Chester, Colby Mitchell (1844-1932) to Whitelaw Launders
High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03479.71 Author/Creator: Chester, Colby Mitchell (1844-1932) Place Written: New Haven, Connecticut Type: Typed letter signed Date: 24 May 1918 Pagination: 1 p. ; 27.8 x 21.5 cm. Order a Copy
Written by Rear Admiral Chester as Commandant of the Navy ROTC program at Yale University. Replies to a request for a written story of the Civil War. Says he doe not have time "to write a story of the Civil war, during this war." Typed on letterhead of the Headquarters of the Yale Naval Training Unit.
Colby Mitchell Chester, was a United States Navy admiral. He is the only naval officer to have actively served in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I.
He was born at New London, Conn. in 1844, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1863. In 1864, he participated in operations against Mobile. He served in the Navy for 46 more years.
He was Commandant of Cadets at Annapolis in 1891-94; commanded the Cincinnati, the flagship of the North Atlantic squadron during the Spanish-American War; became superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory in 1902, and retired on February 28, 1906. Chester's active-service record was extended to February 28, 1909 to round out a full 50-year service career with the U.S. Navy. He was recalled to special duty in 1917, during World War I, as the first Commandant of the Navy ROTC units at Yale and Brown Universities. In 1923 he traveled to Turkey at the head of the Americans who participated in an agreement called the Chester concession. He died in Rye, NY, in 1932, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.