Details

Subject(s)

• Koszta, Martin, b. 1819—Kidnapping, 1853 [Browse]
• St. Louis (Sloop of war) [Browse]
• United States. Navy—Warrant officers—19th century—Correspondence [Browse]
• United States. Navy—Warrant officers—19th century—Diaries [Browse]
• Greece—Description and travel—19th century [Browse]
• Istanbul (Turkey)—Description and travel—19th century [Browse]
• Izmir (Turkey)—History, Military—19th century—Sources [Browse]
• Mediterranean Coast (Greece)—Description and travel—19th century [Browse]
• Mediterranean Coast (Turkey)—Description and travel—19th century [Browse]
• Turkey—Description and travel—19th century [Browse]
• United States—Foreign relations—Austria—1853-1857 [Browse]
• United States—History, Naval—19th century—Sources [Browse]

Form/​Genre

• Diaries—19th century
• Letters—19th century
• Manuscript maps—19th century
• Orders (military records)—19th century
• Watercolors (paintings)—19th century

Compiled/​Created

1852-1957 (bulk 1852-1885)

Biographical/​Historical note

Lane was a nineteenth-century career serviceman in the U.S. Navy, serving most of his time as a gunner.

Summary note

Consists of selected papers of Moses A. Lane. Included are a manuscript journal (1852-1855) maintained by Lane during his trip aboard the U.S.S. ST. LOUIS in the Mediterranean, which contains a full-page watercolor drawing of the ship; a typed transcription (151 pp.) of the journal; manuscript maps of the eastern Mediterranean and the coast of Turkey and Holy Land; 20 holograph letters (1852-1861) by Lane to family members, describing stops along the Mediterranean coast, such as Greece, Constantinople, and Turkey, with a full-page pencil drawing of the ship; orders from the Navy Dept., letters from the Treasury Dept., related legal papers, including Lane's initial naval appointment as "acting gunner" (28 January 1852), with typed transcriptions; a copy of DARING DIPLOMACY (1957) by Andor Klay, subtitled "The Case of the First American Ultimatum," which chronicles the story of Hungarian "freedom fighter" Martin Koszta and the role played by the ST. LOUIS in achieving his release from imprisonment aboard an Austrian warship in Smyrna Bay (Turkey).

Source acquisition

Acquired with matching funds provided by the Program in Hellenic Studies with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund.