Letters from a Sailor on a Tinclad

LETTERS FROM A SAILOR ON A TINCLAD Edited by Lester L. Swift The Union Navy on intend waters during the Civil War did not take part in any major engagements after the fall of Vicksburg, but the sailor on a Unclad was probably shot at more often than the average infantryman. The men in the Mississippi Squadron were forced to eat as much wormy food, ran a much greater risk of getting malaria, and could be killed fust as dead as the soldiers fighting in the trenches at Petersburg. Following are excerpts from the letters of John Swift, who left Liverpool , England, in June, 1863, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at Cleveland early the following month. He was sent to the naval base at Cairo, Illinois, for service with the Mississippi Squadron. Swift's observations and comments present a different viewpoint from that of the usual Civil War participant. He was apparently a naive, somewhat snobbish young Britisher who had no patriotic reason for wearing a Federal uniform . Many of his observations are cutting and egotistic. The extent of Swift's formal education is not known, but it is apparent that he was able to express himself clearly. This and his penmanship probably explain why he was promoted to Paymaster's Steward early in 1864. The letters he wrote were mailed to Liverpool to his mother, his sister Rosie, and to Harold Whiteside, the man who married Rosie. In the editor's possession are twenty-four letters written from the time Mr. Swift tended, in New York until he was musteredoutofthe naval service late in July, 1865. How he happened to enlist in the navy is an amusing tale he recountedina letterofJuly2, 1863. I engaged to go to work on a railroad at the rate of 20 dollars a month & board & lodging. . . . However I found to my great annoyance that the place we were going to work in was 700 miles from NTork, & although I w* not have gone jn such a case I was obliged to go on once I The grandson of the author of these letters, Lester L. Swift is a department head for the Clevite Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio. He is a member of the Western Reserve Historical Society andthe Cleveland Civil War Round Table. 48 had started. On arriving there the company of men I went out with refused to work & I dare not do a hand's turn or they w* kill me for this is a rough place. The others had money and took a train back home, but I had not enough so I walked back about 15 miles to a different part of the line & got employment. I was only able to work a short time however , as the work was very hard & they always push more on strangers here than they do anyone else. So I left the railroad & took my bundle (my box & best clothes I left in NTork at the house where I boarded) & walked right down here to Cleveland, Ohio, & I've joined the navy for one year. You need not be frightened when you read this as there is no danger in the service I am going on except from dysentery & I am not afraid of that. The pay is 18 dollars a month & prize money & further I expect to get promoted almost as soon as I get aboard the ship (she's an ironclad). . . . Swift was originally assigned to the Queen City; shortly thereafter he was transferred to the tincted Silver Cloud. This boat was purchased May 19, 1863, and it is very likely that Swift was a member of a cadre who were assigned to her when she was first put in service. The Silver Cloud was a 4th rate stern wheeler weighing 236 tons, armed with six 24-pound howitzers. In September, 1864, a 24-pound rifle was added.1 The Mississippi Squadron was a very heterogeneous collection of vessels, hardly any two of them alike. The great majority were typical river boats which had formerly been used for freight and passenger service and were altered by mounting steel plates on the sides to give the crew some protection against sharpshooters. During the summer of 1863 conditions in Tennessee were chaotic. Portions of...