Stephen R. Mallory Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Stephen R. Mallory (1813-1873) was the Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States of America from March 4, 1861-May 4, 1865. Mallory, who had been born in Trinidad and settled in Key West at the age of eight, was a former U.S. Senator from Florida (1851-1861) who had resigned after Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861. When he assumed his post in Jefferson Davis' Cabinet, Mallory was the head of a naval department that had few ships and was in dire need of equipment and personnel. Although the North abandoned the Norfolk Navy Yard with 11 ships, Mallory knew the South could never catch up to the Union fleet. Mallory suggested ironclads as additions to the small Confederate Navy, and went to England in 1862 to help develop a new cruiser. Mallory, the only official to remain in Jefferson Davis' Cabinet throughout the entire war, was imprisoned from 1865-1866.  Edges lightly creased and toned. Minor slits at right edges of folds. Minor show-through from back to front. On July 30, 1861, Acting Midshipman Ratcliffe, had jumped overboard to rescue a shipmate, earning this and other commendations.