102
Carousing and Bed.
to our quarters and found a dozen or so, among
them Waud and Babbage, similarly occupied,
and after another visit to the refectory, joined
them. Songs were sung, both comic and serious,
cigars smoked and whiskey drank, a certain
sergeant or corporal England especially distin-
guishing himself vocally, performing at the top
of his voice and with a good deal of humor. At
about midnight, after an uproarous and uni-
versal Dixie, I, the Captain, and a portly,
bald-headed old boy whom they called Major
went upstairs to bed, though the rest kept up
28. Monday} their revelry for at least an
hour later as I judged from the uproar below.
It was a clear moonlight night, I lay close
against the uncurtained window, looking out
on the sand and the sea, and partly from
having anticipated my legitimate slumber, partly
from the novelty of my position, I kept as
wide-awake as a hare, thinking of innumera-
ble things past and present, all sorts of remi-
niscences and fancies besetting me to an extra-
ordinary degree fifty such books as this would
not contain them. I thought of life and death;
of the moonlight, the sand and the sea; of gli-
ding along that shore after death a strangely
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen: page one hundred and twelve |
| Description: | Describes spending time with Captain Dan Miller of the ''Richland Rifles.'' |
| Date: | 1861-01-27 |
| Subject: | Babbage, George; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Military; Miller, Dan; Songs; Sullivan Island (S.C.); Waud, William |
| Coverage (City/State): | [Charleston, South Carolina] |
| Scan Date: | 2010-05-11 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen |
| Description: | Describes Gunn's experience as a correspondent for ""The New York Evening Post"" in Charleston, South Carolina, in the aftermath of South Carolina's secession from the federal government, including a conflict between A.H. Colt and Mr. Woodward, a visit to Sullivan's Island, John Mitchel's tale of assisting with the lynching of an abolitionist, attending a celebration in honor of Benjamin Mordecai, Will Waud's arrival in Charleston, the scene in Charleston the day the ''Star of the West'' was fired upon by the Morris Island battery, pistol and rifle practice with various Charlestonians, a rumor in New York about his having been tarred and feathered in Charleston, a visit to the quarters of the ''Richland Rifles,'' witnessing a slave auction, and a visit to Colonel Bull's home. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Books and reading; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Military; Publishers and publishing; Secession; Slavery; Slaves; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Charleston, South Carolina |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
