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.

West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) to Mary West

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03836.60 Author/Creator: West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) Place Written: Aboard USS "New Ironsides" off Morris Island, South Carolina Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 7 December 1863 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 24.6 x 19.6 cm. Order a Copy

References receiving her latest letter. Says "For the first time since I have been in the service I feel thoroughly discontented. I fancied in coming here I was at length going to see active service but find just the reverse." Says they witnessed the sinking of the USS "Weehawken" in bad weather. Says four engineering officers and 29 men, half the crew, died in the sinking. No cause is known yet because of poor communication during the storms. Heard about General Braxton Bragg's defeat in the Confederate newspapers. Says the Union ships fired their guns in a salute. A court of inquiry found that "Weehawken" sank after recently taking on a considerable amount of heavy ammunition in her forward compartments. This change excessively reduced her forward freeboard, causing water to rush down an open hawse pipe and hatch during the storm. As the bow sank, and the stern rose, water could not flow aft to the pumps and the vessel foundered.

A court of inquiry found that "Weehawken" sunk after recently taking on a considerable amount of heavy ammunition in her forward compartments. This change excessively reduced her forward freeboard, causing water to rush down an open hawse pipe and hatch during the storm. As the bow sank, and the stern rose, water could not flow aft to the pumps and the vessel foundered.

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