SECNAV GIDEON WELLES under Pres. Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Johnson Autograph Note

Description

Own a wonderful piece of U.S. history.  This is a small handwritten note by SECNAV Gideon Welles.
Item is in excellent condition with concise beautiful handwritten notation.
An excellent addition to any collection.  Feel free to send questions or inquire about other items.
COA from Texas Autographs, LLC. is included and money back guarantee.  Items shipped within two days via USPS (signature may be required) unless otherwise requested.
Thanks for your interest in this auction!
GIDEON  WELLES
(1802-1878)
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Born into a wealthy family, Gideon Welles was educated at private schools. He studied law but in 1826 became cofounder and editor of the Hartford Times. The next year, he became the youngest member of the Connecticut legislature and served there until 1835. An ardent Jacksonian Democrat, he was responsible for Connecticut’s general incorporation law, which became a model for other states.
Welles was elected state controller of public accounts in 1835; he was reelected in 1842 and 1843. Jackson appointed him Postmaster of Hartford in 1836, and Welles served until the Whigs took power in 1841. From 1846 to 1849, he was chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing for the Navy.
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In 1854, Welles quit the Democrats and switched to the new Republican Party. In 1856, he founded the Hartford Evening Press, one of the first Republican papers in New England, and wrote for it extensively.
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In 18
61, Lincoln appointed
Welles Secretary of the Navy, in part fulfilling a political obligation to put a New Englander in the Cabinet. Welles proved to be a highly competent administrator and a surprisingly keen military strategist. He quickly built a large and effective navy from a few ships and a force reduced by the departure of Confederate sympathizers.
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The Navy had grown from 45 service-worthy vessels to 671 and from 7,600 to 51,000 sailors in just four years, making it a first-class power. Appropriately, President Lincoln referred to Welles as his “Neptune,” after the ancient god said to rule the seas.
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Undisturbed by criticism, he authorized the construction of ironclads, kept his department as free from graft as possible, and promoted officers of merit over those with great seniority. He was instrumental in the construction of the ironclad USS Monitor and establishment of the Navy’s Medal of Honor. Welles was largely responsible for implementing the “Anaconda plan” of slowly squeezing the South into submission, and he effectively directed the naval blockade that isolated the South and severed it in half.
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Gideon Welles continued as President Andrew Johnson's Secretary of the Navy after Lincoln's assassination.
In 1869, Welles left the Cabinet, having completed the longest term as Navy Secretary to that time. He then drifted from the Republican Party, backing the Liberal Republicans and Horace Greeley in 1872 and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden in 1876. He spent his final years writing magazine articles and a book, Lincoln and Seward (1874). Long after his death the Diary of Gideon Welles (1911) was published, a work highly regarded by historians for its insights into the people and events of the Civil War era. (Enc. Britannica)
Nice clear and concise signature in blue fountain ink.  Please see photos for details.
An excellent addition to any collection.  Feel free to send questions or inquire about other items.
COA from Texas Autographs, LLC. is included and money back guarantee.  Items shipped within two days via USPS (signature may be required) unless otherwise requested.
Thanks for your interest in this auction!