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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.

Smith, Asa to mother

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03696.15 Author/Creator: Smith, Asa Place Written: Suffolk, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 7 June 1862 Pagination: 4 p. ; 19.9 x 12.1 cm. Order a Copy

to mother [Ann Smith] The regiment is now under the command of General McClellan. General Wool has stepped down. He says Wool was starting to show his age. They have no orders to go yet, but it seems to be coming soon. Col. [Peirce] is a "disgrace to the state, and the service" as he marches the men too hard in dangerously hot weather. Peirce was court-martialed but was returned to duty. Smith seems optimistic about the Union's battles. Numbered in pencil "81."

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