Finding Aid - Peabody Essex Museum

JAMES ARMSTRONG (1794-1868)
PAPERS, 1814-1868, undated
MH 31 Processed by: Robert F. Craig
March 2000
Halley Grogan
December 2012
Volume:
5 boxes
3.75 linear feet
Provenance:
Conservation:
Copyright:
Processing:
Logbooks, letter books and personal papers including correspondence and
photographs, were donated by Dr. Reinier Beeuwkes on September 20, 2011
(acc. 2011.041) and October 20, 2011 (acc. 2011.052). The logbooks were
removed and have been added to the logbook collection. Two San Jacinto ship
papers, originally arranged as MH 0.612, were donated by L. W. Jenkins. The
majority of the material was found in the collection.
The material was placed in acid-free folders.
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted
in writing to the Manuscript Librarian in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex
Museum.
Processing of this collection was funded by a grant from the NHPRC (National
Historical Publications and Records Commission).
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
James Armstrong (1794-1868) was born on January 17, 1794, in Shelbyville, Kentucky, to
James Armstrong (1760-1802) and Elizabeth Morris (b. 1765). In 1809, he joined the navy as a
midshipman and was assigned to the sloop-of-war Frolic during the War of 1812. The Frolic was
captured by the British on April 20, 1814, and Armstrong became a British prisoner of war in
England. He attained the rank of captain in 1841. On September 29, 1855, he was appointed
commander of the United States Naval Squadron for the East Indies and China Sea, a position he
held until 1858. During this period he was involved with the Second Opium War and assisted in the
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MH 31 James Armstrong Papers
capture of the barrier forts near Canton in 1856. In September 1860, Captain Armstrong was
appointed commander of the navy yard at Pensacola (Warrington), Florida. On January 13, 1861, he
surrendered the facility without resistance to a force of militia from Florida and Alabama. For this
action he was court-martialed and relieved of duty for a period of five years. In 1866, he was
promoted to commodore.
Armstrong married Hannah Crowninshield (1789-1834) on March 29, 1819, in the
Crowninshield house in Salem, Massachusetts where the Reverend William Bentley resided. Hannah
was a talented portrait painter; she died at age 45 on May 4, 1834. Armstrong married Elizabeth
Crowninshield (1794-1870), Hannah’s sister, in 1836. Armstrong did not have any children. He died
on August 27, 1868. He was buried at Harmony Grove Cemetery, in Salem.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The James Armstrong Papers include correspondence, log books, order books, court-martial
papers, personal papers, and financial records created by James Armstrong throughout his career in
the United States Navy. This collection is arranged into four series.
Series I. Early Naval Career Papers include a personal liberty pass and prisoner of war
certificate issued to Armstrong while a British prisoner during the War of 1812, papers related to
changes of command and Armstrong’s appointment as commander of the East Indies and China Sea
Squadron, correspondence, and the book, Vedute Antiche, accompanied by handwritten notes.
Series II. China and the Second Opium War Papers include correspondence, letter books,
and order and survey books from the U. S. Flag Ship San Jacinto. The bulk of this series is
correspondence and letter books, arranged chronologically. Two letter books were separated because
of preservation issues and these letters have been arranged chronologically with the rest of the loose
correspondence. Early correspondence is related to the activities of vessels and officers under
Armstrong’s command, hostilities between Britain and the Chinese in the vicinity of Canton, the
protection of American business interests in the area, and the capture of the Barrier Forts at Canton
in 1856. Armstrong corresponded with various American and foreign consular representatives,
including United States Consuls Oliver H. Perry, Henry P. Blanchard, and Caleb Jones, and United
States Commissioner Peter Parker. These letters relate primarily to pending United States and China
treaty revisions and potential Chinese attacks against foreign vessels moored in the waters near
Canton. Later correspondence relates to Armstrong’s decision to relieve himself of duty due to
illness, and the order of Fleet Surgeon Maxwell Wood to accompany him back to the United States.
The Navy Department disallowed Armstrong’s claim and reprimanded him for ordering Wood back
to the United States. There is also one folder containing copies of correspondence of Commander
Andrew H. Foote, master of the U. S. Steam Frigate Portsmouth, and a colleague of Armstrong’s.
Series III. Pensacola Navy Yard and Court-Martial Papers include correspondence and
court papers related to Armstrong’s appointment as commander of the Pensacola, Florida navy base,
his surrender of the facility to the Florida militia in January 1861, and his subsequent court-martial.
Correspondence includes communications with Secretary of the Navy, Isaac Toucey, general orders
regarding the operation of the Pensacola Navy Yard, and a description of the surrender of the
Pensacola Navy Yard to the Florida State militia in January, 1861. Court-martial documents include
the official charges against Armstrong, depositions of witnesses, a transcript of the evidence
presented at the court-martial, and correspondence with Armstrong’s defense counsel, P. Phillips.
Series IV. Personal Papers include correspondence, photographs, and financial records.
This series is divided into two subseries. Subseries A. Correspondence and Notes include letters to
Hannah Armstrong while Armstrong was on assignment in Gibraltar, letters from Armstrong’s
brother William discussing the court-martial, and a letter from Armstrong’s mother, Elizabeth
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MH 31 James Armstrong Papers
Armstrong. Additional papers include Armstrong’s Charlestown Lyceum pass from 1831,
photographs, and an autobiographical appreciation of his life printed posthumously. One folder of
oversize materials includes a Mason certificate, a tintype of a proposed canal across Cape Cod, a
page from the newspaper The Polynesian issued in 1841, and a certificate recognizing a donation to
the East India Marine Society. There is also a claim and receipt for William G. Niphon, a young
African American sailor who enlisted in the United States Navy in 1863, for participating in the
capture of the Ella & Annie. Subseries B. Financial Records includes deeds, bills, and receipts
related to the Phoenix Bank of Charlestown, Massachusetts, a land purchase in Charlestown, and
plots at Harmony Grove and Broad Street Cemeteries in Salem, Massachusetts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RELATED COLLECTIONS
Joslyn, Roger D., comp. & ed. Vital Records of Charlestown, Mass. 2 vols. Boston, Mass: New
England Historic Genealogical Society, 1984, 1995.
Mills, Frances Preston. The History of the descendants of the Jersey settlers of Adams County,
Mississippi. Jackson, Miss: Society of the Descendants of the Jersey Settlers of Adams
County, Mississippi, 1891.
Vital Records of Salem, Mass. 6 vols. Salem, Mass: Essex Institute, 1916-1925.
Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske, eds. Appleton’s Cyclopoedia of American Biography. 7 vols.
New York: Appleton and Company, 1888-1898.
Benjamin Crowninshield Family Papers, 1757-1934, MH 16
Cyane (Sloop of War), log book, Log 2122
Savannah (U. S. Frigate), log book, Log 2121
United States (U. S. Frigate), log book, Log 2120
United States (U. S. Frigate), log book abstract, Log 2123
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MH 31 James Armstrong Papers
JAMES ARMSTRONG (1794-1868)
PAPERS, 1814-1868, undated
SERIES I. Early Naval Career Papers
SERIES LIST
SERIES II. China and the Second Opium War Papers
SERIES III. Pensacola Navy Yard and Court-Martial Papers
SERIES IV. Personal Papers
A. Correspondence and Notes
B. Financial Records
SERIES I. Early Naval Career Papers
CONTENTS LIST
Box Folder Contents Date
1 1 Prisoner of War certificate and liberty pass 1814
2 Correspondence 1816, 1820
3 Vedute Antiche book 1817
4 Transfer of command 1841
5 Appointment orders 1855
SERIES II. China and the Second Opium War Papers
1 6 Correspondence 1852
7 Correspondence 1855
2 1 Letter book 1855-1857
Vol. 1 Letter book 1855-1858
Vol. 2 Letter book 1855-1858
2 Correspondence January-
September 1856
3 Correspondence October-
December 1856
3 1 Letter book 1856-1858
2 Correspondence January-May 1857
3 Correspondence June-December 1857
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MH 31 James Armstrong Papers
Box Folder Contents Date
3 4 Correspondence 1858, 1862, undated
5 Calling cards 1857, undated
6 Andrew H. Foote correspondence, copies 1856-1857
4 1 Abstract from log book, U. S. Flag Ship San Jacinto 1855-1857
2 Order book, U. S. Flag Ship San Jacinto 1855-1857
3 Order book, U. S. Flag Ship San Jacinto 1855-1858
4 Survey book, U. S. Flag Ship San Jacinto 1856-1857
SERIES III. Pensacola Navy Yard and Court-Martial Papers
4 5 Correspondence 1860-1861
6 Charges against Armstrong 1861
7 Depositions 1861
8 Transcript 1861
9 Correspondence with defense counsel P. Phillips 1861, undated
10 General orders and findings of the court 1861
SERIES IV. Personal Papers
A. Correspondence and Notes
4 11 Correspondence 1816-1821,
1839-1865
12 Charlestown Lyceum pass 1831
13 Prize claim and receipt for William G. Niphon 1863-1864
14 Printed autobiographical appreciation of his life 1871
15 Photographs undated
5(OS) 1 Oversize material 1819-1863
B. Financial Records
4 16 Phoenix Bank of Charlestown, Massachusetts 1835-1850
17 Deeds 1839, 1841, 1845
18 Bills and receipts 1834, 1857-1868,
undated
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