Photocopy of letter of Lem Collins, Pensacola Navy Yard, Pensacola, Florida, January 1, 1863, to wife, discussing outfitting of Union ships with ballast, use of U.S.S. Potomac as mail ship and news of General Burnside's defeat. Note: Burnside was defeated at Fredericksburg, Virginia in December 1862 and submitted his request to President Lincoln to resign. Date of letter coincidentally is date of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation which affected Pensacola but was not yet known by the troops in Pensacola.
