Box 1, Folder 1
Midshipman warrant for McKean
1814 November 30
Box 1, Folder 2
Orders for McKean to take command of the
Niagara
1860 April 28
Box 1, Folder 3
Captain's oath of allegiance
1861 May
Box 2
Niagara crew and officers' oaths of allegiance
1861 May
Box 1, Folder 4
Letter, Admiral David D. Porter to McKean
1861 June 8
General note
Letter regarding the Union loyalty oath of First Lieutenant John L. Broome.
Box 1, Folder 5
Portrait of William McKean
1861 August
Box 1, Folder 6
Oath of allegiance of John Rainbow, carpenter
1861 August 20
Box 1, Folder 7
Orders and letter appointing McKean to the Command of the Gulf Blockading Squadron
1861 September 3, 6
General note
Letter signed by Gideon Welles, U.S. Secretary of the Navy. It describes blockade duties at the mouth of the Mississippi River
and in the Gulf. The orders direct the transfer of responsibility for the Squadron to McKean from Flag Officer Mervine.
Box 1, Folder 8
Letter, McKean to Capt A. Harwood
1861 September
General note
Letter describes the condition of the
Niagara and advises on strategy in the Gulf, including a recommendation to attack Pensacola.
Oversize FB-295, Folder 5
Letter, McKean to his family
1862 January
General note
The letter mentions the launch of the Burnside Expedition and the ships
Baltic and
Atlantic.
Box 1, Folder 9
Release from command of the USS
Niagara, signed by Gideon Welles
1862 June 14
Box 1, Folder 10
Letter, Gideon Welles to McKean, regarding prize money for the capture of the
Salvor
1863 October 27
LOG BOOKS
Scope and Content of Series
The log book entries began on 1 February 1861 as the
Niagara rounded the Cape of Good Hope on her way back to the United States following a diplomatic mission with Japanese dignitaries,
and end on 17 May 1862, shortly before McKean left the service. The log books contain descriptions of the ship, weather, and
patrolling action in the early years of the Civil War, in addition to longer journal entries with McKean's observations of
events. Details include narrative descriptions of the capture of the Rebel blockade runner
General Parkhill as she attempted to make port at Charleston; warning off British ships; shelling Fort Pickens; and other skirmishes.
Box 1, Folder 11
1861 February 1 - October 16
General note
Includes a pen-and-watercolor sketch of Cape Town and Table Bay.
Box 1, Folder 12
1861 October 17 - 1862 May 17