Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biographical Note
Arrangement
Scope and Content
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Gideon Welles papers
Creator:
Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878
Identifier/Call Number: mssWE
Physical Description:
12.5 Linear Feet
(12 boxes, 3 volumes)
Date (inclusive): 1846-1902
Date (bulk): 1861-1870
Abstract: The papers of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Gideon Welles papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Acquisition Information
Purchased from Stan V. Henkels (Philadelphia), 1924.
Biographical Note
Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged chronologically. Several items are "oversize" and physically located in Box 10; some items are
housed separately at the end of the collection.
Scope and Content
Letters, manuscripts (including Welles' 1846-1849 diaries), documents and ephemera covering Welles' career as a naval administrator:
Chief of Bureau of Provision & Clothing for the Navy, 1846-1849; Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1869 (requests for appointments,
purchase of government vessels by George D. Morgan); criticism of Welles's successor, George Maxwell Robeson, and Robeson's
assistant David Dixon Porter. Naval operations during the Civil War, including blockades, letters of marque, and the capture
of New Orleans in April, 1862; Welles' views on Reconstruction politics; Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Much of the
correspondence is written to Welles' son, Edgar T. Welles.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Sources
New Orleans (La.) -- History -- Capture, 1862 -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
United States -- History, Naval -- To 1900 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Sources
Diaries -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Military records -- United States -- 19th century
Personal papers -- United States -- 19th century
Professional papers -- United States -- 19th century
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875
United States. Navy Department -- History -- 19th century -- Sources