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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03836.54 |
| 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 Weir regarding political feeling in the North |
| Date | 1 August 1863 |
| Author | West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) |
| Recipient | Weir |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Mentions that Weir had gout. Weir had sent West a letter relaying a gloomy political scene in the North, and West responds saying "having passed the largest part of my life afloat, I am not much of a judge of the political feelings of people at home, but I cant for a moment believe that the masses at the North are sunk to the degradation you intimate. I have always thought that we are a people who are the easiest cast down by want of immediate success, and unduly elated by the first symptoms of it." Referencing the New York draft riot he says they were lucky it "occurred while everybody was in the seventh heaven of ecstasy. They will be much more likely to take the right view of it, than they would after a defeat." Says "I cant believe that the 'irrepressible conflict' feeling that made Lincoln president, after a slow but sure growth of thirty years, is all at once set back by a year of failure." Says the war "will go on until slavery is swept away. In looking back through the last two years, I cannot tell when the change of my opinions as to the nature of the war, took place, it has been so gradual ... Now the object of the war is clear enough; for the Union as it ought to be until slavery is utterly destroyed, and the power of the present ruling class at the South gone forever ... You will say that I am an out and out abolitionist, and I confess it." Goes on to talk about the battle around Charleston and laments not being involved. In Bull's Bay, he took advantage of the knowledge a contraband on board had and was able to land in a small inlet. |
| Subjects | Battle of Charleston Harbor Civil War Military History Navy Union Forces Union Soldier's Letter Soldier's Letter Health and Medical Disease Politics Conscription Mobs and Riots Draft Riots President Slavery African American History Abolition Battle Contrabands Blockade |
| People | West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) |
| Place written | Aboard USS "Ladona" off Bull's Bay, South Carolina |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Naval & Maritime; Government & Politics |
| 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: Theater of War | Lower Seaboard Theater and Gulf Approach |
| Civil War: Unit | USS "Ladona" |