Blockade Civil War letter from wife Isabella and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa to her husband in Cuba

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred citation:

MSS 16853, Blockade Civil War letter from wife Isabella and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa to her husband in Cuba, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Summary

Extent:
.03 Cubic Feet 1 letter folder
Creator:
Kurt A Sanftleben, LLC
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

MSS 16853, Blockade Civil War letter from wife Isabella and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa to her husband in Cuba, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains a rare letter written by a woman named Isabella, and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa, to her unnamed husband describing their attempts to sail from Galveston, Texas, to join him in Havana, Cuba. Their passage was on a blockade runner that failed as they could not pass through the Union ships. The back of the letter contains short notes from each of the children addressed to their father.

Biographical / historical:

Military, Blockade, and Civil War maritime letter from Galveston, Texas from a wife and mother named Isabella and her daughters to her unnamed husband with a description of their travel on a blockade ship to see their him in Havana, Cuba dated March 7, 1865.

Once Wilmington, North Carolina fell to the Union Army, Galveston, Texas was the only port open to blockade runners, and it became busier than at any previous time during the war. This letter would have been carried by one of these ships.

The passage would have been expensive (over $3500 in today's money). Few firsthand written accounts such as this one, particularly from females, exist from this time.

Source: Dealer: Kurt A. Sanftleben

For more information: Glover, Robert W. "The West Gulf Blockade, 1861-1865: An Evaluation," Benton, Texas. May 1974. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500924/

Campbell, Thomas, R. "Last of the Gray Phantoms: The Confederate Blockade Runners" https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/last-of-the-gray-phantoms-the-confederate-blockade-runners/

"The Capture of the S. S. Salvor" Accessed 8/26/24 https://www.tampapix.com/salvor.htm

Block, W. T. "Sabine Pass and Galveston were Successsful Blockade-Running Ports" Beaumont Enterprises. 5 February 1984 http://www.wtblock.com/blockade.htm

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Describing Archives: A Content Standard