Moses A. Lane Papers

Lane, Moses A.

Moses A. Lane was a nineteenth-century career serviceman in the U.S. Navy, serving most of his time as a gunner. He joined the Navy on January 28, 1852. During the Civil War, he was attached to the Cimarron, a double-ended steam gunboat, was primarily assigned to blockade duty with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron. While the Cimarron's primary duty was blockading off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, the ship also took part in the attack on Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor in late August 1863. Lane was placed on the retired list on January 11, 1885, and died on October 31, 1888.

The collection consists of selected papers of Moses A. Lane. Included are a manuscript journal (1852-1855) maintained by Lane during his trip aboard the U.S.S. St. Louis in the Mediterranean, which contains a full-page watercolor drawing of the sloop of war; a typed transcription (151 pp.) of the journal; manuscript maps of the eastern Mediterranean and the coast of Turkey and Holy Land; 20 holograph letters (1852-1861) by Lane to family members, describing stops along the Mediterranean coast, such as Greece, Constantinople, and Turkey, with a full-page pencil drawing of the ship; orders from the Navy Dept., letters from the Treasury Dept., related legal papers, including Lane's initial naval appointment as "acting gunner" (28 January 1852), with typed transcriptions; a copy of Daring Diplomacy (1957) by Andor Klay, subtitled "The Case of the First American Ultimatum," which chronicles the story of Hungarian "freedom fighter" Martin Koszta and the role played by the St. Louis in achieving his release from imprisonment aboard an Austrian warship in Smyrna Bay (Turkey).

The collection was purchased from William Reese Co. with matching funds provided by the Program in Hellenic Studies with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund in February 2009 (AM2009-90).

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This collection was processed by John Delaney on February 5, 2009. Finding aid written by John Delaney on February 6, 2009. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.

No appraisal information is available.

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Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); (Collection Title), Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Date

2009

Creator

Lane, Moses A.

People

Koszta, Martin (1819)

Organization

United States. Navy

St. Louis (Sloop of war)

Place

Greece -- Description and travel -- 19th century

Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel -- 19th century

İzmir (Turkey) -- History, Military -- 19th century -- Sources

Mediterranean Coast (Greece) -- Description and travel. -- 19th century

Mediterranean Coast (Turkey) -- Description and travel -- 19th century

Turkey -- Description and travel -- 19th century

United States -- Foreign relations -- Austria -- 1853-1857

United States -- History, Naval -- 19th century -- Sources

Language

English

Form

Diaries -- 19th century

Letters -- 19th century

Manuscript maps -- 19th century

orders (military records) -- 19th century

Watercolors (paintings) -- 19th century