Sep 28, 2023 - Sale 2646

Sale 2646 - Lot 133

Unsold
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
(CIVIL WAR--NAVY.) Papers of Captain John C. Williamson, including maps, monitor drawings, an investigation into his loyalty, and more. 65 items in 6 folders; condition generally strong. Various places, 1861-1866
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Additional Details

James Cara Williamson (1813-1871) of Jersey City, NJ was a career naval officer going back to 1832. During the Civil War, he served on the USS Brooklyn, USS Wyandotte, USS Perry, USS Penguin, and then from June 1863 until the close of the war, the USS Flag.

This lot includes a worn 84-page notebook he kept from 1861 through 1865 contains a long summary of his Civil War service, his personal cash accounts, a "slush fund" account, a list of generals headed by W.S. Sherman, and on the detached rear pastedown, three pencil views of the ironclad monitor warship USS Montauk. One is coded to show the distinctive black-white-red striping pattern on the turret, used to distinguish between these similar-looking ships. A separate slip of paper, 1 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches, has a pencil drawing of another ironclad, the CSS Atlanta, showing its flag, torpedo, and pilot house.

Also included are two small undated coastline maps in pencil, on separate slips of paper. One shows the South Carolina coast north of Charleston, including Bull's Bay, Georgetown, and Murrell's Inlet, 6 1/2 x 3 inches. The other shows Apalachicola, FL and the surrounding St. George's Sound on the Florida Panhandle, 5 x 7 3/4 inches.

The remainder of the lot consists of official correspondence and orders addressed to or concerning Williamson, many by notable naval officers and officials. 9 bear the signature of Rear Admiral Samuel DuPont, 1862-1863; 11 are signed by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, 1862-1868; and 9 are signed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, 1862-1866.

One correspondence packet from the outset of the war, October-December 1861, begins with a Gideon Welles letter raising an accusation that Williamson was "without doubt disloyal and in sympathy with the Rebels." Williamson protested his loyalty, was called before a board of inquiry, and secured letters testifying to his vigorous prosecution of duty. He remained in the navy.

Another packet of 8 letters discusses the allotment of prize money, 1863-1865. One letter signed by Secretary Welles denies Williamson's claim on a prize awarded to the USS Somerset, 11 May 1864. A packet of 7 letters relates to blockade runners, 1862-1864, including a notice that Williamson's USS Flag was awarded a prize for the capture of a blockade runner off South Carolina, 21 July 1864. An undated "Additional list of suspected vessels" offers the names of 35 working blockade runners, with good descriptions of some of them.