C.S. Navy Department Office Provision and Clothing Broadside

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/28/2006

Confederate circular, 1p. quarto, Office Provision and Clothing, C.S. Navy Department, Richmond, Virginia, February 6, 1865, signed in type by S.R. Mallory as Secretary of the Navy and by James A. Semple, Paymaster, C.S. Navy, being an addendum to navy regulations as authorized by Act of the Confederate Congress on January 19, 1865 stipulating clothing allotments to serving midshipmen. VG.Ranking between senior petty officers and junior line officers, midshipmen functioned as 'gentlemen in training,' traditionally the long career path to future line and flag rank in an age-old system still in use by every naval service in the world. In virtually every aspect the Confederate Navy, created by act of Congress on February 21, 1861, was organized along the lines of the old United States Navy with 231 Confederate officers having resigned from service in the former, including 111 acting and passed midshipmen who entered the Provisional navy in the lowest commissioned grade of junior lieutenant. At least initially, the statutory rank of acting and passed midshipmen was not recognized in Confederate service and Congress made no official provision for them until the Amendatory Act of April 1862. As its name implies the Bureau of Provision and Clothing headed by a Chief Paymaster administered the feeding and clothing of enlisted naval personnel and provided for their pay. Food was rarely in short supply and was issued according to the Naval Provision Act of 1842 adopted by the Confederate Congress. Until 1865, commissioned officers were expected to outfit and supply themselves while 'expenses' were typically reimbursed by the paymaster. The Chief Paymaster acted as quartermaster in 'requisitioning, storing, issuing, maintaining, and accounting for food, clothing and small stores' used by the ratings. These articles were then, in turn, deducted from the sailor's monthly pay, which amounted to as little as $16.00 per month for an ordinary seamen. A basic uniform kit for a newly recruited landsman cost the government over $100 and the disparity quickly become evident. Unlike their army brethren Confederate sailors never lacked for food or basic clothing but were also usually cash poor despite the later introduction of a paltry commutation schedule. Based on contemporary accounts this state of affairs led to gradually increasing social discord among the naval stations and genuine hardship for families relying on navy pay. The situation deteriorated to the point where Congress intervened with a cap on what could be charged for clothing while officers were forced to punish sailors (with a loss of pay) for selling government property to eager civilians.

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