Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, August 4, 1863

Very warm. Little done at Cabinet. Seward undertook to talk wise in relation to Commander Collins and the Mont Blanc, but really betrayed inexcusable ignorance of the subject of prize and prize courts, and admiralty law, the responsibilities of an officer, etc.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 394