Here is a beautifully written letter from the Civil War with a vividly clear autograph of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren Letter. This letter is sent from Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren aboard the Flag Steamer USS Philadelphia to Lieutenant Commander Edward Simpson commanding the Passaic while in Charleston Harbor dated December 7, 1863. Orders to Simpson and two other commanders being instructed to be on the board to investigate what happened the day before when the USS Weehawken ironclad sank in a storm. The Weehawken lay anchored off Morris Island during a moderate gale early on the morning of 6 December. Suddenly, the ironclad signaled for assistance and appeared to observers ashore to be sinking. Attempts to beach the vessel failed, and she sank bow first five minutes later in 30 ft (9.1 m) of water. A court of inquiry found that Weehawken had recently taken on a considerable amount of heavy ammunition in her forward compartments. This change excessively reduced her forward freeboard, causing water to rush down an open hawsepipe and hatch during the storm. As the bow sank, and the stern rose, water could not flow aft to the pumps and the vessel foundered. Four officers and 27 enlisted men drowned aboard Weehawken. The letter is has the main body of the letter on one side with the autograph and notations on the next page. The overall size measures 13-1/4ths inches by 8-1/4ths inches and it is written on fine reed paper. It has the bold heading from "Flag Steamer Philadelphia" and is dated September 18th 1863. The letter is addressed to Lieutenant Commander Edward Simson. Edward Simpson (March 3, 1824 – December 1, 1888) would go on to rise to the rank of Read Admiral. On the second page of the letter, it has several notes about the ship and is signed in ink by Admiral Dahlgren. The Admiral signs it in ink "J A Dahlgren". and he adds his rank. The letter is accompanied by a modern made xerox image of the two Admirals in Uniform.

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All items are described to the best of our ability. Remember that the only true experts died 100 years ago. If we make a mistake we will make it right. It is always best to call and reserve an item as most of them are unique. We do out best to keep the web-site up-to-date but sometimes items sell out of the shop or at a show and aren't removed immediately. After you place your order and receive confirmation from Shiloh Relics. The item will be held for 7 days for the payment to arrive. If payment is not received within 7 days the item will be placed back for sale. Please call between 9:30 AM and 5:00 PM Central Time. A minimum charge of $10.00 will be added to cover shipping. Items can be shipped UPS or USPS Priority Mail. Tennessee residents must include 9.75% sales tax. All items are 100% GUARANTEED. If for any reason you are unhappy with the relic just return it UNALTERED within 5 days for a refund minus shipping charges and restocking fee of 6%. Layaways can be arranged on items over $100. Layaway terms are; 1/3 down and 1/3 in 30 days with balance due in full in 60 days. Due to time factors there are no refunds or price discounts on layaways. Only 1 item may be in lay-a-way at a time unless approved by Shiloh Relics. We reserve the right to refuse service to rude people. We are always buying and trading so feel free to make an offer. Thanks for stopping by! Rafael Eledge, Owner of ShilohRelics.com.

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