123
Project to go to Fort Sumter.
Down Broad Street, looking in at the Mer-
cury and Courier offices, then returning along
Easy Bay, after a visit to the Floating Bat-
tery. The day was sunny, with a strong wind
blowing which covered, smothered and befoul-
ed us with dust in a disgusting manner. To
hotel, found Carlyle and Coste. I went with
the former to King Street, then to Dodge s, then
returned to a wash and dinner. Indoors wri-
ting until 11. A rainy night. Got two copies
of the Illustrated London News transmitted
by and a note from Boweryem.
3. Sunday. A wet morning. Spear, a
heavy-bearded, friendly, good-humored and Jew-
ish looking watchmaker, a friend of Waud s
and Babbage s, whom I had confided my
(or rather Boweryem s) watch to and who
lived at the hotel, broached a project of visit-
ing Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, obtaining
leave of the authorities for that purpose. It was
known that I had two letters of introduction to
the Major (one from Mr William King, the
other Mrs Edwards) and a photographer, an
acquaintance of Spear s wanted to secure Ander-
son s portrait. After breakfast, half an
hours cigar with one Ramsay, whom I should| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen: page one hundred and thirty-three |
| Description: | Mentions a proposed visit to Major Anderson at Fort Sumter. |
| Date: | 1861-02-02 |
| Subject: | Anderson, Robert; Babbage, George; Boweryem, George; Carlyle; Coste, Captain; Dodge, W.E.; Edwards, Sarah; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Illustrated London news.; King, William; Ramsay, Russell (Buckstone); Spear; Waud, William |
| Coverage (City/State): | [Charleston, South Carolina] |
| Coverage (Street): | Broad Street; East Bay; King Street |
| 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. |
