Correspondence, military records, financial papers, printed matter, illustrations, and other papers concerning Goldsborough's career in the U.S. Navy. Documents the capture of the castle of San Juan de Ulúa, Mexico (1847) and Goldsborough's work as superintendent of the United States Naval Academy (1853-1857). Civil War material relates to the blockade of Charleston Harbor; Ambrose Everett Burnside's Roanoke Island expedition; naval operations on the James River; Goldsborough's command of the frigate Minnesota at Hampton Roads, Va., while awaiting attack by the Merrimack; the scuttling of the Merrimack; visits to the front lines by Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet; and the capture of John H. Surratt. Includes the draft of Stephen Decatur's letter to James Barron that led to their duel. Correspondents include Jeremiah S. Black, J.L. Cabell, Salmon P. Chase, John J. Crittenden, Samuel Francis Du Pont, Edward Everett, Gustavus Vasa Fox, John Lothrop Motley, Joseph Smith, Josiah Tatnall, A.P. Upshur, Gideon Welles, and Charles Wilkes.