Naval History and Heritage Command

The Newberry Library 
60 W. Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610-3380

Brackenridge, Henry M.
Papers, 1831

April 30, 1831, letter from Brackenridge, then in Cincinnati and en route to Pensacola, to Richard Smith of the Bank of the United States, regarding the remittance of funds to compensate laborers on the Navy's live oak plantation at Deer Point.  Forms part of the Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection.

1 item

Buckner, Washington P.
Papers, 1844-1845

Diary (180 pages) kept by Midshipman Washington P. Buckner while serving on USS Constitution during its 1844-1847 around-the-world voyage under the command of Captain John Percival. Entries begin after departure from New York City, May 30, 1844, and end in Manila Bay, Sept. 12, 1845. They include exhaustive accounts of life on board ship, native populations, and ports of call--Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands; Rio de Janeiro; Madagascar; Mozambique; Zanzibar; Sumatra; Singapore; Borneo; Cochin China (Vietnam); Macao and Canton; and Manila Bay. Also noted are diplomatic passenger Henry A. Wise and family, equatorial shaving ceremonies, American consuls and local rulers, provisioning, crewmember illnesses and deaths, and an attempt to rescue a captive French missionary in Cochin China. The diary entries are followed by ms. poems (9 p.) written by crewmembers, including Midshipman John E. Hart. At the end of the volume is an account by Buckner of the cruise of an impressed American sailor aboard the Portuguese frigate, Don Pedro, together with sketches of rifles.  Forms part of the Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection.

1 volume

Dahlgren, John A.
Papers, 1858-1870

1 box

Gillis, S.H.
Papers, 1881

Letter, dated June 13, 1881 aboard USS Lackawanna in Papeete, Tahiti, from her Captain S.H. Gillis, to Rear Admiral Thomas H. Stevens, commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Forces in the Pacific, briefing him on the movements of Lackawanna, and on the political situation in Tahiti.  Forms part of the Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection (Newberry Library).

1 item