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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

The Navy Department Library

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Wars & Conflicts
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Location of Archival Materials

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Raleigh, NC

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Division of Archives and History
4614 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4614

 

Anderton, Charles A.
Papers, 1861-1864

The papers of Charles Anderton include a copy of an order from Stephen R. Mallory, Confederate Secretary of the Navy to a flag officer at Wilmington; and a letter from Lieutenant R.F. Chapman, CSN, to the widow of Lieutenant John M. Stribling of CSS Sumter and Florida concerning his death and effects.

4 items

 

Ashe, Samuel A.
Papers, 1735-1940

Papers of Ashe, Confederate captain, Raleigh editor, historian, and Democrat, including letters about civilian life in Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington (1863-1864) and letters during Reconstruction. Letters from the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce suggest measures to improve trade (1872). Correspondence shortly before, during, and just after his editorship (1879-1894) of the Raleigh News and Observer is chiefly political. During World War I Ashe corresponded with Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels about crew safety and protection from torpedoes. Miscellaneous correspondence includes letters from the Miller and Land families of Georgia (1847-1862); one about the Wilmington saltworks (1863); and copies of letters from John Ashe (1778, 1779), Z. B. Vance (1863), and George Davis (1865). Also in the collection are items relating to World War I naval service of James L. Sprunt and Lyman A. Cotton and to the Ashe memorial and genealogical material.

700 items

 

Bacot, R. H.
Papers, 1864-1865

Letters from Midshipman Bacot, CSN, describing an expedition on the gunboat CSS Charleston against Federal forces at New Bern, problems with CSS Neuse, plans for her to attack New Bern, and her eventual destruction; entertainments of soldiers and sailors in Kinston; the secret Unionist organization Heroes of America; fighting in North Carolina in 1865; and continued optimism.

7 items

 

Badger, George E.
Papers, 1822-1861

Correspondence of George Badger, lawyer, Secretary of the Navy (1841), and U.S. Senator (1846-1855). Early letters include a note from Daniel Webster and letters related to Navy Department business. Letters from Badger to Senator James A. Pearce of Maryland concern national fortunes of the Whig party, beliefs of Bishop Levi Silliman Ives, and party leadership in the Senate; letters to law partner James M. Carlisle in Washington refer to legal cases and to installation of gaslights in Raleigh, North Carolina. Other letters from Badger concern the election of 1856, secession, and the General Assembly, and there is a copy of the Senate resolution on Badger's retirement.

48 items

 

Bagley, Worth
Papers, 1897

Commission as an ensign in the U.S. Navy for Worth Bagley, the first American naval officer killed in the Spanish-American War.

1 item

 

Bauman, Mrs. Albert
Collection, 1754-1885

This collection includes broadsides for the North Carolina Volunteer Navy.

139 items

 

Beauregard, Pierre G. T.
Papers, 1862-1869

Military telegrams and three post-war letters to General Beauregard, including reports of movements of the Union fleet.

114 items

 

Blakeley, Johnston
Papers, 1814-1842

38 items

 

Blue, Victor
Papers

Autobiographical sketch by Commander (later Rear Admiral) Blue of Richmond County, detailing his service with U.S. Navy in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, 1898.

 

Branch, John
Papers, 1819-1833

In 1822 Branch entered national politics with his election to the United States Senate.  Subsequently he was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Andrew Jackson.  As a staunch advocate of states' rights, Branch opposed internal improvements on the national level and was generally Jacksonian in his view of the federal government.  He fell out of favor with Jackson, however, during the "Eaton Affair" and, as a result, resigned from the cabinet.  In 1832 he sought unsuccessfully to purge vice presidential candidate Martin Van Buren from the Democratic ticket, and came to be identified publicly with John C. Calhoun and the doctrine of nullification.

7 items

 

Briggs, Willis G.
Papers, 1794-1955

Papers of the family of Willis Briggs, Raleigh newspaper editor (1897-1907), postmaster, lawyer, and active Republican. Family letters are from daughter Sarah as graduate student at Cornell University and teacher, dean, and president of Penn Hall Junior College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; letters to Sarah from Briggs about clubs, speeches, politics, World War II, and visits to Raleigh, North Carolina of Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt; and from daughter Eliza B. Culberson, a Navy wife in Rockingham, Florida, and Washington State.

3,500 items

 

Broughton, J. Melville
Papers, 1941-1948

Scrapbooks, mainly clippings, kept by Mrs. Broughton during her husband's term as Governor of North Carolina. Subjects include family, the Executive Mansion, visitors, defense preparations, launching of Liberty Ships and USS North Carolina, war efforts in industry and farming, post-war planning, insurance, hospitals, welfare, and politics. Also material on inaugurations of Broughton and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jackson Day dinners, and Broughton for vice-president campaign.

2 items

 

Bryan, John H.
Papers, 1716-1907

Correspondence chiefly reflects social life in towns and plantations of eastern North Carolina, primarily in New Bern and Raleigh, and also at the University of North Carolina, Hillsborough Academy, Lovejoy's Academy, and the Virginia Military Institute. Bryan's legal files concern cases in eastern and piedmont county courts and some in U.S. District Courts, Admiralty Court, the North Carolina Supreme Court, and courts in Alabama and New York. There are also wills, deeds, a land grant, and reminiscences relating to the Bryan, Blount, Shepard, Heritage, and Frank families; and mercantile and shipping accounts and correspondence of James Jasper, Hyde County, and James Bryan, New Bern, trading to West Indies and northern ports. Miscellaneous papers include some relating to Revolutionary War claims, the collection of customs at Ocracoke and the excise tax in Johnston and Wayne counties, book lists, invitations to political meetings, and a Gaston County common schools report. Printed items include a list of vessels in American and British Navies in 1813; political broadsides, one by Thomas Hart Benton against Andrew Jackson; open letters to constituents by Bryan and other North Carolina congressmen; speeches; plans for dredging Pamlico Sound and draining Lake Mattamuskeet; map of Ocracoke Island; and a committee report to the Internal Improvements Convention, Raleigh, 1838.

2,300 items

 

Bryan, Richard D. S.
Collection, 1752-1932

Papers of James W. Bryan of New Bern include his will and correspondence about family and local news with letters to Representative John H. Bryan about politics of the local editor. Also included is a letter from a sailor on USS Juanita describing the Azores.

36 items

 

Burns, Otway
Papers

Otway Burns commanded a privateer during the War of 1812. These papers are found in the Romulus A. Nunn collection.

 

Chatham, Thurmond
Papers, 1776-1956

Papers of Richard Thurmond Chatham of Elkin and Winston-Salem, President of Chatham Manufacturing Company (textiles), and Congressman (1949-1957). His general correspondence files and subject files contain letters and papers about his campaigns for Congress and his work in Washington. There are also bills introduced by Chatham, speeches, campaign material and letters, and material on reunion of the crew of USS Phoenix. Among his personal papers are a few letters about textiles, polo, and World War II; some papers from his service as Naval Reserve officer; messages on death of wife Lucy Hanes Chatham (1949); blueprints for property in Winston-Salem; and miscellaneous papers about Chatham Manufacturing Company and Klondike Farms, with records of dairy herd.

61 feet

 

Clewell, Francis C.
Papers, 1860-1867

Letters of Lieutenant Clewell, 1st Missouri Cavalry, CSA, to his family Salem, North Carolina, describing Kansas in 1860, and Army life in Mississippi, especially his staff duties, religious services, Battle of Corinth, Federal gunboats, and conditions in and around Vicksburg. His correspondence as prisoner of war includes his letters from Johnson's Island, Ohio (1863-1864), some with secret messages; letters from northern friends and relatives; and one from prison ship in Gulf of Mexico (1865).

177 items

 

Corbitt, Alma J.
Papers, 1834-1960

Papers of Alma J. Corbitt, executive clerk in the Governor's Office to 1951. Early records include a Chatham County public school register, and record book of Ore Hill Baptist Church, Chatham County, with minutes and membership. There are lists of regular, special, and emergency judges of the North Carolina Superior Court and court solicitors, and weekly assignments of the judges. Letters to Mrs. Corbitt are from friends in Europe and in the Navy, from Judge Susie Sharp, from relative in Kernersville, North Carolina, and from Mrs. W. W. Magill, wife of agriculturalist at University of Kentucky, about family there and in Burnsville, North Carolina.

46 items

 

Cowles, Calvin J.
Papers, 1817-1885

Calvin's correspondence (1846-1885) includes letter book copies of ca. 18,000 letters. Antebellum correspondence concerns his stores in Wilkes County North Carolina; local traders and northern merchants; need for turnpike or railway; trade in roots and herbs; the careers of his brothers, including half brother Lieutenant Robert C. Duvall U.S.N.; slaves; the new county of Yadkin; gubernatorial elections; the panic of 1857; speculation in military land warrants granted to veterans of the Cherokee removal; purchase of land in North Carolina, Kansas, and Missouri; and mining interests, especially Gap Creek Mine in Ashe County North Carolina. Civil War correspondence with his father, brother Andrew and other legislators, father-in-law W. W. Holden, Confederate medical purveyors, farm tenants, and soldiers, concerns secession and Unionist opposition; problems as postmaster; first battle at Manassas; lead mine in Wilkes County; banks and investments; the peace movement (1863, 1865); election of 1864; Hillsborough Military Academy; hostile factions in Wilkes Co.; deserters and their families; provisions taken by army; Kirk's, Stoneman's, and independent raiders; and concern about liberated slaves and lawlessness at end of war.

14.25 feet

 

Cunningham, J. B.
Papers

Signed statement by J.B. Cunningham concerning his service as pilot on CSS Virginia, her attack on the Federal fleet and USS Monitor at Hampton Roads, and her later destruction.

1 item

 

Curtis, Chauncey W.
Papers, 1862

Twenty-six page manuscript entitled "The Burnside Expedition to Roanoke," written by Curtis to be read at a Union Veterans' Union meeting, probably about 1900. The text recounts the movement of Curtis and his regiment, the 51st New York Volunteers, down Chesapeake Bay to North Carolina as part of General Reno's brigade in Burnside's Expedition, describes the entry of the fleet through Hatteras Inlet to Pamlico Sound, and tells his experience of the Battle of Roanoke Island. Curtis speaks fully of the hazardous passage from the ocean into the Sound during a violent storm, the difficulty of getting the fleet through the channel of the Roanoke marshes, and the landing of U.S. forces on the beach at Roanoke Island.

2 items

 

Dameron, Mattie W. J.
Collection, 1826-1927

The papers of Mrs. Mary J. Wiggins of Nash County and her daughters Pattie, Rozell, and Rowe Ann include a letter from Commander J.B. Coghlan, USS Raleigh, about the gift of a silver plate.

600 items

 

Denson, Claude B.
Papers, 1850-1944

Letters for the most part concern financial problems and family in Virginia and North Carolina, but mention is also made of schools in Trinity, North Carolina, and in Virginia, Norfolk Navy Yard in 1861, Wilmington and Chapel Hill during the Civil War, Agricultural Society meeting in Clinton, plans for Eastern Insane Asylum at Goldsboro, Cotton Exchange banquet at Peace Institute, effect of public schools on private ones, and Denson's selling of life insurance. Several letters concern work of his children: Claude with the North Carolina Conference for Social Service, Daisy as secretary of Board of Public Charities about choice of woman as commissioner, and Eugene as doctor at the Meridian (Mississippi) Sanitarium. Other letters concern Denson's cousin Lieutenant Thomas Cowan, society in Washington, D.C., and West Point.

225 items

 

Dobbin, John C.
Papers, 1846-1857

Correspondence of Dobbin as Congressman and as Secretary of the Navy (1853-1857), including praise for Tredegar Iron Works from railroad president L. O'B. Branch; letter to the U.S. Attorney General on funding and vessels for "steam mail service"; and letters from Dobbin and Peter Force and notes to David L. Swain about proposed copying of English records relating to North Carolina. Also a 246-page typescript of extracts, summaries, and copies of material relating to Dobbin's political career, apparently compiled by R. D. W. Connor.

14 items

 

Ellis, Mrs. A. J.
Papers, 1920-1943

Papers consisting of a 13-page manuscript letter from W. F. Drake, a North Carolinian who served in a Virginia artillery unit during the Civil War, recalling the "Battle of the Ironclads" in Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862, as witnessed by Drake from the gun deck of CSS Virginia. Other materials in the collection include a scrapbook and sketches.

23 items

 

Evans, Media
Papers, 1907

Twelve-page typed copy of recollections by Media Evans of Hertford County about his service with Company D of the 59th Regiment from July 1862 to April 1865. Evans describes food and quarters, fighting with gunboats along the Blackwater River, and battles in eastern North Carolina, the Shenandoah Valley, and at Gettysburg.

1 item

 

Fessenden, Reginald A.
Papers, 1887-1935

Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian-born physicist and inventor, was originator of the continuous wave principle of wireless transmission and holder of over 500 patents. His papers include correspondence with the Navy Department and other federal agencies.

60.5 feet

 

Graham, William A.
Papers, 1779-1918

2,050 items

 

Graves, Calvin
Papers, 1833-1950

His journal records plantation business relating to overseers, tobacco, weather, horse breeding, settlement of accounts, and hire and sale of slaves, listing 130 slaves, their value, births, and deaths. Also in journal are recipes and remedies; expenses of travel, schools, and colleges; Caswell County North Carolina election statistics; and statistics for the University of North Carolina on salaries, revenues, disbursements, and investments. Correspondence includes letter from daughter at school in Salem; letters from Graves and Alexander H. Stephens to Charles I. Graves about his studies at U.S. Naval Academy; and letter from 27 citizens of Caswell County asking Graves to run for the legislature.

1 volume and 40 items

 

Guion, Owen H.
Collection, 1787-1937

Papers of the Guion family of New Bern, including justice of the peace commissions; letters of introduction for Dr. John A. Guion, Navy surgeon planning to join squadron in Brazil; and checks, stock certificates, printed quarterly reports, and bank notes of the Bank of New Bern.

364 items

 

Guthrie, John J.
Papers, 1859-1918

Papers of Commander Guthrie, the earliest of which relate to his service as lieutenant with the U.S. Coast Survey and on board the U.S. Sloop Saratoga. His papers as Confederate commander of the blockade-runner Advance include orders and letter about pay from Governor Vance; list of officers and crew, most of them foreigners; letter from Frank J. Wilson describing run on another vessel to Nassau and Bermuda; list of personal goods requested by General J. G. Martin; and assorted accounts and passes. Postwar papers relate to Guthrie as carrier of dispatches for Governor Holden; as captain of a steamer in Georgia, including list of landings and points on two Georgia rivers; and as superintendent of U.S. Lifesaving Stations on North Carolina coast. Copied material concerns Guthrie's gift of captured Chinese flag to the state in 1859, assistance rendered to USS Roanoke, capture of the slaver Nightingale on the African coast, his Confederate service in 1861, and bills introduced in Congress for relief of his widow. Papers of son Dr. Joseph A. Guthrie, surgeon, U.S. Navy, relate to his service in Spanish-American War and to criticism of Josephus Daniels, and include photograph of portrait of his granduncle "Le Comte de Dijon, France." Miscellaneous items include Vance's printed proclamation of April 28, 1865, calling for civil order.

65 items

 

Hamilton, Oliver C. and Calier G.
Papers, 1861-1864

Typed copies of letters from the Hamilton brothers of Randolph County, Calier serving in the 22nd and 38th Regiments until his death at Gettysburg, and Oliver in the 38th Regiment and the Confederate Navy. Subjects include battles in and near Fredericksburg; Battle of Chancellorsville and death of Stonewall Jackson; dissatisfaction with company officers and pay in inflated currency; troop movements in Virginia; theft of food boxes on the railroads; desertion of brother Julian, with note about his later life; and crew members and training on board gunboats Fredericksburg and Patrick Henry and flagshipVirginia No. 2 in the James River.

22 items

 

Hewes, Joseph
Papers, 1736-1779

Papers of Hewes, member of General Assembly for Edenton, delegate to Continental Congress (1774-1776), and signer of Declaration of Independence. Included are Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad, Book VI (London, 4th edition, 1736); assembly certificate for travel expenses; and letter from Hewes at Philadelphia to Samuel Johnston about prisoners arriving from North Carolina with Colonel Haynes, medicines sent, British shipload of arms captured, and events in town. Photograph of draft letter from John Paul Jones to Hewes concerns problems of the infant Navy, with discussion of expedition to Canadian waters, privateers, and need for a department to regulate the Navy. Also legislative settlement of accounts with Colonel Nicholas Long, deputy quartermaster general. Later material about Hewes concerns his burial place; Pennsylvania Supreme Court case involving him in 1762; remains of his shipyard near Edenton; and a statue of him.

15 items

 

Howell, Roy V.
Papers, 1827-1866

Papers primarily relating to Lieutenant David N. and J. G. Sills of Nash County and Capt. P. Nichols of Franklin County, County B, Wright's Battalion (later part of 66th Regiment), including orders as bridge, railroad, and landing guards; appointment of agent to collect money from Confederate government; and letters including comment on troop movements, ironclad gunboat battle near Plymouth, trenches at Petersburg, black servants, and use of black troops by the Confederacy.

40 items

 

Huske, Henry
Papers, 1861

Letter from Huske, a private in Company H, 1st Regiment North Carolina Infantry, writing from Ship Point, Virginia and describing the unhealthfulness of the camp, the blockade fleet in the bay, and his dissatisfaction with army life.

1 item

 

Iconographic Collection
Collection, 1899-1972

Includes photographs relating to the Coast Guard and maritime matters.

50 items

  

Johnson, Charles E.
Collection, 1685-1875

Papers of James Iredell, Sr., state Attorney General and U.S. Supreme Court justice; papers of James Iredell, Jr., Governor and U.S. Senator; and some papers of Samuel Johnston, Governor and U.S. Senator. The collection includes letters to James Iredell Sr. discussing the war at sea during the American Revolution and a 91-page manuscript "Of Captures and Depredations on the Sea."

7.75 feet

 

Jones, Halcott P.
Papers, 1864-1871

Partially illegible journal kept by Lieutenant Jones of Hillsborough, North Carolina, beginning October 16, 1864, and describing the fight with Federal gunboats at Poplar Point on the Roanoke River; fight at Wise's Fork near Kinston; the Battle of Bentonville; withdrawal to Chester, South Carolina; traveling with General Braxton Bragg and some members of the Confederate cabinet into Georgia; breakup of the group; and return home.

3 feet

 

Jones, Joseph B.
Papers, 1862

Typed copy of a letter from Joseph B. Jones to his sister in Warren County, North Carolina describing preparations for the defense of Norfolk and the battle between CSS Virginia and the Federal fleet in Hampton Roads, including USS Monitor.

1 item

 

Jones, William H.
Papers, 1856-1960

Correspondence includes teaching offers, testimonials, letter from Rhodes scholar at Oxford, and one about newspaper work from Oscar J. Coffin of the Charlotte Observer. Family letters, clippings, programs, and printed material concern brother J. T. Jones, a teacher in Tennessee, and his daughters Marian Jones Tyte of Lexington, Kentucky, and Carol Jones, soloist with Robert Shaw Chorale and Ralph Hunter Choir; niece in Texas; and nephew H. G. Jones with U.S. Navy in the Mediterranean during World War II, at Appalachian State Teachers' College, and as Director of State Dept. of Archives and History, including pictures taken in New York and Italy and a speech about microfilming county records.

335 items

 

Kitchin, William W.
Papers, 1911

Letter from Governor William Kitchin thanking a donor for the gift to the Hall of History of a cane made from wood from USS Constitution and given to Andrew Johnson in 1866.

1 item

 

Lancaster, F. D.
Papers, 1862

Typed copy of a letter from Lancaster at James Island, South Carolina to his wife in Union County, South Carolina, reporting skirmishes with Federal gunboats and commenting on food, illnesses, and bumblings of the soldiers.

1 item

 

Lee, Robert E.
Papers, 1844-1865

Collection of papers of General Robert E. Lee, including his quarterly report as Chief Engineer, Fort Hamilton, New York; and originals and copies of orders and military correspondence, including a letter to General Braxton Bragg at Wilmington about the Federal fleet and troops reportedly headed for Wilmington, New Bern, and Weldon, North Carolina.

12 items

 

Lee, S. Phillips
Papers, 1861

Letter from Commander Samuel Phillips Lee, off Charleston in command of USS Vandalia, describing activities of blockade vessels, expressing his wish for a better ship and more action, and commenting on Captain Mercer and Lieutenant L. C. Sartori, Captain Harwood of the Ordnance Bureau, and Joseph Smith, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks.

1 item

 

Little-Mordecai Collection
Collection, 1713-1959

Papers of the related families of George Little and Margaret Mordecai, including letters concerning brother-in-law Philemon Haywood's career at the Naval Academy and naval service on the Pacific coast.

23 feet

 

London, Isaac S.
Collection, 1769-1964

The papers of Isaac Spencer London, a newspaper editor and Richmond County historian, include family letters from his brother while serving in the Navy.

12.5 feet

 

Mabry, Robert C.
Papers, 1861-1864

Letters from Mabry, 6th Virginia Regiment, to his wife in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, describing his officers, fortifications on Jamestown Island, Portsmouth Naval Yard and CSS Virginia, retreat from Norfolk, efforts to get a substitute, camp life and hospital conditions, fighting in Virginia, especially at Petersburg, black troops, revivals and religious services, shortages, prices, conscription, destruction of property by Confederate troops, and hopes for peace. Other letters are from Mrs. Mabry, her brothers in the army, and Mabry's commanding officer about his possible capture.

85 items

 

Mangum, Willie P.
Papers, 1809-1894

Senator Willie Person Mangum was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs from 1841 to 1843.

2,000 items

 

Manson, John C.
Papers, 1812-1933

Photocopy of Manson's commission as a sailing master in the U.S. Navy and a carbon copy of a letter from the Navy Department replying to a request for Manson's service record.

2 items

 

Mason, John Y.
Papers, 1844

Official communication about midshipman appointments and a personal letter on the same sheet, written by Secretary of the Navy Mason to Francis N. Waddell of Hillsborough.

1 item

 

McBlair, Charles
Papers, 1875

Letter from Commander McBlair briefly describing his service in the Confederate Navy.

1 item

 

Montgomery, Elizabeth M.
Collection, 1763-1896

Includes the papers of Walter A. Montgomery of Warren County North Carolina, a State Supreme Court Justice, contain a description of his Civil War experiences, including the battle between USS Monitorand CSS Virginia

83 items

 

Moore, Louis T.
Collection, 1766-1950

Items collected by Moore, chairman of New Hanover Historical Commission, including original of the London Chronicle, No. 1443, with news of Wilmington's resistance to the Stamp Act; newspaper clipping containing extracts from letter book of William Hill, Brunswick merchant; typescript recollections of the Wilmington race riot of 1898 by editor Thomas W. Clawson; and draft of speech by Admiral E. A. Anderson, Wilmington native, on need for sea power. Also typed copy of Griffith J. McRee's "Imperfect Sketch" of Wilmington history, 1730-1779; and photocopies of Cape Fear River pilotage rates and pilot apprentice license, of undated view and description of Wilmington, and of typed article by Moore about Moreau, Arabic-speaking slave of Governor John Owen.

33 items

  

Mordecai, Pattie
Collection, 1784-1876

Papers of the family of Jacob Mordecai of Virginia, including descriptions of Washington, DC, the Capitol under construction, Georgetown, and the Navy Yard.

173 items

 

North Carolina Naval Militia
Records

In the Romulus A. Nunn Papers.

1 item

 

North Carolina, USS
Records, 1923-1930

Scrapbook containing material concerning the silver service presented to USS North Carolina in 1907, its loan to the state by the Navy Department in 1923, and its return for use on USS Raleigh. Included are originals and carbons of correspondence; minutes of meeting of the Caswell-Nash Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with Governor McLean; and newspaper clippings. Also an inventory of the silver service.

1 item

 

Ocracoke Lifesaving Station
Records, 1883-1894

 

Peal, Eli
Papers, 1864

Letter from Peal, Company H, 17th Regiment, at Plymouth, describing conditions there and in Edenton and an attack by a Confederate ironclad on Union gunboats.

1 item

  

Phelps, Harry
Papers, 1830-1946

2,000 items

 

Pitcher, Adolphus
Papers, 1861

Diary kept by Pitcher, sergeant in Company A, 12th Regiment, containing the company roll, history of the company, and daily entries recording duties and recreations at Camp Carolina and Sewell's Point near Norfolk, Virginia, and visits to a shipwreck on Currituck Beach, fortifications, navy yard, hospitals, and newspaper office.

1 volume

 

Pou, Edward W.
Papers, 1884-1833

The Papers of Edward Pou, Smithfield, North Carolina Democrat, Congressman, and Chairman of the House Rules Committee include letters from his son, Edwin, a pilot at U.S. Naval Air Station, Finisterre, France during World War I.

64 items

 

Pou, James H.
Papers, 1892-1920

The papers of Pou, law associate with his brother, Congressman Edward Pou, include a letter from his son in naval reserve officers training at Annapolis.

207 items

 

Pratt, Joseph H.
Papers, 1684-1921

Papers of J. H. Pratt, University of North Carolina professor, state geologist, and army engineer, including letters, appointments, and citations relating to his World War I service in the National Guard and as colonel of 105th Engineers, 30th Division, and his history of that unit. Also included are records relating to Captain James C. Pratt, County F, 8th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers; letters from camps in Virginia, one signed by 25 officers of the regiment, muster rolls, and lists of recruits; circular and authorization for Pratt to raise company of Partizan Rangers (Cavalry), 1862; his appointment to aide to Brigadier General John G. Pratt; letters to W. H. Pope in Raleigh, two from North Carolina soldier Charles H. Stephenson in Virginia; and a partial transcript of letter from an Alabama soldier describing the engagement between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, 1862. Other Pratt papers are in the Military Collection, North Carolina State Archives.

50 items

 

Rodman, William B.
Papers, 1820-1893

Papers of William B. Rodman, planter, lawyer, Confederate officer, Associate Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court (1868-1878), and grandson of John Gray Blount, consisting of correspondence, receipts, business and legal papers, and account books.

15.5 feet

 

Roosevelt, Theodore
Papers, 1905-1922

Original typescript of a speech on conservation of forests and regulation of railroads, delivered in Raleigh, October 1905, by President Roosevelt and autographed by him. Also, a letter from Theodore Roosevelt Jr., acting Secretary of the Navy, to Fred A. Olds about the silver service of USS Raleigh.

2 items

 

Scales, Alfred M.
Papers, 1856-1914

Family letters of Scales, Confederate Brigadier General, Congressman, and Governor, including Civil War letters to wife from army camps near Fredericksburg, Orange Court House, Petersburg, and elsewhere in Virginia. Topics include descriptions of routine camp life, some skirmishes and battles such as Bristoe Station, people and countryside near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and his feelings on love, war, death, and religion. Also references to disarray after Gettysburg, wife's visits to camp, his brothers in the army, Vance's visit during gubernatorial campaign (1864), and dinner with Generals Lee and Hill. Several letters from nephew Archibald Henderson Scales, naval officer, were written in ports of Japan, China, Korea, Siam, and Chile describing navy life, cities, people, customs, and political unrest. Also speech by Scales on the Battle of Fredericksburg (printed, 1883) and his commencement address at Wilson Collegiate Institute on women's rights (1887).

685 items

 

Sheppard, Lyman W.
Collection, 1861-1912

Correspondence of the William Bracy family of Alfordsville, Robeson County, especially of their sons Archibald, James A., and William J. in County E, 40th Regiment NCT. Letters from home concern family, casualties, death of William J. (1862), shortage of labor and goods, thievery, crops, blacksmith shop, taxes, hopes for peace, and religious services at Ashpole. Letters from James A. and Archibald are from Ft. Caswell (Nov., 1861-Oct., 1863) describing work on the fort, armament, capture of Yankees and Negroes, blockade-runners, captured women passengers sent ashore by Federal fleet, conscription, provisions, and pay; and from Ft. Holmes on Bald Head Island (Jan.-Oct., 1864) about camp, garden, and free Negroes working on defenses. News from Ft. Macon, New Bern, and Plymouth is also reported. A few letters (1861-1863) are from relatives in Georgia. Also postwar letters from James A. Bracy in the Wilmington jail.

80 items

 

Shepperd, Francis E.
Papers, 1861

Order from naval station at New Orleans for Lieutenant Shepperd, CSN, to report to CSS Florida; and note from auditor's office, Richmond, to Shepperd, CSS Mobile, Louisiana.

2 items

 

Sledge, Mary G.
Collection, 1847-1980

Letter to James Porter in Charlotte describing the death of his son Captain Andrew R. Porter of the Arkansas cavalry in the Battle of Buena Vista and plans for returning his body. Letters to John Hart of Mecklenburg County from son William S. M. Hart about training camp in Raleigh, enemy activities, firing by CSS Patrick Henry on Union batteries and vessels at Newport News, reports of battles at Manassas and Roanoke Island, officer elections, and loss of confidence in President Davis.

20 items

 

Smith, William W.
Papers, 1872-1931

Journal of William Wise Smith of Norfolk, Virginia, son of North Carolina Chief Justice W.N.H. Smith, kept while paymaster's clerk on board USS Yantic en route to Zanzibar to assist the British in suppressing the slave trade and on to the Far East, where he resigned and sailed for San Francisco on the Pacific Mail steamships Golden Age and Japan.

50 feet

 

Vance, Zebulon B.
Papers, 1827-1903

The papers of Zebulon Baird Vance, Congressman, Governor, and U.S. Senator include information on naval appropriations and Civil War events.

6,000 items

 

Waddell, James I.
Papers, 1755-1919

Papers of Waddell, U.S. Navy officer and commander of CSS Shenandoah, including his commendation from the commander of USS Release (1857); his synopsis of the cruise of Shenandoah; and copy of his surrender to the British government. A letter from brother Charles describes reunion with James, and post-war letters from Waddell concern his interest in the presidency of the University of North Carolina and his public relations tour for Pacific Mail Steamship Company and visit with Alexander H. Stephens. A few items describe his death and funeral in Annapolis.

103 items

 

Welsh, Charles W.
Papers, 1855

Letter of inquiry from Welsh, Acting Secretary of the Navy, to U.S. Attorney General Caleb Cushing about proposal by State of Florida to tax naval officers and their property at the Pensacola Navy Yard.

1 item

 

Wester, Thomas C.
Papers, 1823-1905

Papers of Thomas Wester of Franklin County, including his letters as a Private, Company B, 66th Regiment, about morale, deserters, and hospitals in Richmond and Raleigh; and his diary recording marches and camps in eastern North Carolina, gunboat battle of the ram Albemarle, and skirmishes, sharpshooters, and shelling around Petersburg.

77 items

 

Whitford, John D.
Papers, 1770-1910

Papers of John D. Whitford, New Bern businessman and Mayor, President of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company, delegate to State Conventions of 1861 and 1865, and Confederate ordnance and transportation officer. Personal letters from Francis L. Hawks, R. C. Pearson, M. E. Manly, Jonathan Worth, Thomas Jarvis, and others concern national and state politics, North Carolina town rivalries, need for militia company and "school of science," plans for Edward Everett's speaking tour, and Brazil in the 1880s. Among Whifield's Civil War papers are 80 printed legislative bills of the 1861 Secession Convention; requests for arms and ammunition from CSS Albemarle and other units; reports from Forts Macon, Hatteras, Ocracoke, and Caswell; accounts of state with Tredegar Iron Works; memorandum about organizing wives and daughters to make cartridges; 290 government requisitions for transportation of people and supplies; and civilian request for corn.

1,500 items and 8 volumes

 

Whiting, William H.C.
Papers, 1861-1880

Papers of Major General Whiting, Commander of the Military District of Wilmington (1862-1864) and participant in final defense of Fort Fisher. Whiting's letter and order book while major of engineers on Morris Island, South Carolina, includes memorandum of inspection of the island and copy of letter from Jefferson Davis. Original letters and reports from Whiting are to his wife about withdrawal from the Shenandoah Valley, to Secretary of War Seddon and Flag Officer Lynch concerning conflict with naval officers at Wilmington, to Governor Vance about disloyalty at the saltworks, to General Bragg concerning disposition of troops and requesting reinforcements, and to headquarters objecting to an order, summarizing action during first attack on Fort Fisher, and commending individual gallantry. Clippings include reprints of Whiting's last letter condemning Bragg's inaction at Fort Fisher and letters from survivors about the battle and a reunion.

16 items

 

Williams-Dameron Families
Papers, 1804-1968

The papers John Buxton Williams and his daughter Temperance Damerion include letters from Harry Williams describing the battle between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, the evacuation of Norfolk, and the battle of Hanover Court House.

160 feet

Published: Thu Jun 26 14:06:58 EDT 2014