Scope and Content Note
Charles Chaillé-Long (1842-1907) was perhaps best known as a soldier, explorer, and first person from the United States to visit and document Lake Ibrahim in the Nile Valley in 1874, and his papers document his African experiences as well as some of his activities as writer, lecturer, practitioner of international law, and diplomat. The majority of the papers are related to the period in the 1870s and 1880s when Chaillé-Long was in Egypt, although the collection as a whole covers the period from 1863 to 1918, with the exception of two letters from Winfield Scott (1786-1866) to A. Porter in 1809-1910. The Scott letters may have come from the Chaillé-Long family or may have been used by Chaillé-Long in his historical studies.
The collection consists of General Correspondence, Subject File, Speeches and Writings, and Miscellany series, but the papers are limited in both scope and amplitude. Although Chaillé-Long family history is documented in applications to the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and in biographical articles, there are no other references to Chaillé-Long's childhood or family. There are only a few documents from his service in the Civil War, from his practice in international law, and from his tour as consul general in Korea. Many of the papers relate to his attempt to secure an appointment in the United States Foreign Service, to obtain remuneration from the Egyptian government, or to qualify for an army pension in 1907. Consequently, his activities as an officer in the army of Ismail, Khédive of Egypt (1870-1877) and as temporary United States consul during the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882 by the British are well documented. His writings about his experiences in Africa and in the Far East are incomplete but are well represented in the collection, both in manuscript and printed form.
The collection provides source material for studies in the late nineteenth-century history of the Nile Valley, including personal studies of Charles George Gordon and of the Khédive, as well as comments on Egyptian society and the explorations and explorers of the time. Some source material is also included on China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most of the material reflects Chaillé-Long's personal view of the times, his comments on the diplomatic service, foreign affairs, and the peoples of alien lands from the point of view of one who was outside the State Department's scope of activities.
Papers in the collection are primarily in English, but many are in French, and a few are in Italian, Arabic, Turkish, and Japanese. Turkish documents include Chaillé-Long's military promotion in the Khédive's army and his decorations by Abdul Mejid, Sultan of Turkey. Included also is a Japanese biography of Chaillé-Long that was written at the time of his diplomatic service in Korea.
Scattered throughout the collection are documents relating to awards and memberships, to the French Legion of Honor, presidential appointments from Grover Cleveland, appearances before various geographical and historical societies, the masonic order, law degrees, and qualification and appointment papers.
The General Correspondence series treats social as well as professional issues and affairs, with many letters of testimonial concerning Chaillé-Long's activities in Egypt in the 1880s. A few copies of Chaillé-Long's own letters are included in this series, as well as in other series. Among the significant correspondents in the collection are D. F. Ardouin, Oreste Baratieri, Baron Charles William de la Poer Beresford, Montgomery Blair, Sue Virginia Field, J. C. Aristide Gavillot, Paul Giraud, J. J. Jusserand, Ismail, Khédive of Egypt, Charles Marie le Myre de Vilers, Paul H. Orillat, Edward Dean Proctor, Paul Taillet, and Henry Vignaud.
The Subject File includes correspondence of a routine nature concerning the organizations with which Chaillé-Long was affiliated, certificates of memberships, awards or honors, member activities, and military records. Also in the file is biographical, bibliographical, and genealogical material.
Files in the Speeches and Writings series include Chaillé-Long's annotated writings on Gordon, the Khédive, the Nile Valley people, and impressions of China and Africa. A scrapbook in the Miscellany series contains articles from French and American journals by and about Chaillé-Long mostly relating to Egypt and the Nile Valley.