C.S.S. Tuscaloosa log, June - December 1863, June - December 1863

The collection contains two logbooks of the C.S.S. Tuscaloosa. The larger logbook actually contains portions of the logs for three vessels. First, it is the log for the U.S. Barque Virginia, from 26 August 1862 to 17 September 1862 when it was captured by the C.S.S. Alabama. Next, it is a copy of the Alabama's log from 28 July 1862 to 31 October 1862 and 18 November 1862 to 20 May 1863. Finally, it is the log of the C.S.S. Tuscaloosa (formerly the U.S.S. Conrad, captured by the Alabama on July 20, 1863) from 21 July 1863 to 31 July 1863 and 13-31 December 1863, when it was seized by the British authorities in Simms Bay, Cape of Good Hope.

The smaller logbook covers the period between 21 June and 12 December 1863, and includes lists of the gun crews and each man's duty as well as points on navigational observations.

Both logs document the daily weather, longitude and latitude of the ships, as well as information about engagements with enemy ships. Also, in the larger log, there is a list of ships captured by the Alabama from 5 September 1862 to 20 June 1863.

Also included in the larger logbook are copies of the correspondence between Lieutenant John Low as captain of the C.S.S. Tuscaloosa and various authorities of the British colony of the Cape of Good Hope. The port authorities had seized the Tuscaloosa claiming Low had violated the British orders for the port in Simms Bay to maintain neutrality in the American conflict. They also argued that the ship then known as the Tuscaloosa had never been condemned as a prize when the C.S.S. Alabama captured it; therefore it was never legally a possession of the Confederate States. Low argued, to no avail, that the authorities said nothing about his violating the neutrality of the port or the legitimacy of the prize when he put in to the same port several months previously.