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- Discipline Roster of 145 Sailors on an Unnamed Vessel in the European Squadron
Discipline Roster of 145 Sailors on an Unnamed Vessel in the European Squadron, With Offenses and Punishments Recorded. Various Locations in the Mediterranean, 1868.
Manuscript.
Folio, 31.5 cm. Bound ledger containing about 200 pages of ink manuscript on lined paper.
Price: $300
This is a listing of 145 named sailors, identified by rank, with offenses committed and resulting punishments recorded. The ship is unnamed, but internal evidence suggests it was one of the ships in the European squadron. Most of the offenses occurred in Mediterranean ports, and many of the offenders transferred either to the “USS Franklin” or the “USS Ticonderoga,” both ships in the European Squadron at the time. (“Franklin” was Adm. Farragut’s flagship. She was relieved by “Ticonderoga” toward the end of 1868. Secondary vessels, such as the sidewheel steamer “Frolic” are likely candidates for creation of this roster.) Offenses by the listed sailors were mostly minor – overstaying liberty, insubordination, and drunken conduct, were some of the most popular crimes. Punishments were severe by modern standards – for example, confinement in double irons on the hurricane deck, subject to wind and weather, for lengthy periods; or bread and water in solitary for a month with full meals only periodically. These records take up about 200 pages of the book; another half dozen or so have been repurposed by a French student for practicing penmanship and writing short essays. Clean and legible. Very Good condition in half calf over marbled boards. An unusual insight into crime & punishment in the post-Civil War navy.
