'Letter from John A. Andrew to Abraham Lincoln, Thursday, February 13, 1863'

'Letter from John A. Andrew to Abraham Lincoln, Thursday, February 13, 1863'

A letter from Massachusetts governor John Albion Andrew to President Lincoln concerning the issue of the Laird ironclads in Britain

Relating to the matter of British shipbuilding for the Confederate Navy, this letter from Governor Andrew to the president reflects American concerns of the persistence of this practice. Occuring even as news of the career of the raider Alabama's actions spread, her origins also laying with the shipyards of John Laird, two more vessels under construction immediately attracted Union attentions. Any addiional naval power gained by the Confederacy carried the potential to weaken the Union's blockade against the South.

While the American minister in the U.K, Charles F. Adams, pressured the British government to intercede and seize the ships, other ideas were proposed at home. Andrew's proposal suggests that the Union move to buy the ships to prevent their acquisition and use by the Confederacy. Though the plan gained traction, ultimately Adams's efforts succeeded before it became necessary, and Earl Russell and the British Admiralty arranged the seizure of the ironclads. Both ships were later repurposed for the British Royal Navy, as the HMS Scorpion and Wivern.

Gov. John Albion Andrew

Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln Papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833-1916; Digitized online at https://www.loc.gov/item/mal2168000/.

Library of Congress

February 13, 1863

Transcribed by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College. Galesburg, Illinois.

Public Domain
Credit: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Abraham Lincoln Papers.

Letter

English

Text

Letter