Class Year
2016
Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Date
10-24-2013
Department 1
Civil War Institute
Abstract
By January 1866, the war had concluded and the country’s divisions had begun to heal. Richard Dunphy, meanwhile, devoted himself to claiming his pension and his medal. When the Medal of Honor he had earned during the Battle of Mobile Bay was lost amidst the naval bureaucracy, Dunphy took it upon himself to write a letter directly to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. He believed that Welles, who had been involved in the creation of the award, would be able to help obtain his well-deserved medal. This letter, owned by the Gilder Lehrman Institute, provides unique insight directly into Dunphy’s mentality during the years immediately following the war. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Lavery, Kevin P., "Richard D. Dunphy: A Frank Request to Gideon Welles" (2013). The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History. 9.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/compiler/9
Comments
This blog post originally appeared in The Gettysburg Compiler and was created by students at Gettysburg College.