Manuscript letter on Navy Department stationery, Washington, November 17, 1864, signed by Gideon Welles as Secretary of the Navy. Addressed to Assistant Engineer R. D. McElhanie of the USS Ticonderoga, ordering him to proceed to Boston and report to Rear Admiral Gregory for duty aboard the USS Minnesota. Countersigned by Captain Charles Steedman and forwarded to Admiral David D. Porter. One page, approx. 8" x 10". A fine Civil War naval communication at the height of Union blockading operations.
Light toning and folds, with docketing and endorsements on verso; ink bold and legible.
Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878), nicknamed "Father Neptune", was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Although opposed to the Union blockade of Southern ports, he duly carried out his part of the Anaconda Plan, largely sealing off the Confederate coastline and preventing the exchange of cotton for war supplies. This is viewed as a major cause of the Union victory in the Civil War, and his achievement in expanding the Navy almost tenfold was widely praised. Welles was also instrumental in the Navy's creation of the Medal of Honor.
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