Conditions Governing Access

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.

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

Content Description

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.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Correspondence
• Kurt A Sanftleben, LLC
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
• United States History Civil War 1861-1865