PRESIDENT ULYSSES S. GRANT - NAVAL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 07/22/1869 CO-SIGNED BY: GEORGE M. ROBESON - HFSID 5904

ULYSSES S. GRANT and GEORGE M. ROBESON
The pair signs a Naval Appointment of Thomas C. McLean
Partly Printed Document signed: "U.S. Grant" as President and "Geo. M. Robeson" as Secretary of the Navy, 1p, 15¾x19½. Washington, 1869 July 22. On vellum. In full: "Know Ye, that reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Patriotism, Valour, Fidelity and Abilities of Thomas C. McLean I have nominated, and by and with the advice of the Senate, do appoint him an Ensign in the Navy from the 19th day of April 1869 in the service of the United States. He is therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the Duties of an Ensign by doing and performing all Manner of things thereto belonging...." ULYSSES S. GRANT (1822-1885) had little success in civilian life but was one of the greatest military leaders the United States has produced. After winning many victories on the Mississippi during the American Civil War, culminating in the capture of Vicksburg (1863), he was brought to the Virginia theater to face the forces of Robert E. Lee which had bested a long series of former Union generals. He finally compelled Lee's surrender (April, 1865) on generous terms. Grant's two terms as Republican President (1869-1877) were less successful. Although he achieved progress on several fronts, including his crackdown on the Ku Klux Klan, the personally honest Grant proved unable to prevent graft by subordinates. GEORGE M. OBESON served as Grant's Secretary of the Navy from June 25, 1869 to March 3, 1877. The Navy played an important part in the Civil War. It had built up a large and efficient fleet in only four years. The Union Navy had come out of the war as the largest and most powerful naval force in the world with more than 670 ships and 57,000 men. Except for unrelated incidents in different parts of the world, the Navy saw no military action until the Spanish-American War in 1898. For example, on June 10, 1871, Rear Admiral John Rodgers, Commander of the Asiatic Squadron, landed a force of seamen and marines near the Han River in Korea in retaliation for unprovoked attacks during diplomatic talks. In November 1873, in command of the Wyoming, Commander William B. Cushing sailed on his own initiative to Santiago, Cuba to stop the execution of sailors from the Virginius, an American-registered merchant ship that had been caught carrying arms to Cuban rebels. 2½-inch diameter blue seal affixed at lower center. Light rippling. Otherwise, fine condition.