David Dixon Porter
Washington, DC, April 12, 1870
Vice Admiral David Dixon Porter Reforms the Navy and Makes Enemies
ALS

DAVID DIXON PORTER, Autograph Letter Signed, to Stephen Decatur, April 12, 1870, Washington, D.C. On Navy Department stationery. 3 pp., 7.75" x 10". Expected folds; some toning and staining; bold ink signature.

?I have tied up the ?staff? and have defined the duties of every one in the navy so that none can go astray.?

When his friend Ulysses S. Grant became president in 1869, Vice Admiral Porter was able to change several policies in the Navy Department because Grant?s appointment as secretary, Philadelphia businessman Adolph E. Borie, had no knowledge of the navy and did not care to learn. Opponents in Congress criticized Borie for failing to control Porter, and Borie resigned after only three months in the position. His replacement, George Robeson, curtailed Porter?s powers, but as this letter makes clear, Porter still planned to make reforms.

Excerpt
?I want you to study the new Regulations well. It will show you how I have tied up the ?staff? and have defined the duties of every one in the navy so that none can go astray.
?Of course there is nothing in it that any reasonable man could object to and yet these staff people are trying to find a grievance.
?In a short time I will send you some further laws, orders &c. in relation to the organization of ships and punishments which will make the discipline of the navy uniform in all respects, in all vessels.
?I am doing my best to try and have you made a Commodore before Congress adjourns. There are however, some little difficulties in the way which I will explain when I meet you if the thing is not previously settled.
?I have had hard work this winter and am somewhat the worse for wear but the people who depend on my stepping out will miss their calculations. If I were to leave this Department I should be as well as ever I was in a week.?

David Dixon Porter (1813-1891) was born in Pennsylvania and began naval service at the age of ten as a midshipman on a ship commanded by his father, Commodore David Porter (1780-1843). He served in the Mexican Navy from 1824 to 1828, when his father was its overall commander. The younger Porter obtained a new appointment as midshipman in the US Navy in 1829, was promoted to lieutenant in 1841, and served in the Mexican War. After the war, he took a leave of absence to command civilian ships. When the Civil War began, Porter returned to active duty. He was promoted to commander and given charge of a flotilla of twenty mortar boats to be used against the forts guarding the entrance of the Mississippi River below New Orleans. They would be a part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron commanded by Porter?s adoptive brother Captain David G. Farragut (1801-1870). In mid-1862, Porter was ordered to Hampton Roads to aid General George B. McClellan in his Peninsula Campaign. By October, he was back on the Mississippi River, now as Acting Rear Admiral in charge of the Mississippi River Squadron. He quickly became friends with General William T. Sherman and later with General Ulysses S. Grant and played a key role in the siege of Vicksburg. Late in the summer of 1864, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles transferred Porter to command the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and tasked him with closing the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major port open to blockade runners. Cooperating with General Alfred H. Terry, Porter?s fleet successfully captured Fort Fisher, the Confederate fort protecting Wilmington, in January 1865. Porter toured the captured Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, with President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865. After the war, Porter served as superintendent of the US Naval Academy from 1865 to 1869, where he initiated reforms in the curriculum to increase professionalism. In 1866, he was promoted to vice admiral, and in 1870, he became the second full admiral in US history, behind his adoptive brother Farragut. He served as de facto Secretary of the Navy in the early days of the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, but his administration led some Congressional leaders to force Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie to resign after only a few months on the job. The new Secretary of the Navy George Robeson curtailed Porter?s authority and eased him into semi-retirement.

Stephen Decatur (1814-1876) was born in Newark, New Jersey, a nephew and namesake of the famous Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779-1820). The younger Decatur was appointed a midshipman in 1829 and commissioned a lieutenant in 1841. In 1848, he married Anna Rowell Philbrick (1821-1906), and they had six children. After taking a leave of absence in 1842 because of eye problems, he returned to naval duty in 1851 with service in the East Indies and New York. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was promoted to commander, the rank he held throughout the war. He was promoted to captain in 1867 and to commodore on the retired list in 1869.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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7.75" x 10"