c. 1857 calling card and related book by author J. Reece Emrie. Emrie published a volume in 1856 entitled, Constitution of the United States of America with the Amendments Thereto-To Which Are Added Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice, etc., Washington, 1856. Emrie, for reasons unknown, apparently associated with Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey (1857-1861) who inked a personal introduction for the author to go aboard the recently commissioned steam frigate USS Merrimack. Printed on the card is "Secretary of the Navy." Secretary Toucey then inked a personal introduction for Emrie that reads, "To the Captain in Command/of the Merrimack/Annapolis/the Secretary/Introduces the Hon: /Mr. Emrie." Dated "22 April" (1857?) in lower left corner.

With the advent of war, the Merrimack was burned to the waterline at Norfolk Navy Yard on April 20, 1861 to prevent her capture. She was taken over and rebuilt as an ironclad by the Confederate Navy and commissioned as the CSS Virginia on February 17, 1862. Subsequently, the "Duel of Ironclads" became history as the epic battle between the Monitor and the Virginia in Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Monitor, Farragut]