Seeing A "Terrible Monster" Monitor Being Built At Baltimore

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/20/2018

A great war-date Union soldier's letter, 10pp. 8vo., written by a soldier stationed at Fort McHenry, Baltimore,Nov. 10, 1863, describing a fascinating trip to the Baltimore Navy Yard and of giving a great description of a "terrible monster" Monitor that is being built at the yard, in small part: "…Taylor was very anxious to see a gunboat which was captured not long since. It was built in England for a blockade runner & was captured near Charleston. It is a splendid iron plated boat, is very long & narrow…would run very fast, is about 250 feet in length, has six splendid guns…we went to another yard where [there] was a new gunboat just from New York. They were busy fitting in its steam engine & machinery…it would soon be ready for service. This mounted 8 guns, two howitzers, 4 ten inch Dahlgren guns & 2 eight inch Parrots. Another smaller gunboat was near this but we did not go onboard of it…half mile farther there is a monitor being built…it is going to be a terrible monster…looks as though it would withstand all the battering [that] could…be brought against it…now they have up the framework & only part of the timbers…the sides are now half inch plates of iron made watertight outside of which is to be placed heavy timbers the thickness of 4 feet & outside of the timbers is to be 4 thicknesses of inch plates…bolted fast to the timbers. The inside…looked like a great field with a huge fence around it…scarcely ten feet in depth, is nearly flat bottomed so will run in shallow water, is…thirty feet in width & two hundred & fifty feet in length is built with a space of about two feet next to the outside…the length of the boat for the purpose of letting in water so when they go into action all except the turret can be sunk below water or to the water's edge…it will be some months before it is finished…I am sorry the Union people of Pendleton did not all try & do their duty…am very sorry anyone in the 8th would be so traitorous as to vote the copperhead ticket…Thomas." The original stamped transmittal cover is included. Overall VG to near fine.

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