Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Letters Sent by the Superintendent to the Secretary of the Navy and to Navy Department Bureaus, 1864-1865: Finding Aid

History of the Office of the Superintendent

The plan of the Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland, approved by the Navy Department August 28, 1846, provided that a Superintendent of the school be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy from a list of officers of a rank not higher than commander. The Superintendent was to have responsibility for the general management of the institution, including overseeing the course of study, professors, and other personnel connected with the Academy. He could appoint and remove all persons employed at the Academy except those for whose appointment or discharge special provision was made by the laws or regulations of the Navy or the Academy. He had general charge of the buildings, grounds, and ships belonging to the Academy. The Superintendent also formulated the code of rules and regulations for the internal government of the school to be submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for approval.

In May 1861, following the outbreak of the Civil War, rising tensions in the Annapolis community, and the potential for Maryland to secede from the Union, the Superintendent of the Academy, Capt. George S. Blake applied to the Navy Department for permission to remove the Academy to Newport, R.I. for the duration of the war. At Newport, the Academy was temporarily accommodated at Fort Adams. In October 1861 the Navy Department rented a summer hotel in Newport, the Atlantic House, where the upper-class midshipmen were quartered. The lower classes were quartered on board the frigates Constitution and Santee. The grounds at Annapolis were taken over by the Union Army, and a base hospital was established there. The Academy returned to Annapolis in September 1865.

In 1862 the Academy was placed under the Bureau of Navigation, but in 1867 the Secretary of the Navy assumed direct control of the school, leaving the Bureau of Navigation with a lesser role, as supervisor of its administrative and financial affairs. This role was eliminated in 1869 but was restored in 1889.

Description of Contents

This series contains letters sent by the Superintendents Captain George S. Blake (1857-1865) and Rear Admiral David D. Porter (1865-1869) to the Secretary of the Navy and Navy Department Bureaus. The letters relate to midshipmen, personnel, academics, supplies, and budgets.

Major topics include midshipmen leaves of absence, conduct, discharges, examinations, resignations, and practice cruises; the capture and parole of midshipmen captured by Confederate forces; the expedited graduation of midshipmen due to war-time conditions and requirements of the War Department; staff and faculty examinations, appointments, and pay; enlisted personnel transfers, appointments and duties; Amendments to existing academic curricula; inspections and repairs to naval vessels assigned to the Academy; and fiscal year estimates of expenses for supplies and labor.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Access and Use

Access

Access is unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

Generally, materials produced by Federal agencies are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Any non-government publications held herein may still be subject to copyright. For further information, consult the Head, Special Collections & Archives.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2989240.

Acquisition and Appraisal

Custodial History

RG 405 Records of the United States Naval Academy is the property of the National Archives and Records Administration. The materials are housed at the United States Naval Academy, William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives, an affiliated archive, as per a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Naval Academy.

Related Materials

Related Archival Material

For letters and press copies of letters sent by Superintendent George S. Blake and other Superintendents to the Secretary of the Navy, Navy Department, Congress, Academy officers instructors and midshipmen, and public and private individuals see entries 1 through 23. For additional later letters sent to the same correspondents, see the following entries: Entry 9 "Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent to the Secretary of the Navy 1865-1888" (NAID:2989934); Entry 10 "Letters Sent by the Superintendent to the Secretary of the Navy 1874-1887" (NAID: 2989984); Entry 12 "Press Copies of Letters and Endorsements Sent by the Superintendent to Bureaus of the Navy Department, 1865-1908" (NAID: 2989989); and Entry 13 "Letters Sent by the Superintendent to Bureaus of the Navy Department, 1874-1885" (NAID: 2989993).

Materials Cataloged Separately

No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Letters Sent by the Superintendent to the Secretary of the Navy and Navy Department Bureaus, RG 405.2.1 Entry 8

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Processing Information

This collection was inventoried by Samuel Limneos in March 2019. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in March 2019. Historical Sketch and Scope and Content Note adapted in part from Inventory of Records Group 405 by Geraldine N. Phillips and Aloha South, 1975.

Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

• Blake, George Smith, 1803-1871
• Fort Adams (Newport, R.I.)
• Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891
• United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States Naval Academy -- History -- 19th century
• United States Naval Academy -- Midshipmen -- Cruises
• United States Naval Academy -- Students
• United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
• United States. Office of the Secretary of the Navy

Genre Terms

• Correspondence