Winslow, John Ancrum (1811-1873) to Charles D. Cleveland
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03867.01 Author/Creator: Winslow, John Ancrum (1811-1873) Place Written: Dover, England Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 7 July 1864 Pagination: 4 p. ; 21 x 26.6 cm. Order a Copy
Written from the U.S.S. Kearsarge by Commander Winslow, who replies to a congratulatory note from Charles Dexter Cleveland, the U.S. consul at Cardiff, Wales. Winslow had sunk the C.S.S. Alabama off the coast of France on June 19, 1864, one of the most vaunted naval successes of the war, and complains here of the adulation of the public. Winslow remarks, "I went to Paris, hoping for quiet, and found the reverse. I had become a Lion, & all the nonsense consequent on the position, followed and I ran away to my ship where I intend to stay… Now I have had hard service, on the Mississippi, but no honour followed; an easy victory, and every one cries hero." He also reports that he has lost one eye and will likely lose the other, "I must go to grass like other blind asses." John Winslow's victory over the Alabama in June 1864 earned him promotion to commodore, and with it the thanks of Congress. He was later promoted to rear admiral and given command of the Pacific Squadron after the war.
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