Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Gwinn (1791-1849) span the years 1815 to 1864, with the bulk of the material falling between the years 1825 and 1849. The collection consists of personal journals, official and general correspondence, commissions, and miscellaneous material.
The official correspondence includes orders to duty, general orders, circulars, and regulations, as well as letters received and drafts of letters sent. The correspondence documents the navy’s peacetime mission of protecting American interests and commerce at home as well as abroad. Gwinn commanded the Vandalia (sloop of war) and the Potomac (frigate), Home Squadron, at the naval base in Pensacola, Fla. Among his duties was the protection of American commerce from aggression and piratical acts. Abroad he commanded the Constitution (frigate), Mediterranean Squadron, which had been sent to that region to protect American interests. Because of political unrest in Italy, American consuls wrote Gwinn asking for protection of American citizens and their interests.
Among Gwinn’s correspondents are William Bainbridge, George Bancroft, James Biddle, William C. Bolton, David Conner, William Montgomery Crane, Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, John Y. Mason, William Ballard Preston, Samuel L. Southard, Smith Thompson, Alexander Todd, and William Winthrop. The general correspondence file contains Gwinn’s correspondence with his wife, Caroline Lynch Gwinn, and their children, John and Elizabeth; letters to his wife from William Ledyard Hodge; and some papers of his brother-in-law, William Lynch.
Of interest in a miscellany file is material concerning the mutiny on the Somers (brig), commanded by Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, who was subsequently charged with murder, oppression, and conduct unbecoming an officer by Secretary of the Navy Abel P. Upshur. Gwinn served in Mackenzie’s court-martial.