103
Wakeful Thoughts.
tranquil spirit; of England, Charley s home
at Chigwell; of Chacombe as I last saw it in
its winter aspect; of Hannah; of Sally Ed-
wards and our summer rides at Grafton Centre;
of that girl s future (Sally ran in my head a
good deal, this night); of Mary Bilton and
old wooing-days, some particulars of which recur-
red to me with startling distinctness; of my pretty
cousin, Annie Mitchell, and how her destiny has
taken her to the other side of the round world; of
Neithrop days in my extreme youth, of romances
read and loved then the particular look of passa-
ges and cuts in them of my mother; poor
Greatbatch s life and death, of Joe, and ten
thousand things besides. Meantime my bed-fellow,
honest Dan Miller, kept up the most prodigious
snoring I ever listened to, the Major bearing a
stiff burden to it. Just before day-break, I
got an hour s sleep, when the sun uprose oppo-
site my window, a broad disc of flame tipping
the laughing waters of the restless Atlantic with
ruddy gold and calling all things to exult in the
glory of existence. Descending to a tremendous
breakfast, after that and a smoke, I with W.
Waud, Babbage and Pancknin returned to the
city, finding Speck aboard the ferry-boat, of
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen: page one hundred and thirteen |
| Description: | Describes his thoughts while attempting to sleep on Sullivan Island. |
| Date: | 1861-01-28 |
| Subject: | Babbage, George; Bennet, Hannah; Bilton, Mary; Books and reading; Edwards, Sally (Nast); Greatbatch, Joe; Greatbatch, Joseph; Gunn, Charles; Gunn, Samuel, Mrs.; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Miller, Dan; Mitchell, Annie; Pancknin; Speck; Sullivan Island (S.C.); Waud, William |
| Coverage (City/State): | [Charleston, South Carolina]; Chigwell, [England]; Chacombe, [England]; Neithrop, [England] |
| 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. |
