Background note:

Little is known about the ship Moro Castle, other than it plied the waters between New York, Britain and the continent during the Civil War period. The Southern Rights, which may or may not be the same ship, is even more obscure, though it is recorded visiting the ports of New York, Liverpool, and Charleston after the war.

Scope and contents:

This log book covers, or -- more accurately -- partially covers, the mystery-shrouded careers of the Moro Castle and the Southern Rights, possibly the same ship. The entries for 1860 and 1861 are written by a different person than those for 1862-1866, and the latter are decidedly chattier, offering more than mere weather reports. None of the entries are signed, but the handwriting of the latter voyages of the Moro Castle seems to match those for the Southern Rights, which could mean either the same ship or the same clerk on two different ships. It appears improbable that the Southern Rights here is the same ship that was captured by the U.S.S. Sagamore off Key West on August 8, 1863. That ship was English, rather than American, but more importantly, on that date the Moro Castle was sailing toward England.

The Moro Castle sailed between New York and Bristol, England, and back between October 6, 1860 and January 17, 1861 and from February 17-May 10, 1861. In August, 1862, it was in the Mediterranean off the southern coast of France, headed for New York, and from March 24-April 6, 1863, it is recorded cruising from the Gulf of Mexico off the eastern seaboard. The last two voyages recorded are from New York to Glasgow (June 23-July 23, 1863) and from Leghorn, Italy, to Philadelphia, January 5-February 24, 1864. The two voyages recorded for the Southern Rights are from Shields, England, to New York (March 15-28, 1865) and from Charleston to Liverpool (February 28-March 11, 1866).

Cat. 5/92 rsc

Link to subject index to the Moro Castle/Southern Rights Log-book

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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