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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.

Bartlett, Josiah (1729-1795) to William Whipple

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05579 Author/Creator: Bartlett, Josiah (1729-1795) Place Written: Exeter, New Hampshire Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 September 1779 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 21 x 16.4 cm. Order a Copy

Bartlett, a former Continental Congressman, writes to Whipple, a member of Congress. Mentions John Langdon, a Continental Congressman who, in 1776, became a naval agent for Continental prizes. Refers to the disastrous Penobscot Expedition (in the Penobscot Bay, present-day Maine) led by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall. States "The Misfortune at Penobscot has thrown the Sea Coasts this way into a Consternation ... The Sailors who returned from Penobscot make the most grevious complaints of the Conduct of Capt. Saltonstall ... I Believe the whole fleet and army were struck with an Universal pannic, on the arrival of the British fleet and fled in a Scandalous manner." Relates that American money in the West Indies and Europe has not depreciated for several months.

Bartlett, Josiah, 1729-1795
Whipple, William, 1730-1785
Saltonstall, Dudley, 1738-1796

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