Box 1

Letters to his wife in New Bedford, MA from his Civil War service in the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, February 21, 1864 to May 17, 1865. Murphy saw action at the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, and served in the Blockading Squadron off the Georgia coast. Describes camp and shipboard life, clashes with the Confederates, his shipmates, mainly Irish–Americans from Massachusetts, and his opinion about the war and the U.S. Navy.