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Official letters received from ADM John Jellicoe, RN, 1917-1926

 File — Box: 4, Folder: 6
Identifier: MSC-097- Series I

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of fifteen boxes of papers and two slipcases that document Taussig's life and naval career from 1884 to 1947. The papers are divided in to eight series: Correspondence, diaries and journals, published and unpublished writings, fitness and medical reports, subject files, miscellaneous imprints, hooks and newspapers and photographs.

Series I, personal correspondence, contains letters sent to his parents, his brother Hawley and female cousins from the U.S. Naval Academy and subsequent assignments through 1917. There are both holograph and typed copies. Personal correspondence received includes letters from ADM John Jellicoe, RN and ADM Lewis Bayly, RN. Official navy correspondence contains requests for leave, promotions, orders, and claims. The letters are arranged chronologically.

The larger portion of the correspondence treats the publicity created by Taussig's Senate testimony in 1940, where he predicted war wilh Japan in the Pacific. He received letters in support of his views and critical of his censure by President Roosevelt. These files are arranged alphabetically. In addition, there are several letters to Captain Paul B. Ryan from Taussig's son and daughter regarding his editing of the diary from the USS Wadsworth.

Holograph journals and diaries compose Series II. They include a journal of the Spanish American War kept aboard USS New York in 1898, one of the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901, one kept aboard the USS Wadsworth, 1917, one in the USS Little. 1917- 1918, one from the USS Trenton, 1926-1927, and two for the years 1936-1938. The journals contain pictures, postcards, newspaper dippings, drawings, invitations, and poems, as well as prose entries for the cruises or time periods involved.

Published and unpublished papers comprise the third series in the collection. There are several articles on naval topics in this segment, as well as Captain Paul Ryan's unfinished edited manuscript entitled "The Queenstown Patrol, 1917: the diary of CDR Joseph K. Taussig, U.S. Navy. Captain Ryan prepared the diary for publication, but died before the manuscript was completed. William N. Still completed the work and it waas published in 1996 by the Naval War College Press.

Fitness and medical reports, Series IV, cover Taussig's naval career from 1901-1947. Miscellany, Series V, contains career-related newspaper clippings, the report of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, and biographies of classmates and officers who served on destroyers during World War I. Certificates and calling cards complete the series. Series VI, Subject Files, contains papers of Rear Admiral Edward D. Taussig relating to the taking of Guam for the United States. Career and family photograph albums and single items complete Series VII. Series VIII consists of published books, pamphlets, and newspapers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1917-1926

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Access is open to all researchers, unless otherwise specified.

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the Naval War College Archives Repository

Contact:
US Naval War College
686 Cushing Rd
Newport RI 02841 US