "if claims are hereafter made...we should know the justice of them." Following the end of the Civil War, Union troops under Sheridan were stationed along the Rio Grande in order watch exiled Confederates and stabilize the border with Mexico, which was very unstable at the time. On occasion American troops crossed over the border and became involved in the fighting.

Philip Sheridan was a Union General.

[excerpt]
Order our troops from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande if you have not already done so. Examine too if damages have been done to private property by our troops in this raid over the river. If claims are hereafter made it is better we should know the justice of them from the reports of know[n] parties.

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888

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