October 21, 1864

Drowne, Byron P., 1848-1933

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his mother

Letter from 16-year-old Drowne to his mother, written on the USS "Catalpa" off Charleston. He says he did not have time to have his picture taken in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Reports no late war news, only that there will be no more fighting in his quarter for the winter. He says "I wish they would send someone here to take this place [Charleston] for they have been at it long enough to take it forty times[.] they say that Admiral Farragut has gone home sick & is not going to take charge of the N.A.B. Squadron." He says he will be out of the Navy in 10 months and that he will never…

GLC01008.02.01

October 21, 1864

Photograph

Title: [Byron P. Drowne]

Photograph of Byron P. Drowne sitting. He was aboard the U.S.S. Midnight

GLC01008.02.02

1865 ca.

Weiss, John, fl. 1865

Photograph signed

Title: Richard Taylor

A signed carte de visite portrait of Richard Taylor. Published by John Weiss of New Orleans.

GLC01176.01

1865 ca.

Brady, Mathew B., 1823-1896

Photograph

Title: [Richard Taylor]

A portrait of Richard Taylor, CSA. Enlarged directly from the original negative by Brady in the Meserve collection.

GLC01176.02

October 1, 1907

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Autograph letter

Title: to Quentin Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son describing the aspects of his journey a child might find interesting. He includes two sketches drawn by Roosevelt during his trip down the Mississippi River. Letter written on U.S. Steamer Mississippi letterhead.

GLC01410.02.01

October 3, 1907

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Autograph letter

Title: to Quentin Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son about sights on the Mississippi River. He mentions getting caught in the rain in St. Louis. With two illustrations by Roosevelt, including a self-caricature. Letter written on U.S. Steamer Mississippi letterhead.

GLC01410.03.01

10 September 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

He is having a good time and has never felt better. He thinks he will get used to camp life. He hopes he can come home tomorrow.

GLC02751.01

21 September 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

They received orders to go to New Haven where he expects life to be much harder as they will have to stay in tents. He describes his daily routine. They have a dress parade every night and drill 4-5 hours a day. General Mansfield was killed in battle.

GLC02751.02

13 October 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

He complains about the 200 Irishmen that have joined them. They get into drunken fights. He hopes they will remove the Irish companies soon. It will be his turn to go on guard soon. A couple of people are sick.

GLC02751.03

2 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

Last night a drunken man from one of the companies was arrested. He was put in the guard tent. He put up such a fuss they had to take his musket away from him.

GLC02751.04

13 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

Rosetta came to visit him. He got a special pistol and had his name engraved on the butt of it. He does a battallion drill every day now.

GLC02751.05

20 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

They left Middletown and are now in New York. They were on a boat briefly where they received their state bounty. They are camped near the Centreville Race Track.

GLC02751.06

23 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

They have been getting settled in and have pitched their tents. They haven't been drilling very much lately. They got their muskets but have not used them yet.

GLC02751.07

26 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

They have set up their tents quite nicely with a stove and the right hay. The food is not as good as it was before but he is getting fat off it.

GLC02751.08

30 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

They had a nice Thanksgiving and he enjoyed the food. They marched to South Brooklyn the next day. Written aboard the "New Brunswick"

GLC02751.09

30 November 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

The day after Thanksgiving they were given marching orders to get to the South Brooklyn ferry. They are now on board the New Brunswick. He had to sleep on a very narrow berth at first. They have been eating hard bread and coffee. Written aboard the "New Brunswick"

GLC02751.10

3 December 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

They sailed later than expected. There has been no seasickness so far. They see porpoises one day. A Capt. jokingly snapped his pistol at an orderly thinking it was not loaded but it was and wounded the man. Written aboard the "New Brunswick"

GLC02751.11

4 December 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

People are now beginning to get seasick. The wind has been harsh. The food is awful. They landed on an island. The assistant cook died. Written aboard the "New Brunswick"

GLC02751.12

10 December 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

They landed at Fort Jefferson. Recently he had the best meal he had since going to sea: soup and soft bread. He describes the coconut trees near the fort.

GLC02751.13

13 December 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

They are on Ship's Island. They don't know where they're going next. Maybe Mobile or Texas. The rest of the regiment is reported lost at sea. There are rebel prisoners on the island.

GLC02751.14

14 December 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

They left Ship's Island and are now bound for New Orleans. They passed by large plantations where they saw "darkies." The darkies looks happy to see them but the whites are not.

GLC02751.15

December 21, 1862

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

They had inspection first thing in the morning. He talks about what different kinds of food are worth around there. He tells the story of a skirmish between cavalry units.

GLC02751.16

4 January 1863

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

He went to church today for the first time in a while and enjoyed it immensely. He says there is little religious feeling among the troops. They are stationed by an old negro cabin in which 2 crippled men and and one woman live.

GLC02751.17

9 January 1863

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

He had diarrhea but drank some gum tree bark and is feeling better now. They caught some freshwater lobsters. There is a rumor that Vicksburg was taken by their forces but no one really believes it. He shot his gun on a Sunday and feels guilty about it.

GLC02751.18

January 24, 1863

Wright, Sereno A., fl. 1862-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother and Sister

They are east of Baton Rouge now. They've found a lot of sugar and molasses where they are. There are inspections every day. He saw Frank Leslie's Illustrated paper in which there was a sketch of them driving the rebels out of Baton Rouge.

GLC02751.19