Francis Winslow

A Register of His Papers in the Naval Historical Foundation Collection in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Joseph K. Brooks

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2007

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2007

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007090

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Organizations

Subjects

Locations

Occupations

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Administrative Information

The papers of Francis Winslow, naval officer, were deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation from 1969 to1989 and converted to a gift in 1998.

The papers of Francis Winslow were arranged and described in 1997. The finding aid was revised in 2007.

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Francis Winslow is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Francis Winslow Papers, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Francis Winslow (1818-1862) span the years 1833-1863 and parallel his naval career, which began with his appointment as a midshipman at age fifteen in 1833 and a cruise to Brazil in 1834 and ended in 1862 with his death at sea of yellow fever while commanding a gunboat. The collection, consisting mostly of correspondence, journals, and logs, is arranged alphabetically by type of material and thereunder chronologically.

General correspondence, all with his wife, Mary Nelson Winslow, or with other family members, is arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent. Elizabeth Winslow Pickering, addressed as "mother" in Winslow's correspondence with her, was an aunt who raised Winslow when his mother died during his infancy. J. J. Wilkins, whom Winslow addressed as "aunty" in correspondence, was his wife's aunt.

The letterbook documents Winslow's only independent commands of the gunboats Water Witch and R. R. Cuyler during Civil War blockade duty in Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida waters.

The official correspondence, consisting of orders, appointments, notifications of promotions, letters from commanding officers, and a minor incident report, summarize Winslow's career from his appointment as midshipman in 1833 to his commission as a lieutenant in 1844.

A journal dated 1834-1837 covers Winslow's first cruise to South America aboard the Brandywine (frigate) and his subsequent duty on the Brazil Station and ashore at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and other locations, as well as aboard the Erie (sloop-of-war) and other vessels.

A journal and log dated 1839-1842 is an account of Winslow's cruises on the sloops-of-war Marion and Dale in Atlantic and Pacific South American waters. A journal and log spanning the years 1854-1859 relates to cruises on sloops-of-war Falmouth and Saratoga and the Merrimack (frigate), flagship of the Pacific Squadron.

The oversize passport was issued by the United States consul at Leghorn (Livorno, Italy) in 1851 during a period spanning 1849-1852 when Winslow was cruising the Mediterranean aboard the frigate Independence. Information from this and other periods not documented by his journals, such as his cruise aboard the Washington (brig) from 1847 to 1848 during the Mexican War, is included in Winslow's lengthy letters to his wife in the general correspondence.

In 1935 Winslow's son, Arthur, published Francis Winslow, His Forbears and Life, largely based on these papers. However, material used for the book did not include the earliest and most engaging journal of 1834-1837 relating to Winslow's midshipman cruises at Brazil Station.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein chronologically.

Container List