Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Commandant Samuel F. Dupont to Gustavus V. Fox, September 29, 1861

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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