For the next three years, as Richmond blockaded southern ports, Robert remained in constant communication with Anna – whom he called “Daisy” – via letters sent through New Orleans. Robert missed out on the battle of New Orleans in April, but he didn’t miss the chance to marry Anna Chadwick on September 16 before shipping south. On August 25, 1862, Robert enlisted in the Union Navy as a third assistant engineer and was assigned to the sloop-of-war USS Richmond, which had been part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron under Flag Officer David G. Instead of becoming a painter like his two brothers (John and Julian Weir), Robert ran away to sea at the age of 19 to begin his life as a sailor aboard a whaling vessel. These letters, accompanied by doodles of ships and forts, reveal the inner lives and dramas of sailors serving on blockade duty during the Civil War.īorn Januin West Point, New York to Robert Walter Weir, acclaimed painter and drawing professor at West Point, and Louisa Ferguson Weir, Robert’s upbringing influenced his future reputation as an amateur artist. Weir sat in his “little cosey, hot, office,” hard at work penning letters to his wife and composing sketches for Harpers Weekly. 1394, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.Īboard the USS Richmond, floating just off Pensacola Bay, Third Engineer Robert F.
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