86
The first day out.
and very bad breakfast. On the wet deck.
Speculations as to our destination, the pre-
dominant opinion being Texas, as especially
evidenced by the presence of ex-U. S. Senator
Hamilton of that state, recently appointed
Colonel and military governor of it before
it had been conquered. Talk, loafing, im-
bibition, reading, scribbling &c. Recognized
by a Captain Cowie, whom I had met at
the dinner-table of Gen. Hooker on the battle-
field of Williamsburg, a good looking young
fellow, Commissary to Gen. Grover. On
deck. Heavy rain. Our vessel not steaming
very fast. A good band on board belonging
to the 41st Mass, sometimes called the
piano forte-first, from the fact that its colo-
nel was one Chickering, son to a great Boston
manufacturer of those instruments. By 3 P.M.
down stairs, hoping for dinner. A. C. Hills
faint with hunger having missed his breakfast.
We have taken our places when we discover that
our meal is to be deferred for full two hours.
Exhaustion and exasperation. We wait amid
the dash of knives and forks and the blare
of the band upstairs. Very hungry. After
the officers had had their dinner a talk with
the steward. Promises of prog presently
redeemed. In cabin; on deck; talks with| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One: page ninety-three |
| Description: | Describes his first day at sea on the North Star with the Banks expedition. |
| Date: | 1862-12-05 |
| Subject: | Chickering, Jonas; Chickering, Thomas E.; Civil War; Cowie, Captain; Grover, Cuvier; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Hamilton, Andrew Jackson; Hills, A.C.; Hooker, Joseph; Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 41st; Music; North Star (Ship); Ocean travel; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | Texas |
| Scan Date: | 2010-11-16 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of his experiences as a war correspondent for ""The New York Tribune"" at New Orleans, Louisiana, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; boarding house living; a visit to the Rawlings family; a fight with Mr. Blankman at his boarding house; his journey on the North Star with the Banks expedition; the re-occupation of Baton Rouge by Union forces; a visit to a sugar plantation in Louisiana; and Fanny Fern's daughter Grace Thomson's death. |
| Subject: | African Americans; Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Military; Publishers and publishing; Transportation; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; New Orleans, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| 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. |
