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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.

Wheeler, Lysander (fl. 1837-1903) to his parents, brother-in-law, and sister

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07460.071 Author/Creator: Wheeler, Lysander (fl. 1837-1903) Place Written: Tennessee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 11 March 1864 Pagination: 4 p. ; 20.2 x 24.7 cm. Order a Copy

Written at Camp of 105th Illinois Regiment, eight miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee. The regiment has marched from Bridgeport, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee. He describes this as the hardest march the regiment has ever had. He also reports that the roads were in very poor condition. Thanks his family for sending him the trunk of provisions and is very grateful to the family friends who also sent him some items. Notes that there were a great many dead mules along the road from Bridgeport, most of them shot by the rebels on the other side of the Tennessee River. Writes that the regiment will be reviewed by the corps, commander General Harvard [?] whom is rumored to have one arm, losing the arm at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Lysander Wheeler, a farmer from Sycamore, Illinois, enlisted in the Union Army on August 7, 1862 as a private. He was mustered into Company C of the 105th Illinois infantry and later promoted to sergeant. Wheeler was mustered out on June 7, 1865.

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