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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02029.02 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1865 |
| Title | Samuel Phillips Lee to John Mercer Brooke |
| Date | 21 June 1865 |
| Author | Lee, Samuel Phillips (1812-1897) |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Written by Acting Rear Admiral Lee as Commander of the Mississippi Squadron to Brooke, a former Confederate naval officer seeking amnesty. References that the preceding page of this letter was a copy of the letter he sent to the president on his behalf. Says he would have lauded his abilities as a seaman, navigator, and hydrographer, but thought to dwell too much on them would be a cause of complaint against him. Claims that "I have felt that if I had not been sent out of the country in the fall of 1860 that I might have helped to save some of my honest Navy friends who were so cruelly misled and sacrificed by unprincipled politicians, who only cared for 'me and my nigger' before any and every white man without a Slave - & that is just all they meant by their 'States Rights' - which, with Slavery, I hope are gone for ever!" Asks where mutual friends are now. "What a happy thing it is to be together again as countrymen & Friends - and what a country to be proud of…." Brooke eventually settled in Lexington, Va., and married Sandy Pendleton's widow. |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Union Forces Union General Confederate General or Leader Confederate States of America Navy Letter of Introduction or Recommendation President Amnesty Maritime Politics Slavery African American History Friendship |
| People | Lee, Samuel Phillips (1812-1897) Brooke, John |
| Place written | Aboard the Flagship USS Tempest at Cairo, Illinois |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Naval & Maritime |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Samuel Philips Lee held the rank of commander and was captain of the sloop of war USS Vandalia in the East Indies, sailing her home on his own initiative to join the blockade of the Southern coast. Commander Lee commanded the new steam sloop USS Oneida during the New Orleans campaign and subsequent operations on the Mississippi River in the first half of 1862. In September 1862, Lee was placed in command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron with the rank of Acting Rear Admiral. He led this force for over two years, during which it was responsible for the blockade of the North Carolina coast and operations on North Carolina and Virginia inland waters, all areas of very active combat between Union and Confederate forces. Acting Rear Admiral Lee transferred to the command of the Mississippi River Squadron in October 1864 and led it to the end of the Civil War in 1865. His flagship during his time as commander of the Mississippi River Squadron was the USS Black Hawk. Reverting to his permanent rank of Captain after the Civil War, Lee had extensive service in the Washington, D.C. area. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1870 and retired from active service in February 1873. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |