Lieutenant John Worden’s Snuffbox
Photograph courtesy of Morphy Auctions (morphyauctions.com).
A Thoughtful Gift Pays Off
The Artifact
A solid gold snuffbox presented to Lieutenant John Worden, U.S. Navy, in 1862
Condition
Despite minor cosmetic scratching, the snuffbox is in very fine overall condition.
Details
On March 9, 1862, the newly constructed ironclad warship USS Monitor was in the waters of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The previous day, the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia had engaged several wooden Union blockading vessels, sinking two and damaging a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground during the engagement. Monitor was in position to defend the helpless Minnesota when Virginia appeared to renew the fight. For several hours, the two ironclads exchanged fire, neither of them able to inflict serious damage on the other before Virginia withdrew. While it ended in a draw, the first-ever battle of ironclad vessels had ushered in a new era in naval warfare.
A month later, on April 8, the citizens of Buffalo, New York, presented Monitor’s commander, Lieutenant John L. Worden, with a solid gold snuffbox. The box, approximately four inches by two and a half inches, was paid for with $300 in donations and constructed in 18-karat gold by the famed Tiffany & Co. of New York. The gift and its inscription—“To Lieut. John L. Worden, U.S.N. You beat the Merrimac and saved the Minnesota”—reflected not only the citizens’ appreciation for Worden’s conduct at the Battle of Hampton Roads, but also their sense of connection to Monitor, some of whose parts had been made by Buffalo manufacturers.
Worden, who had been wounded in the eyes during the battle, would be promoted to captain and command of the ironclad USS Montauk. After the war, he spent five years as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and was promoted to rear admiral in 1872. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1897 at age 79.
Quotable
A day after its presentation to Lieutenant Worden, the Buffalo Morning Express described the snuffbox for its readers, some of whom no doubt had contributed money for its purchase: “The edges of the box are ornamented with a solid twist border, representing the ship’s rope-cable. On the lid, a border of the same kind encloses a broad oval, within which is engraved a very spirited engraving of the most extraordinary sea-fight of this, or any other age…. In the corners of the box are pretty little designs in etchings of a naval character. The snuff box is a very fine one though too heavy for use, its preposterous thickness of material happily exemplifying the ironclad Monitor.”
Value
$48,400 (price realized at Morphy Auctions in Denver, Pennsylvania, in February 2018). “This is one of the most important and historic American Civil War U.S. Navy artifacts to be presented for public sale,” noted Tony Wilcox, firearms expert at Morphy Auctions, at the time of the purchase.
Related topics: naval warfare
