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Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm70052639
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Samuel Phillips Lee, naval officer, were deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation in 1949 and converted to a gift in 1998.
The papers of Samuel Phillips Lee were arranged and described in 1967. The finding aid was revised in 2011.
In 1967 the Library published Samuel Phillips Lee, a Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of
The papers of Samuel Phillips Lee are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Samuel Phillips Lee Papers, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Samuel Phillips Lee (1812-1897) span the years 1860-1869, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1861-1865. The collection deals entirely with the naval activities of the Union forces in the Civil War and consists primarily of letterbooks, letterpress books, retained copies of correspondence, and logbook abstracts supplemented by copies of reports, lists, memoranda, requisition orders, and miscellaneous material. There are comparatively few original documents in the papers. Most of the documents are copies of originals sent to the Navy Department or the Naval War Records Office. One notable exception is a file of indexed correspondence, in a Miscellany series, which originally was designated for the Naval War Records Office. The papers are organized into four series: Letter and Letterpress Books, Copies of Incoming Correspondence, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and Miscellany
Lee served three tours of duty during the Civil War. His first duty
station was with the Mississippi Squadron from 1861 to August 1862, when he
commanded the sloop-of-war
In September 1862 Lee was made an acting rear admiral and put in charge of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. This tour of duty lasted until October 1864. The bulk of the material in this collection relates to these two years. Most of it is concerned with the routine details of the Union blockade and the Confederate efforts to break it. These details present insights into the everyday activities of the fleet of ships responsible for the blockade of the Confederate coastline. There are reports from most of the Union vessels in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron describing the conditions under which they labored, the morale of the crews, the physical requirements of the fleet, and their attempts at disrupting Confederate shipping and blockade running. Abstracts from the logbooks of most of the vessels in the fleet, combined with monthly reports, prize lists, communications to and from the Navy Department, and squadron dispatches, present a detailed account of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron’s activities in relation to the Confederate and Northern blockade runners. Details are also supplied for the interaction of the navy with the army on land maneuvers, especially with the command of General Benjamin F. Butler in and around the Newport News, Virginia, area.
In October 1864 Admiral Lee exchanged places with David D. Porter, commander of the Mississippi Squadron. His third tour of duty in the Civil War lasted until September 1865. Although the material for Lee’s months as commander of the Mississippi Squadron is neither as detailed nor as illuminating as the material for his previous command, it is similar in type and arrangement. There is a good deal of information on the final months of the Mississippi River campaign, affording detailed descriptions of the everyday activities of the fleet. The papers for the year 1865 continue well past the end of hostilities in April. The correspondence, lists, memoranda, and reports describe the dismantling of the Mississippi Squadron in the months immediately following the end of hostilities. The examination, inspection, and sale of several of the Mississippi Squadron vessels, along with the fuel requirements, discharge requests, requisition orders, and resignations, give valuable insights into the immediate postwar problems of the navy on the Mississippi River.
From 1862 to 1865 Admiral Lee maintained files on such diverse matters as court-martial trials, confidential and miscellaneous correspondence, printed copies of the general orders, and communications with the Navy Department and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. These files all reflect the degree of interaction between the fleets and the central headquarters in Washington, D.C. Of special interest are two files of correspondence in the miscellany section: one with James B. Devoe, 1864-1865, a “special agent” of Admiral Porter, and the other with Major General John G. Foster, 1863, which concerns a projected attack on the Confederate military bases in the Cape Fear, North Carolina region.
This collection is arranged in four series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm70052639
Copies of letters, telegrams, and reports sent by Lee as commander, first of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, then of the Mississippi Squadron.
The letter and/or letterpress books are arranged chronologically by the first date in each volume, are indexed, and are divided into subject categories.
Retained copies and a few originals of correspondence received by Lee as commander, first of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, then of the Mississippi Squadron, supplemented by copies of reports, lists, memoranda, requisitions, charts, drawings, and other miscellaneous papers.
Arranged alphabetically by name of vessel.
Retained copies and a few original of correspondence, reports, prize lists, and logbook abstracts received by See as commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Includes supplementary memoranda, charts, drawings, and miscellaneous papers.
Arranged alphabetically by name of vessel in the squadron.
Originals and typescripts of correspondence sent and received by Lee, printed matter, a logbook, record books, a diary, captured Confederate documents, administrative Confederate States of America forms, maps, and muster rolls.
Arranged by subject heading and chronologically therein.