Office of the Superintendent/Directives: Orders of the Superintendent, 1874-1886: 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. After 1867, officers were assigned by the Navy Department to the Academy to serve as assistants or aides to the Superintendent. The Office of the Superintendent as described in the 1846 plan remained relatively unchanged throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Officers of ranks higher than commander, however, have served in the position.

Description of Contents

This series contains press copies of orders issued by the Superintendent relating to midshipmen and administration. A few of the orders are issued by the Commandant of Midshipmen as senior officer present.

The orders address general administrative functions including military personnel, faculty, and cadet-officer organization and duties; academic calendar, routines, examinations, and supplies; drills and exercises; the summer cruise; health and hygiene; and the academy's buildings and grounds. Many of the orders announce incidents of midshipman misconduct and the punishment levied, including solitary confinement and quarantines; deprivation of privileges and rank; and extra guard duty and inspections. Infractions include insubordination, intoxication, use of tobacco, smuggling liquor onto the Academy grounds, card-playing, hazing, deception, gouging, neglect of duty, disrespect to a superior officer, going beyond the limits of the academy without permission, fighting, using insulting language, and vulgar and obscene behavior. The orders also contain the judgments of courts martial involving seamen attached to the Academy's training ships, as well as the Marine Corps detachment.

Through 1881 the series contains numbered orders. For 1882 and part of 1883 the series contains numbered general and special orders and unnumbered orders. Beginning in the middle of 1883, the series consist only of unnumbered orders.

Volume 315a contains the Commandant of Midshipmen's copy of general and special orders published during Superintendent Francis M. Ramsay's administration between 1882 and 1886. Navy Department and academy regulations, circulars, directives, notices, and some correspondence are interfiled in this volume with the duplicated to orders.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically. A name and subject index are in volume 315. Chronological lists summarizing the purpose of the order, the order date, and its corresponding page number are at the beginning of both volumes.

Access and Use

Access

Access in 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/2990325.

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 earlier orders, see entry 45: "Orders of Superintendent Cornelius K. Stribling, 1850-1852" (NAID: 2990281); entry 46: "Orders of the Superintendent, 1851-1865" (NAID: 2990283); and entry 47: "Orders for the Suspension of Acting Midshipmen, 1856-1862" (NAID: 2990285). Entry 48: "Press Copies of Orders Issued by the Superintendent, 1865-1874, 1886-1888" (NAID: 2990289) contains the superintendent's orders immediately preceding and following this entry. Other orders, circulars, notices, memoranda, and directives issued by succeeding superintendents may be found in entries 50-58. Proceedings of courts and boards of inquiry investigating midshipman misconduct mentioned in these orders are found in entry 210: "Press Copies of Letters Sent and Reports Relating to Boards of Inquiry, 1874-1882" (NAID: 3190035); and entry 211: "Proceedings of Courts of Inquiry or Boards Appointed to Investigate Charges Against Midshipmen, 1866-1871, 1866-1878." For further research on incidents of misconduct and academic performance mentioned in these orders, see correspondence in entry 6: "Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1881-1885" (NAID: 2983384); entry 9: "Press Copies of Letters Sent 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); records in folders entitled "midshipmen," in entry 25: "Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1845-1887" (NAID: 2990043); and entry 75: "Letters and Reports Received by the Superintendent Relating to Individual Midshipmen, 1846-1888" (NAID: 3027224).

Materials Cataloged Separately

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

Processing and Other Information

Volume 315a - Orders of the Superintendent was previously cataloged as Entry 49a.

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Directives: Orders of the Superintendent, 1874-1886, RG 405.2.2 Entry 49

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the historical note:

Sweetman, Jack. The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Samuel Limneos in March 2021. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in March 2021. 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

• Midshipmen -- Conduct of life -- 19th century
• Midshipmen -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
• Midshipmen -- United States
• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy
• United States Naval Academy -- Administration
• United States Naval Academy -- Buildings and grounds
• United States Naval Academy -- Curricula
• United States Naval Academy -- Faculty
• United States Naval Academy -- History -- 19th century
• United States Naval Academy. Superintendent

Genre Terms

• Circular letters
• Correspondence
• Orders (military records)