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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.

Drayton, Percival, 1812-1865 to J. C. Palmer

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01545.07 Author/Creator: Drayton, Percival, 1812-1865 Place Written: Aboard the USS Hartford Type: Autograph letter signed Date: September 17, 1864 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 20 cm, Width: 12.8 cm Order a Copy

Drayton served as captain of Admiral David Farragut's flagship, the sloop of war "Hartford," and also as fleet captain of the West Gulf Blockade Squadron. Tells Palmer, the fleet surgeon on board the "Pensacola," that he sent a box and small package by the "Sebago" for Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan. Wants Palmer to ask Buchanan when the 15 inch shot that almost penetrated the port side of the CSS "Tennessee" during the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 was delivered. Both Buchanan and the "Tennessee" were captured during the battle -- Buchanan was wounded. Wants to know if anything has been done to protect the vessel from worms. Says there is no obligation to answer these questions.

Drayton, Percival, 1812-1865
Palmer, J. C., fl. 1864
Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870
Buchanan, Franklin, 1800-1874

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