Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes (1805-1877) to John S. Missroon

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02721 Author/Creator: Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes (1805-1877) Place Written: Hampton Roads, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 22 April 1862 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 20.1 x 12.6 cm. Order a Copy

Written on letterhead of the Flag Ship USS "Minnesota." Written by Flag Officer Goldsborough as commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to Commander Missroon as commander of the naval forces off Yorktown, Virginia on board the USS "Wachusett." Says Missroon's request for a general supply of ordnance is too indefinite. Asks him to state to Captain Poor what he really needs. Tells him to mention both quantities and kind. Also includes a carte de visite of Goldsborough (10.1 x 6 cm.) sitting in his naval uniform.

During his command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron from October 1861 to September 1862, Louis Goldsborough led his fleet off North Carolina, where in cooperation with troops under General Ambrose Burnside, he captured Roanoke Island and destroyed a small Confederate fleet. After special administrative duties in Washington, D.C., he took command of the European Squadron in the last year of the U.S. Civil War, returning to Washington in 1868 to serve as commander of the Washington Navy Yard until his retirement in 1873.

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