126
The Gulf Railroad.
28. Sunday. An invitation to visit a su-
gar-plantation by Col. Thorpe; he hurrying
us up at breakfast at the St. Charles restau-
rant, and finally departing with Strother. A
brisk run to Canal Street on the part of Schell,
Howell, Hayes and myself caught the street-
car and off we set Hamilton, who was too
dignified to run remaining behind. Through
the quiet streets and the lovely June-like mor-
ning to the depot of the Gulf of Mexico railroad,
where we found Thorpe and Strother, the
first of whom put us aboard dead-headed
us through and returned to New Orleans.
Off. The Gulf R. R. is a little railroad, ru-
dimentary in its arrangements, and pretty
accurately described in a letter on page 186.
It runs eastwards to Lake Berque, a dis-
tance, I think of only 27 miles. There were
but three cars in the train, all ricketty
and dingy, smoking being prohibited only
in the centre one. We smoked and chatted
with a Capt. Sawyer of the 9th Conn., who had
the management of the road and told amu-
sing anecdotes about Ben. Butler. The civil-
ians who travelled were mostly of a rough-
looking class; one I remarked of a swarthy
Spanish type, in blue blanket-coat, with
earrings and long hair. He was also dirty| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One: page one hundred and thirty-nine |
| Description: | Describes a journey on the Gulf Railroad. |
| Date: | 1862-12-28 |
| Subject: | Butler, Benjamin F.; Civil War; Clothing and dress; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Hamilton; Hayes (reporter); Howell; Railroad; Sawyer, Captain (Connecticut); Schell, Frank H.; Strother, David Hunter; Thorpe, Thomas B.; Transportation; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New Orleans, Louisiana] |
| Coverage (Street): | Canal Street |
| Scan Date: | 2010-11-18 |
| 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. |
