Pirates & Privateers: Henry Willis Wells' Letters

In August 1862, twenty-year-old Henry Willis Wells joined the United States Navy. His rank was master’s mate, a position that placed him between higher-ranking officers and seamen. Several months after volunteering to serve, he explained to his mother that “I am fighting for the Union,” and he believed that serving his country was important during this time of conflict between the North and the South. (ix)

He did not enter the navy as a novice; his first sailing venture took him to the West Coast aboard a clipper ship at the age of fifteen. Between subsequent cruises in the merchant marine, he studied navigation at Boston Mercantile and Nautical College to add to his nautical knowledge learned at sea. His first posting in the navy saw him serving as an acting master’s mate aboard the Cambridge, a steam vessel that had previously seen duty as a merchantman. The ship was part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He would serve on other vessels that patrolled waters off North Carolina and the Florida Coast, including Key West, and several months before his death, he was finally given his own commands, first the US Sloop Rosalie and then US Schooner Annie.

Throughout his journeys, Henry wrote letters home, many of which survive and were first gathered together by his great-nephew. Now they have been published in chronological sequence as part of the University of Alabama’s Maritime Currents: History and Archaeology series, for readers and historians interested in the day-to-day life of a junior naval officer during the American Civil War. These missives provide personal glimpses into the men he served with and what transpired on each voyage from his entry into the navy until his death in December 1864. Also included are occasional official documents, such as orders and notices of his brief capture by Confederate forces and his death. Browning includes maps, a timeline of events in Henry’s naval career, and period illustrations (including a map that Wells drew of Union defenses at Washington, North Carolina). Notes, which explain or elaborate on details found in the letters, are also included, as are a bibliography and an index.

Among the war-related news that Henry shared are what he witnessed on day one of the Battle of Hampton Roads, chasing blockade runners, sleeping arrangements aboard his ships, interactions with contraband (escaping slaves) and prisoners of war being exchanged, participation on court-martials, and the effects of illnesses on himself and others.

Even though the letters shared are only his, readers still get to learn about his family and homelife during the war. Most missives are addressed to his mother, but he also wrote to his father, sisters, and cousin, Louisa May Alcott. There are several poignant stories, including one of a Rebel prisoner who shows Henry a Bible that saved his life or the wounded soldier who was sitting by an ambulance when guerrillas murdered him. There are requests for specific items in care packages and feelings of homesickness when he fails to hear from those he loves.

In addition, he shares personal opinions and thoughts on subjects pertinent to the time or his family, allowing readers to experience these from a 19th-century perspective. Although he volunteered to serve, he was not classified as regular navy personnel because his experience came more from firsthand knowledge rather than formal education by the navy. This resulted in encounters where prejudice and bias were prickly thorns for him, as was his age which was given as one reason for his not being promoted even though he was better qualified for advancement than others with whom he served. Even so, this inquisitive and determined young man eventually achieved his goal of promotion and command.

This is a highly enlightening volume that provides readers with eyewitness perspectives of what it was like to serve in the Union navy during the Civil War. If there is any drawback to this volume, it is the location of the notes. Rather than inserting the relevant information on the bottom of the pages where the mention is made or at the end of particular letters, the notes are found after the correspondence ends. This necessitates that the reader flip back and forth, which most will not do, and some of the endnote numbers are difficult to see, which means the reader may miss that there is additional information or explanations that are relevant.