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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03836.30 |
| From Archive Folder | Correspondence of 90 letters and documents with 3 maps on the blockade of Port Royal, South Carolina |
| Title | Lewis H. West to R. West regarding getting information about a harbor from contrabands, and complaining about the deficiencies of a blockade |
| Date | 20 January 1862 |
| Author | West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) |
| Recipient | West, R |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | References his mother and sister's letters of 19 and 20 December and another from 6 January. Mentions remembering his father riding on a pig's back down Seventh Street along the Schuylkill River. Says the fog has been bad lately, which helps ships run out of the harbor, but makes running in hard. Says 2 nights ago a boat with 3 contrabands came to their ship. Says 1 of the 3 was very intelligent and gave them valuable information about the harbor, as he had been in a pilot boat. Describes their escape. Says one was "a full blooded darky," another "a mulatto," and the other "so nearly white that I should never have suspected that there was a drop of black blood in his veins had I met him under ordinary circumstances." Expresses anger about some inefficiencies with the blockade, especially with signalling. Expresses dismay that the Union is sinking ships to block the harbor, saying true sailors despair the destruction of a good harbor. Continues letter on 22, 24, and 27 January and 4 February. Says the weather has been rough. They eventually went to Port Royal to recoal. Note on the 27th says they spent the last few days searching for missing ships. Also says one of the ships they recently destroyed had a Catholic bishop on board and that he took the bishop's Sevres porcelain. Hopes "it doesn't come under the head of robbing a church." |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Navy Union Forces Union Soldier's Letter Soldier's Letter Children and Family Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Maritime African American History Contrabands Slavery Fugitive Slave Act Runaway Slave Blockade Extreme Weather Religion Catholicism Home Furnishings Wartime Pillaging and Destruction |
| People | West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) West, R. (fl. 1860-1865) |
| Place written | Aboard USS "Alabama" off Charleston, South Carolina |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Naval & Maritime |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | West was a Union naval officer in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, mostly serving off South Carolina and Georgia. This collection begins with three documents from West's service on a merchant marine ship off China. He served on the USS "Perry" April-August 1861, the USS "Wabash" August-October 1861, the USS "Alabama" October 1861-October 1862, the USS "Ladona" (also spelled Lodona) October 1862-August 1863, the USS "New Ironsides" October 1863-April 1864, and the USS "Fernandina" April 1864-March 1865. Had the rank of Masters Mate from April-August 1861 and then served the rest of the war as an Acting Master. Letters detail the tedium of life in the blockade, coming across runaway slaves and contrabands, as well as several run-ins with Confederate submarines. Three hand drawn maps are at .27, .68, and .89. Most of the letters are to his mother (her initials are RW and she resides at 1316 Walnut Street in Philadelphia - West addresses his letters to her as "Mrs. James West"), sister (Mary), and someone who appears to be West's brother-in-law (Weir). He begins to write a woman he seems to be romantically interested in named Harriet Moore in 1864. From a reference at .63, West was born in 1829. He might have been living in New York before the war, but he definitely resides there after the war. About half the letters have an envelope. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Recipient Relationship | Mother |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Lower Seaboard Theater and Gulf Approach |
| Civil War: Unit | USS "Alabama" |