Description Mary Louvestre was a slave working as a housekeeper for one of the Confederate engineers in charge of rebuilding the partially destroyed Union ironclad Merrimack, after the Confederates took possession of it in the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. Using her skills as a seamstress and pattern maker she copied the blueprints. Mary Louvestre traveled two hundred miles to Washington, DC, in the winter of 1862, to deliver the plans to Union Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles. This Mary Louvestre mug is part of our US Civil War series profiling participants in the War Between the States. Thousands of Confederate and Union soldiers fought in battles such as Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. We honor their sacrifices by telling their stories. The biographical History Mugs were created to teach and inspire individuals to learn about our diverse and interesting history. The biographies were researched and written by history enthusiast, Robert Compton. He colorized most of the historic photos and images used on the mugs, which were originally black and white or sepia tone. The images and biographies are imprinted on mugs at his studio in rural Vermont. Mugs are food and microwave safe. To preserve photographic quality we recommend hand washing. Mugs are usually shipped within 3-5 days. Shipping charges are lower when buying multiple mugs.
