892. BATON ROUGE OCCUPATION LETTER A good war-date Union naval officer's letter, 4pp. 8vo., written in ink by Acting Assistant Paymaster Henry W. Diman, U.S. Gun Boat `Kineo', Baton Rouge, [La.], July 13, 1862 to a cousin describing Baton Rouge after the fall of New Orleans. In small part: "...I am...off among rebels, contrabands, sugar cane and mosquitoes... I wrote Lizzie a few days ago and sent her a little rebel flag, and in this letter I enclose one for you. The little girls here used to carry them, but since we have been here they do not dare...the stars and stripes float from the state house and all the public buildings, and of course is the only flag allowed. Everything here is so very different from what it is at home. We have no clams...no milk...the water instead of being salt and blue, is fresh and muddy...it is not safe to go in bathing for fear the alligators might catch us...some negros killed an alligator about seven feet long and dragged him ashore...by our vessel. Several others have been killed..since we have been here...it would be hardly safe to jump overboard when such ugly monsters are around...the houses are all low and have awnings...to keep the sun out...the people do not move out much until...during the evening...we have bombarded the town once and the people are very much frightened for fear that the place will be attacked again..." After serving in the battle of Baton Rouge, Diman resigned from the Navy in August 1862 to accept a government appointment. Minor fold splits, else very good. $100-150