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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.

Fenn, Austin (fl. 1864) re: response to rebel threats of shooting black prisoners of war

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07610 Author/Creator: Fenn, Austin (fl. 1864) Place Written: [s.l.] Type: Autograph letter Date: 1864/05/03 Pagination: 2 p. 15.6 x 20 cm Order a Copy

Incomplete letter from Corporal 10th VT., Co. H.: "...[O]ur Generals sent them word that every Black Prisoner they [the Confederates] shot they would pick out A rebel Prisoner...that had owned the most slaves and shoot him."

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