Blockade Civil War letter from wife Isabella and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa to her husband in Cuba

Military, Blockade, and Civil War maritime letter from Galveston, Texas from a wife and mother named Isabella and her daughters to her unnamed husband with a description of their travel on a blockade ship to see their him in Havana, Cuba dated March 7, 1865.

Once Wilmington, North Carolina fell to the Union Army, Galveston, Texas was the only port open to blockade runners, and it became busier than at any previous time during the war. This letter would have been carried by one of these ships.

The passage would have been expensive (over $3500 in today's money). Few firsthand written accounts such as this one, particularly from females, exist from this time.

Source: Dealer: Kurt A. Sanftleben

For more information: Glover, Robert W. "The West Gulf Blockade, 1861-1865: An Evaluation," Benton, Texas. May 1974. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500924/

Campbell, Thomas, R. "Last of the Gray Phantoms: The Confederate Blockade Runners" https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/last-of-the-gray-phantoms-the-confederate-blockade-runners/

"The Capture of the S. S. Salvor" Accessed 8/26/24 https://www.tampapix.com/salvor.htm

Block, W. T. "Sabine Pass and Galveston were Successsful Blockade-Running Ports" Beaumont Enterprises. 5 February 1984 http://www.wtblock.com/blockade.htm