The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 76, July 1972 - April, 1973 Page: 60
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Historians have used this brief account, as well as several short
Confederate reports," in their works on this naval aspect of the Civil
War. These reports provided little detailed information of the event
and writers could do little more than include brief mentions of the
expedition. Yet, much more took place during the raid than Jouett
indicated. The following two letters, written eighteen years after the
event, tell in great detail what actually occurred on that November
night in 1861.
Writers have completely omitted or have chosen to ignore the fol-
lowing correspondence in their works on the federal navy during the
Civil War. A few examples bear this out. Both David D. Porter" and
Alfred T. Mahan" used only the reports of 1861 in their books. On
the other hand, John R. Spears"1 noted that Gunner William W.
Carter" was stranded alone on the Royal Yacht for a short time when
the recoil from firing the boat howitzer drove the launch back. Obvi-
ously, he had access to the two letters but chose not to mention any-
thing unfavorable to the Union Navy. A more recent work by Virgil
C. Jones" made use only of the reports in the Official Records of the.
Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (O.R.N.),
which do not contain the two letters.
It is also interesting to speculate why the letters of Jouett and Carter
were not included in the O.R.N. Both were stamped "C.N.W.R.,"
indicating that they had been inspected for possible inclusion in the
thirty-one volume set." Perhaps the Navy, or the person inspecting
the letters, at that late date, did not wish to acknowledge cowardice
among its sailors during the Civil War.
Jouett's reasons for not reporting all the facts which occurred dur-
ing the expedition might be considered correct at that time. The
war was not going well for the Union on land. Criticism was also
"Hunter to H~bert, November 8, 11, 1861; Hunter to Stephen R. Mallory, November
13, 1861, January 4, 1862, ibid., 759-762.
1aDavid D. Porter, The Naval History of the Civil War (New York, 1886), 92-93.
x'Alfred T. Mahan, The Gulf and Inland Waters (New York, 1883), 7-8.
"John R. Spears, A History of Our Navy (5 vols.; New York, 1897), IV, 138-139.
1"William W. Carter, a native of Pennsylvania, entered the service on May 21, 1859.
Navy Register, z86z, 66-67.
"Virgil C. Jones, The Civil War at Sea (3 vols.; New York, 196o), I, 29o-291.
"1The compiler of Volume XVI of the O.R.N. did indicate that both letters were filed
in the Navy Department on May 26, 1879, and placed in the Gulf Squadron book, Vol-
ume I, but he gave no explanation as to why they were not included in the O.R.N.
itself. O.R.N., Series I, XVI, 758.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 76, July 1972 - April, 1973, periodical, 1973; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101202/m1/78/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.