JOHN A. WINSLOW AND JAMES S. THORNTON. (USS KEARSARGE) Winslow (1811-1873), as captain of the steam sloop USS Kearsarge, engaged and sank the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama under Raphael Semmes off Cherbourg, France, on June 19, 1864; Thornton (1826-1875) served as the Kearsarge's executive officer during that same engagement, having earlier served in the same capacity aboard David Farragut's flagship USS Hartford during her April 1862 run past Forts St. Philip and Jackson to capture New Orleans, and went on to command the Kearsarge himself after the war.
This important Civil War naval lot brings together the signatures of Two Commanding Union Navy Officers who served alongside one another during one of the Civil War's most celebrated naval actions, the sinking of the Confederate raider CSS Alabama.

The first signature is of John A. Winslow, cut from the conclusion of a letter and Signed, "Jno A Winslow" with his rank added as "Commodore & Prest of Board." Winslow commanded the USS Kearsarge in her June 19, 1864 engagement with the Confederate raider Alabama off Cherbourg, France, being one of the most celebrated single-ship naval actions of the Civil War. Congress voted him its thanks and promoted Winslow to Commodore for the victory.

The Second document: A signed endorsement of James S. Thornton, on a Navy Department appointment notice, dated November 21, 1873. Thornton's own Civil War record runs directly alongside Winslow's: as executive officer of David Farragut's flagship Hartford, he served through the April 1862 dash past Forts St. Philip and Jackson that captured New Orleans and the subsequent Mississippi River campaigns, reportedly devising the scheme of draping the Hartford's sides in spare chain to deflect enemy shot.

After an assignment Commanding the gunboat USS Winona, he became executive officer of the Kearsarge in April 1863 and served in that post throughout her cruise against the Alabama. Thornton received a Congressional vote of thanks for his conduct in the battle and eventually Commanding the Kearsarge himself in the Pacific after the Civil War. By 1873, now a Captain, Thornton commanded the USS Monongahela, and it is in that capacity that he signs this notice acknowledging its delivery to Ensign G. A. Merriam at Rio de Janeiro. Thornton died at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1875, not long after this document was signed. (2 items)


JOHN A. WINSLOW (1811-1873). He reached the rank of Rear Admiral in 1870 and Commanded the Pacific Squadron until 1872, dying the following year.

The Letter this clipped signature was cut from was addressed to Commodore Henry Walke, himself a decorated Mississippi River Ironclad Commander who took the USS Carondelet past the Confederate batteries at Island No. 10 in 1862. Walke was promoted Commodore in July 1866, and since he and Winslow held that rank simultaneously, only until their respective promotions to Rear Admiral in 1870, this letter is datable to that four-year window.