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.

Welles, Gideon (1802-1878) to Lewis West

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03836.56 Author/Creator: Welles, Gideon (1802-1878) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Document signed Date: 24 September 1863 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 25.4 x 20.3 cm. Order a Copy

Printed document signed by Welles. Orders that West is now detached from the USS "Ladona" and that he is to proceed to New York without delay. He is to report to Rear Admiral Paulding for passage to Charleston, South Carolina and to report to Rear Admiral Dahlgren for duty on an ironclad under his command. Stamp dated 28 September says West was paid 9 dollars in mileage fees. Countersigned by Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding. He noted that West reported for duty on 28 September. Commodore Cornelius Kinchilo Stribling had served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War before the Civil War. Verso is endorsed by Stribling, Dahlgren and Captain Stephen Rowan of the USS "New Ironsides." It says West reported for duty in Charleston on 5 October.

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