Thompson, W. S. (fl. 1862-1865) [Civil War pocket diary of W.S. Thompson]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01838.04 Author/Creator: Thompson, W. S. (fl. 1862-1865) Place Written: [various places] Type: Autograph manuscript signed Date: 1865 Pagination: 1 v. : 182 p, ; 15.4 x 10.2 cm. Order a Copy
Signed "W.S. Thompson / Engr. U.S.N. / on board / U.S. Ironclad "Atlanta" / Jany 1, 1865." Short daily entries, mostly on the weather, as well as the condition and whereabouts of his ship. Entries end on April 6 (the date of Thompson's accidental death). Notes, jottings, summary of accounts, and memoranda at the back of the diary. Wrap-around brown leather cover. The corner of the leather cover and some of the pages at top of the diary are singed by fire, although text legibility is not affected. (Burn marks likely caused by the explosion that resulted in Thompson's death.)
Selected Excerpts:
1 January: "Weather clear & cold officer from Constellation visited us…"
9 February: "Everything progressing favorably Mr Brown went on Torpedo duty tonight."
26 March: "The President & Admiral Porter passed in review by us today at 1 PM."
29 March: "very heavy fighting…in the direction from Petersburg"
4 April: "Flagship must pass today…on board River Queen with Old Abe bound to Richmond…" [Lincoln traveled on the River Queen that day to meet Farragut's fleet and then proceed to Richmond.]
5 April: "Monitor Texas came down in tow of our tugs from Richmond…"
Thompson appears to have been mustered into service on May 29, 1861 from his hometown of Bristol, Pennsylvania. He joined the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment at Camp Washington. He seems to have left the army to join the United States Navy in 1862, serving as an engineer first on the "Sussana," and then the "Atlanta" in 1864-1865.
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