Near Wilmington, Del.
29. Sep. 61.
My Dear Mr. Fox,
After mature deliberation with Drayton, and for reasons
public & personal to himself, he prefers a separate command to going in the
Wabash — provided you can let him be in my squadron, where his specialty will
still be of great service to me — for the ignorance of the new Cannon, pivot
guns &c is marvellous.
Will you therefore be so kind as to let him have the Harriet
Lane or the Bienville from which Livingston was detached? He prefers the former
being the nearest ready and of the lightest draft. She will be very useful to
me.
I leave in the morg. My private affairs never having had an
hour of my time since the War, it was a godsend to have these two last days.
Sherman is after me so I hope he has some good news.
Faithfully Yours,
S. F. Dupont.
G. V. Fox, Esq.
Ass. Sec. Navy.
P.S.
Drayton not having seen his sea service in command, having
when out before been similarly attached to a flag officer, he thought he ought
to put in for a ship and I yielded — he is a very fine man and a very able
officer.
SOURCE: Robert Means Thompson & Richard Wainwright,
Editors, Publications of the Naval Historical Society, Volume 9: Confidential
Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1865,
Volume 1, p. 55-6
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