PRESIDENT JAMES BUCHANAN - NAVAL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 10/13/1859 FINE CONDITION
Appointment of James McMaster as Assistant Surgeon in the US Navy. McMaster served as Navy Surgeon on the USS Shenandoah during the Civil War. PARTLY PRINTED PARCHMENT DOCUMENT 15 X 18 INCHES, PROFESSIONALLY FRAMED IN HAWAIIAN KOA WOOD AND MATTED UNDER NON-GLARE GLASS, OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 22 X 30 INCHES. SIGNED "James Buchanan" as 15th U.S. President and "Isaac Toucey" as Secretary of the Navy, WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 13, 1859. ATTRACTIVE , RWH &E ENGRAVED NAVAL DESIGN OF SHIPS AND CANNON AT TOP AND BOTTOM. IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH ORANGE, NAVY DEPARTMENT SEAL STILL PRESENT. (RWH&E: Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, produced the 1st issue of US postage stamps in 1847). THIS IS THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT NOT A REPRINT WOULD MAKE THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN US HISTORY, THE US MILITARY, JAMES BUCHANAN, OR THE FAMILIES OF JAMES McMASTER OR ISAAC TOUCEY. CIVIL WAR NAVAL OFFICERS Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, Including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to January 1, 1865 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865). Officers of Navy Yards, Shore Stations, and Vessels, 1 January 1865 North Atlantic Squadron SHENANDOAH, (2d rate.) Captain, Daniel B. Ridgely. Lieutenant, Smith W. Nichols. Surgeon, James McMaster USS Shenandoah (1862) The first USS Shenandoah was a wooden screw sloop of the US Navy. Shenandoah was launched on 8 December 1862. She was sponsored by Miss Selina Pascoe; and was commissioned on 20 June 1863, Captain Daniel B. Ridgeley in command. Shenandoah departed Philadelphia, PA, on the 25th, keeping a sharp lookout for Confederate raider, CSS Tacony, as she made her trial run to Boston to fill out her complement. On 11 July, she sailed in search of Confederate raider, Florida, cruised off George's and Nantucket shoals, thence preceded toward Block Island and Cape Sable. She returned to Boston on 27 July and spent from 4 August to 8 September in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 12 September, she arrived off New Inlet, NC, to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadon. Shenandoah spent the greater part of the next fifteen months patrolling off Wilmington, NC, and searching on the blockade runner routes between Nassau and Wilmington. This cruising took her as far as Key West, FL, and to the Bahamas and Bermuda. During a four-hour chase on 30 July 1864, she fired heavily into Confederate blockade runner, Lilian, which escaped in the darkness to the safety of Cape Lookout shoals. At daylight of 7 August, blockade runner, Falcon, narrowly escaped Shenandoah by throwing cotton overboard to lighten load and then outsailing her pursuers in the direction of Cuba. Shenandoah reached Green Bay in the Bahamas on 13 December 1864 to investigate reports that Confederate privateers were being fitted out there to prey on Union commerce. Finding no trace of such activity, she hurried north to join the great Federal Fleet poised on the coast of North Carolina for the attack on Fort Fisher which protected Wilmington, North Carolina. On Christmas Eve, she closed to within 1,500 yards of the shore to bombard the works of Fort Fisher with all guns that could be brought to bear. In little more than an hour, the Confederate fort had been silenced, two of its magazines had been blown up, and the fort set afire in several places. The bombardment was kept up with good effect until after nightfall. One shot from the Confederates carried away Shenandoah's stern ladder. She renewed the action with other ships of the fleet on Christmas morning to cover the landing of about 3,000 Army troops. Her deliberate and well directed fire silenced a four-gun battery to the west of Fort Fisher. She then turned her attention to a two-gun casemated battery. One shell from this battery fell a few yards short, and another passed over Shenandoah which retaliated by exploding a 150-pounder rifle shell near the top of the mound. Nevertheless, the amphibious assault failed to capture the fort and the Union troops re-embarked during the night, save for about 1,000 soldiers who found themselves stranded on the beach by heavy surf. These were safely returned to their transports during the following two days as Shenandoah patrolled off New Inlet. The amphibious assault on Fort Fisher was renewed on 13 January 1865. Shenandoah's boats assisted in the landing of about 8,000 Army troops under cover of a severe bombardment. The next day, she joined the fleet in a quick fire on the face of the works which lasted from 1300 till well after dark. That day, 1,600 sailors and 400 marines were detached from various shins to join the Army troops in the assault. Fifty-four sailors and fourteen marines under Lieutenant Smith W. Nichols, armed with cutlasses and revolvers, were landed from Shenandoah. The furious bombardment support continued until 1500 on 15 January 1865. By this time, the sailors and marines were entrenched within 200 yards of the fort and ready for the final assault. The ships now shifted their fire to the upper batteries as troops and sailors dashed toward the top of the parapet. The advancing sailors and marines were swept by concentrated Confederate gunfire; but Army troops, who had gained the highest parapet to the rear, opened with a volley of musketry to save them. Now the fighting progressed through seventeen immense bomb-proof traverses until the Confederates were finally forced to the end of Federal Point. Finding themselves hopelessly surrounded, the Confederate remnants surrendered, and Fort Fisher fell to the largest amphibious operation in American history prior to World War II. Shenandoah's landing force returned with six wounded and five missing in action. Lt. Nichols reported: "Each and all deserve the highest commendation for their coolness and courage under the most trying circumstances, and fully sustained the hard earned reputation of the American sailor..." After Fort Fisher was captured, Shenandoah spent a few days carrying wounded men from transports to shore hospitals. She then joined in the final days of the Union siege of Charleston which fell on 17 February. She returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 March and was decommissioned there on 15 April. Officers of USS Shenandoah, Civil War Captain, Daniel Ridgely Lieutenant, Smith W. Nichols Surgeon, James McMaster Acting Assistant Paymaster, C. M. Guild Acting Master, John S. Watson Acting Master, W. H. Brice Acting Master, Joseph A. Bullard Ensign, Yates Sterling Ensign, J. H. Sands Acting Master’s Mate, L. H. White Acting Master’s Mate, Thomas H. Wheeler Acting Master’s Mate, T. D. Wendell Engineers: Acting Chief; Nelson Winans Second Assistant, E. A. Magee Acting Second Assistant, James S. Kelleper Third Assistant, D. M. Fulmer Third Assistant, F. W. Towner Third Assistant, Wm. Bond Boatswain, James H. Polly Gunner, George Edmond ISAAC TOUCEY (1792-1869), James Buchanan's only Secretary of the Navy, was a Northerner with Southern sympathies. Of the Navy's 90 ships, 48 were not in commission and only 12 were at home when the Civil War began in 1861. Toucey died in Hartford, CT, on July 30, 1869.
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Appointment of James McMaster as Assistant Surgeon in the US Navy. McMaster served as Navy Surgeon on the USS Shenandoah during the Civil War. PARTLY PRINTED PARCHMENT DOCUMENT 15 X 18 INCHES, PROFESSIONALLY FRAMED IN HAWAIIAN KOA WOOD AND MATTED UNDER NON-GLARE GLASS, OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 22 X 30 INCHES. SIGNED “James Buchanan” as 15th U.S. President and “Isaac Toucey” as Secretary of the Navy, WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 13, 1859. ATTRACTIVE , RWH &E ENGRAVED NAVAL DESIGN OF SHIPS AND CANNON AT TOP AND BOTTOM. IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH ORANGE, NAVY DEPARTMENT SEAL STILL PRESENT. (RWH&E: Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, produced the 1st issue of US postage stamps in 1847). THIS IS THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT NOT A REPRINT WOULD MAKE THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN US HISTORY, THE US MILITARY, JAMES BUCHANAN, OR THE FAMILIES OF JAMES McMASTER OR ISAAC TOUCEY. CIVIL WAR NAVAL OFFICERS Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, Including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to January 1, 1865 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865). Officers of Navy Yards, Shore Stations, and Vessels, 1 January 1865 North Atlantic Squadron SHENANDOAH, (2d rate.) Captain, Daniel B. Ridgely. Lieutenant, Smith W. Nichols. Surgeon, James McMaster USS Shenandoah (1862) The first USS Shenandoah was a wooden screw sloop of the US Navy. Shenandoah was launched on 8 December 1862. She was sponsored by Miss Selina Pascoe; and was commissioned on 20 June 1863, Captain Daniel B. Ridgeley in command. Shenandoah departed Philadelphia, PA, on the 25th, keeping a sharp lookout for Confederate raider, CSS Tacony, as she made her trial run to Boston to fill out her complement. On 11 July, she sailed in search of Confederate raider, Florida, cruised off George’s and Nantucket shoals, thence preceded toward Block Island and Cape Sable. She returned to Boston on 27 July and spent from 4 August to 8 September in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 12 September, she arrived off New Inlet, NC, to join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadon. Shenandoah spent the greater part of the next fifteen months patrolling off Wilmington, NC, and searching on the blockade runner routes between Nassau and Wilmington. This cruising took her as far as Key West, FL, and to the Bahamas and Bermuda. During a four-hour chase on 30 July 1864, she fired heavily into Confederate blockade runner, Lilian, which escaped in the darkness to the safety of Cape Lookout shoals. At daylight of 7 August, blockade runner, Falcon, narrowly escaped Shenandoah by throwing cotton overboard to lighten load and then outsailing her pursuers in the direction of Cuba. Shenandoah reached Green Bay in the Bahamas on 13 December 1864 to investigate reports that Confederate privateers were being fitted out there to prey on Union commerce. Finding no trace of such activity, she hurried north to join the great Federal Fleet poised on the coast of North Carolina for the attack on Fort Fisher which protected Wilmington, North Carolina. On Christmas Eve, she closed to within 1,500 yards of the shore to bombard the works of Fort Fisher with all guns that could be brought to bear. In little more than an hour, the Confederate fort had been silenced, two of its magazines had been blown up, and the fort set afire in several places. The bombardment was kept up with good effect until after nightfall. One shot from the Confederates carried away Shenandoah’s stern ladder. She renewed the action with other ships of the fleet on Christmas morning to cover the landing of about 3,000 Army troops. Her deliberate and well directed fire silenced a four-gun battery to the west of Fort Fisher. She then turned her attention to a two-gun casemated battery. One shell from this battery fell a few yards short, and another passed over Shenandoah which retaliated by exploding a 150-pounder rifle shell near the top of the mound. Nevertheless, the amphibious assault failed to capture the fort and the Union troops re-embarked during the night, save for about 1,000 soldiers who found themselves stranded on the beach by heavy surf. These were safely returned to their transports during the following two days as Shenandoah patrolled off New Inlet. The amphibious assault on Fort Fisher was renewed on 13 January 1865. Shenandoah’s boats assisted in the landing of about 8,000 Army troops under cover of a severe bombardment. The next day, she joined the fleet in a quick fire on the face of the works which lasted from 1300 till well after dark. That day, 1,600 sailors and 400 marines were detached from various shins to join the Army troops in the assault. Fifty-four sailors and fourteen marines under Lieutenant Smith W. Nichols, armed with cutlasses and revolvers, were landed from Shenandoah. The furious bombardment support continued until 1500 on 15 January 1865. By this time, the sailors and marines were entrenched within 200 yards of the fort and ready for the final assault. The ships now shifted their fire to the upper batteries as troops and sailors dashed toward the top of the parapet. The advancing sailors and marines were swept by concentrated Confederate gunfire; but Army troops, who had gained the highest parapet to the rear, opened with a volley of musketry to save them. Now the fighting progressed through seventeen immense bomb-proof traverses until the Confederates were finally forced to the end of Federal Point. Finding themselves hopelessly surrounded, the Confederate remnants surrendered, and Fort Fisher fell to the largest amphibious operation in American history prior to World War II. Shenandoah’s landing force returned with six wounded and five missing in action. Lt. Nichols reported: “Each and all deserve the highest commendation for their coolness and courage under the most trying circumstances, and fully sustained the hard earned reputation of the American sailor…” After Fort Fisher was captured, Shenandoah spent a few days carrying wounded men from transports to shore hospitals. She then joined in the final days of the Union siege of Charleston which fell on 17 February. She returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 March and was decommissioned there on 15 April. Officers of USS Shenandoah, Civil War Captain, Daniel Ridgely Lieutenant, Smith W. Nichols Surgeon, James McMaster Acting Assistant Paymaster, C. M. Guild Acting Master, John S. Watson Acting Master, W. H. Brice Acting Master, Joseph A. Bullard Ensign, Yates Sterling Ensign, J. H. Sands Acting Master’s Mate, L. H. White Acting Master’s Mate, Thomas H. Wheeler Acting Master’s Mate, T. D. Wendell Engineers: Acting Chief; Nelson Winans Second Assistant, E. A. Magee Acting Second Assistant, James S. Kelleper Third Assistant, D. M. Fulmer Third Assistant, F. W. Towner Third Assistant, Wm. Bond Boatswain, James H. Polly Gunner, George Edmond ISAAC TOUCEY (1792-1869), James Buchanan’s only Secretary of the Navy, was a Northerner with Southern sympathies. Of the Navy’s 90 ships, 48 were not in commission and only 12 were at home when the Civil War began in 1861. Toucey died in Hartford, CT, on July 30, 1869.
