Beschreibung:

7 1/2 x 5/1/4 in. albumen photograph on 9 1/2 x 7 3/8 cardstock mount. (Slightly toned image, mount shows moderate wear around edges.) Inked on the back upper left is "Property of Lieut. Wm. P. Higbee / 1861" over an area of writing that has been deliberately erased. Taken at some distance from the opposite side of the narrow waterway, the image captures a flotilla of three tinclads with a forth paddlewheel steamer in line against the far tree-lined bank. The twin funnels of another distant sternwheeler are barely visible in the far right back ground. Location of the anchorage is unknown. The original owner of the photograph, William P. Higbee, joined the Navy as a Mate in 1863, became Acting Ensign 2/4/64, and was discharged 9/8/65. The first three vessels appear to be identical casemate warships, possibly "Eads gunboats" of the City-class of which the USS Cairo was the lead ship. [With:] 7 1/4 x 5 1/4 oval albumen photograph on slightly larger 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. cardstock mount. (Minor chips along far right edge, field with areas of moderate toning or soiling, mount strong with square corners but toned.) Penciled on the back is "Mound City," the Illinois location of the main naval station of the Mississippi Squadron that was expanded in 1862 to include a shipyard and way, foundry, marine barracks, supply warehouses, and hospital. The tight concentration of wooden buildings illustrates the rather small size -10 acres - of the important wartime naval station. Midpoint on the left is a sidewheeler tied to a pier. To the right is a smaller tugboat in profile overlapping another sidewheeler painted white. A tall flagpole with national colors becalmed can be made out toward the right center of the photograph indicating the likely location of the headquarters building and marine barracks. 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