CDV, vignette of an older "salt" identified in modern pencil as "Hart." New Orleans: E. Jacobs, [1860s]. (Appears to be a period copy shot, excellent condition, strong sepia tones.) The shoulder straps appear to indicate either a lieutenant commander or commander (1862 Regulations) while the only "Hart" so ranked with Civil War service as Lieutenant Commander was John Elliot Hart (1824-1863). Hart became Midshipman, 2/23/41; Passed Midshipman, 8/10/47, Master, 9/14/55; Lieutenant, 9/15/55; Lieutenant-Commander, 7/16/62; "Killed in Battle," 6/11/63 (actually committed suicide). With the outbreak of the war Lieutenant Hart was assigned to the USS Vincennes, part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron commanded by David Farragut, and was advanced to the wartime rank of Lieutenant Commander. In August 1862 Lieut. Commander Hart was transferred to the screw steamer USS Albatross and assumed command of the vessel in October during an outbreak of yellow fever after the ship's commanding officer was relieved. Albatross returned to duty in mid-November and executed "a series of raids against Confederate salt works" along the Florida Gulf Coast in company with the brig USS Bohio. In December Albatross sailed for the Mississippi River and took part in operations supporting the landing of General Banks' Army at Baton Rouge which surrendered without a fight. Farragut's next objective to clear the Mississippi was the passage of Port Hudson. On the evening of March 13, 1863 Farragut lashed smaller gunboats to three of his larger warships as protection against the batteries of Port Hudson. Albatross was paired with the flagship Hartford and as darkness prevailed the fleet got underway. The dangerous operation to run the guns at Port Hudson was, after a valiant effort, largely unsuccessful due the both the volume of enemy fire and the stubborn current. As the flagship and her consort were passing the lower batteries, the current swung the pair around and grounded them; "but" Farragut later reported, "backing the Albatross and going ahead strong on this ship, the Hartford, we at length headed her up the river." Only the Hartford and the Albatross succeeded in running the enemy gauntlet. Wrote Farragut, "...although it was not in Lieutenant Commander Hart's power to do much, he still he did all that was in his power, and whenever he could bring a gun to bear, ahead or astern, on the port side, it was instantly fired." The rest of the fleet was severely punished by the intensity of Confederate shot and turned away, the trailing sloop USS Mississippi forced aground and "set afire in four places" and abandoned, later to blow up. Operating on the lower Mississippi in March Albatross engaged the Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi suffering 10 casualties. Later on May 10, 1863 she and her consorts attacked Fort De Russy on the Red River and engaged a pair of Rebel steamers, the CSS Grand Duke and Mary T. tied to the earthworks. During the exchange the Grand Duke was set on fire while "Albatross was badly shot up, suffering heavy casualties when a 32-pound ball smashed through the wheelhouse and destroyed the steering." One of her crew, Quartermaster James H. Brown, "displayed most unusual courage during the action" for extracting the Albatross from a perilous position, resulting in the award of the Medal of Honor. While stationed at Port Hudson in June 1863 Lieutenant Commander Hart contracted yellow fever. It is said that after a few days confined to his cabin, Hart "became delusional" and on June 11, committed suicide with his revolver. As a footnote to navy sources he was officially listed as "killed in battle." Unable to return his body home to Schenectady, NY for burial, the ship's Executive Officer, Theodore B. DuBois, went ashore under a flag of truce and purposefully made arrangements for a Masonic funeral - evidently Hart's known preference - with local Confederate authorities, also Masons. Lieutenant Commander Hart was buried with full Masonic rights at the Grace Episcopal Church in the nearby town of St. Francisville, Louisiana. To this day the unusual event that June is celebrated in St. Francisville as "The Day the War Stopped."

[With:]

CDV of "Ensign J.A. Slamm" identified twice on verso in undetermined pencil. Boston: Fisher Bros., [1860s]. (Strong tones, very good, slightly dented corners.) Slamm's shoulder straps and cuff insignia are consistent with the rank of ensign under the 1864 Regulations. Jefferson A. Slamm became Mate, 11/8/61; Acting Ensign, April 1, 1863; Discharged, 11/6/65. Nothing of Ensign Slamm's onboard service could be found. 

[With:]

CDV, sharp vignette ink autographed on verso, "Yours Truly/Geo. C. Osgood," dated "July 20, 1865." Cairo, IL: Parker's City Gallery, 1865. (Very good, revenue stamp removed from verso (partially steamed) leaving torn traces and slight rippling.) George Cowles Osgood (1838-1913) was Acting Asst. Surgeon, 2/26/63; Discharged, 1/19/66. A Harvard Medical School student, Osgood was posted aboard the ironclad Chillicothe during the failed Yazoo Pass Expedition. During the Red River Expedition that commenced in March 1864 he was the attending surgeon when the ship's commanding officer, Lt. Joseph P. Couthouy, was mortally wounded by rifle fire on April 3. The war over, Osgood was detached from Chillicothe and posted to Mound City in July 1865 when this photograph was taken.  After the war Osgood became a successful physician and apothecary in Lowell, Mass. Many years later in 1885 he composed a detailed description of the medical maladies that befell Brown Water Navy personnel in a lengthy eleven page letter to the Pension Bureau.  

The Richard B. Cohen Civil War Collection Lots 79-98; 116; 138-153; and 266

Cowan's is pleased to offer the third installment of Richard B. Cohen's collection of Civil War Brown Water Navy photography. Richard was known to many in the field as a "disciplined collector who maintained a relatively narrow focus having built an important, perhaps unsurpassed collection in his area of specialization." From cartes de visite to large format photographs, this portion of the collection features a noteworthy selection of images of Brown Water Navy warships, among them, the USS Benton, Choctaw, Lafayette, and Louisville. Many important identified naval officers are also represented, including an exquisite CDV of the promising young officer, Lieutenant Commander William Gwin, who died of wounds aboard the USS Benton following an artillery duel with Confederate forces at Snyder's Bluff, and an exceptionally large war-date photograph of the controversial commander of the USS Pittsburgh, Egbert Thompson.

This auction also features a premiere selection of autographs and manuscripts from Richard's carefully curated collection. Highlights include a letter from Jefferson Davis to his distant cousin, John J. Pettus, Governor of Mississippi, dated a year before secession, conveying intricate plans for securing armaments in preparation for the war; an Abraham Lincoln signed endorsement; a letter from Admiral D.G. Farragut from New Orleans, offering excellent insight into his "political" thinking as well as his dedication to his work; correspondence from Gideon Welles, David Dixon Porter, U.S. Grant, and W.T. Sherman; and a pair of superb letters with highly descriptive accounts of the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac.

Provenance: The Richard B. Cohen Civil War Collection