American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography, including The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

Group of 36 letters written by Josiah Tattnall to Hiram Paulding, 1832-1857, during which time Tattnall served in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, Mediterranean, and Africa Squadrons, and stateside at the Boston Navy Yard, Sackets Harbor Naval Station, and Pensacola Navy Yard. Small amount of additional correspondence authored by intimates of Tattnall such as his wife Mrs. Harriette Fenwick Tattnall, his son Col. John Tattnall, and Hiram Paulding. A fascinating archive which documents not just the devoted friendship of two long-serving officers, but also reflects the challenges of life at sea alongside the personal and political rivalries that often shaped service in the Department of the Navy. Letters generally 1-3+pp, some with integral address leaf. Various places incl. "United States Schooner Grampus," Middletown [CT], "U.S. Sloop Saratoga," "Navy Yard Pensacola," "U.S. Ship Independence," and more.

Notable content includes, in small part: 20 March 1832, United States Schooner Grampus, Vera Cruz [Mexico]. Tattnall describes arriving "just in time to see a war on land," as troops of General Santa Anna "the opposition chieftain" fought the Mexican government forces. "He retreated to the City and his enemy advanced and entrenched in sight of it. An attack is expected daily. Should it be made and St. Ana find no treachery within his camp he will I think whip them. He is a brave and...very skillful officer." -- 6 March 1840, Middletown, Connecticut. Tattnall reflects on the possibility of appropriations for the Navy, and the current presidential contest. "I think that Harrison will sweep the field...the hurra[h] of a title and and military services, which elected General Jackson all tend to this result...General Harrison as a military man would appreciate the efficiency in both Army and Navy...His intimacy with Commodore Perry, his having made a cruise in a Man of War...may enable us during his administration to place the neglected Navy on a respectable and honorable footing." -- 17 April 1840, Middletown, Connecticut. Tattnall informs Paulding of the birth of his son who "by an unanimous vote" will be named "Paulding Tattnall." -- 8 September 1843, U.S. Sloop Saratoga, Porto Grande, St. Vincent, Cape de Verde. Tattnall writes while serving with Commodore Matthew C. Perry in the newly created African Squadron about their station at Porto Grande, and jockeying for commands of ships among some officers. -- 23 August 1853, At Sea, U.S. Ship Independence. An unsigned account in unknown hand of a verbal altercation between Tattnall and a Captain Nicholson, an occurrence relayed to Paulding by Tattnall in later correspondence. -- 18 October 1855, [USS] Independence, Mare Island, San Francisco. Tattnall relays details about the high number of deserters who are lured away from the Navy by the appeal of more pay and adventures in San Francisco. "...our working gangs on shore, who mingle with the laborers there, find the latter getting three dollars a day, while our Landsmen get but 40 cents, and their mechanics 6 dollars a day, while ours get but fifty cents. The fever for gold digging has also its great influence." -- 11 October 1856, Sackets Harbor. Tattnall writes regarding current naval news and politics, offering a prescient foreshadowing of things to come: "I really, Paulding, begin to fear that we may live to be officers in different Navies."

[With:] PAULDING, Commodore Hiram. Unsigned copy of a letter in his hand, likely to Admiral David Dixon Porter. On letterhead "Governor's Office, U.S. Naval Asylum, Philadelphia," 1869. Paulding offers praise for Porter's capabilities and service [as advisor to the new Sec. of the Navy], while decrying the appointment of Admiral William Shubrick to the US Lighthouse Board. -- PAULDING, Commodore Hiram. Autograph manuscript unsigned. An account of Paulding's lifelong friendship with Josiah Tattnall. Undated, [ca 1871?]. 10pp, 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. Paulding reflects upon his "honorable, generous, brave, and gentle friend" whom he had known since "about the year 1817 & from that time, until we had both reached the highest rank known to our Navy." Beginning with stories of their service together in 1818 on the Frigate Macedonia, Paulding shares anecdotes and personal reflections of their five decades-long friendship. This account, and the personal affection that are clear from its contents, is particularly notable given that Tattnall and Paulding's friendship was severed for years when Tattnall opted to resign from the USN and accept a commission with the Confederate Navy at the onset of the Civil War. Paulding states that this period in their friendship "is painful to recall." He closes his account with a description of his final meeting with Tattnall after the war during which they joined "as though the long interval of [their] separation was not remembered...."

[Also with:] TATTNALL, Col. John R.F. (1829-1907). Autograph letter signed ("John R.F. Tattnall") from the son of Commodore Josiah Tattnall to Tattnall Paulding, son of Commodore Hiram Paulding. Savannah, Georgia, 12 April 1879. 2pp. Following the death of Hiram Paulding, John Tattnall writes: "You are not in the least mistaken in believing that the reverence & affection I felt for your noble father ... his memory is cherished by me now that his spirit has joined that of my good Father in the land of the Just...." -- TNS from Louise H. Tattnall to a family member who had been seeking information on their common ancestor Commodore Tattnall. 13 March 1964.

Josiah Tattnall was a career naval officer who, like his close friend Hiram Paulding, served from the War of 1812 through the Civil War. Tattnall was born on a plantation near Savannah, Georgia, the son of Josiah Tattnall, Jr., a US Senator and Governor of Georgia. His appointment at the US Naval Academy was interrupted with the outbreak of the War of 1812, and from that point on Tattnall would be in active service as a naval officer. In 1818 Tattnall was assigned to the Frigate Macedonia with Paulding, the start of their lifelong friendship. Tattnall would later have Paulding as a groomsman at his wedding, and both men would name a son after the other. Like Paulding, Tattnall sailed around the world, including participating in the attacks on Vera Cruz during the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War, Tattnall's prediction that he and Paulding would serve in different navies came to fruition. He resigned from the USN on 20 February 1861 and held various CSN commands before becoming a prisoner of war when Savannah fell to Sherman's troops. He died in Savannah in 1871.

See Lot 12, PAULDING, Commodore Hiram (1797-1878). Personal correspondence of Paulding to his wife Ann Marie Paulding, and Lot 11, Manuscript journal containing "Remarks and observations of Lt. Paulding of the U.S. Frigate Macedonian Commanded by John Downes, Esq. And bound on a Cruise in the Pacific Ocean." Ca. 1818-1828.