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.

Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845) to Lewis Cass

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05722.02 Author/Creator: Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845) Place Written: [Washington] Type: Autograph manuscript Date: 1836/03/30 Pagination: 1 p. : address Order a Copy

Calling captains back to their companies. Written in the third person. Pencil note added later identifies recipient as Carey A. Harris, which is incorrect.

According to the Papers of Andrew Jackson, the recipient of this letter is Secretary of War Lewis Cass, not Carey A. Harris. Jackson authorized Harris to act as interim Secretary of War on 29 April 1836, after this note was written. Harris also served as interim Secretary of War briefly in 1835. In March 1836, Cass was in Washington sending and receiving correspondence. Even if Harris was acting as Secretary of War on the day this was written, Jackson would not have addressed him as "Secretary of War." See GLC05722.03, where Harris is addressed as "acting Secretary of War."

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845
Cass, Lewis, 1782-1866

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