140
My Fellow Passengers
of his opinions when opposed. Ferociously
pro-slavery, like most New Jerseymen.
Ignorant and intolerant but a good
sailor. Generally spoken of as a fine man
and a first rate fellow in the meanly
deferential spirit of the ordinary run of Ame-
ricans when subjected to the petty despotism
of some small despot. I get along pretty
well with him until we talk of slavery. He
is very propitiatory after my display of ill-
manners.
Birdsall the Purser. A fat New Yorker,
marked with small-pox, his face shaven,
except a tuft on the chin, his hair cut so
short that his head might have been sand-
papered. Liberal in standing , drinks, but
disposed to depreciatory groveling at the
absence of reciprocation, his idea of social
intercourse consisting of tippling, and his
ideal of a fine fellow being a lavish drinker,
who spends money freely. Rather master-
ful, like most maritime people, and prone
to familiarity. Is naturally a good humor-
ed man spoilt by the exercise of petty au-
thority. Talks coarsely. Altogether a
first rate fellow.
Lewis Stetson, Engineer, a good hu-| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty: page one hundred and fifty-four |
| Description: | Regarding Gunn's opinions of Birdsall and Lewis Stetson |
| Date: | 1862-08-31 |
| Subject: | Birdsall; Civil War; Faircloth, Captain; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Military; Slavery; Stetson, Lewis |
| Scan Date: | 2010-09-10 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of his experiences as a war correspondent for ""The New York Tribune"" at Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, especially Hilton Head, Port Royal, St. Augustine, Key West, and the end of his experiences with the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsular Campaign when he had to leave camp due to illness. |
| Subject: | African Americans; Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Diseases; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Marches (U.S. Army); Medical care (U.S. Army); Military; Military camp life; Peninsular Campaign (Va.); Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Port Royal, South Carolina; Hilton Head, South Carolina; Key West, Florida; St. Augustine, Florida; Virginia |
| 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. |
