The Establishment of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance

John A. Dahlgren, commander of the Washington Navy Yard, certainly knew his way around naval weaponry and was a natural first choice to head the new Bureau of Ordnance. The Bureau was formerly known as the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, but a July 5, 1862 law reassigned the hydrographic duties to the newly established Bureau of Navigation, leaving solely ordnance functions and the necessity of a new name. The responsibilities of the Bureau of Ordnance included the procurement, storage, and issue of ordnance and related equipment along with the production of ordnance and operation of storage facilities. On July 23, Dahlgren was officially appointed Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. On August 5, he was promoted to captain. Interestingly, his commission was antedated, retroactively making his rank captain when he became Chief less than two weeks prior. At this time, Captain Andrew A. Harwood took over as commandant of the Washington Navy Yard. It can be presumed that since Harwood was the former commander of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, the July changes to the bureau system displaced him. Therefore, his and Dahlgren’s jobs were essentially switched at that time.

The Washington Navy Yard was an important part of the Bureau of Ordnance. In an 1866 series of pictures taken by Brady & Company there are several shots of the ordnance foundry and ordnance yard as well as several buildings bearing Bureau of Ordnance shields.

This photo looks east-southeast and shows the Washington Navy Yard’s ordnance yard in June of 1866. Old guns can be seen half-buried in the ground for decorative and marking purposes. There are large mortars, round shot, and Dahlgren guns stacked in the yard. The ordnance foundry is the large building to the right.

Henry Hibben, “History of the Washington Navy-yard,” Naval History and Heritage Command, http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/wny_history.htm (accessed June 30, 2010).

“Records of the Bureau of Ordnance,” The National Archives, http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/074.html (accessed June 30, 2010).

United States Navy. "Photo # NH 57941 Picture Data." Naval History and Heritage Command. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h57000/h57941c.htm (accessed June 30, 2010).

New Poster: Welcome Sarah Adler

One of the aspirations of the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial Committee is to foster research and writing of the Civil War Navy at the undergraduate level. We are very happy to announce the edition of a new member to the Commmittee, Sarah Adler.

Sarah A. Adler is an undergraduate student at American University in Washington, DC majoring in History and American Studies. She realized her passion for Civil War history when she was thirteen and has been constantly seeking out more information and experiences ever since. Lucky enough to grow up in Hanover, Pennsylvania, a town only minutes from Gettysburg and itself the site of a cavalry battle, Sarah had the opportunity to work with the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College during her high school years. Her time at the Civil War Institute as well as a few of her own ventures introduced her to many historians--some of whom would become invaluable mentors--and approaches to studying the Civil War. When Sarah began attending American University in Fall 2009, she realized the necessity of exploring some areas of specialization within the field. After some exploration, she discovered an interest in Civil War naval history, especially that pertaining to the District of Columbia. Sarah is currently researching the wartime Washington Navy Yard as well as the life of Admiral David Dixon Porter.

U.S.N. United, One Last Time

This is a picture of a delegation of Japanese government officials and their U.S. Naval escorts at the Washington Navy Yard, 1860. A few years after Commodore Mathew Perry opened Japan to American trade, the two nations signed a formal treaty and exchanged diplomatic credentials for the first time in 1860. The U.S. Navy escorted the Japanese delegation from Japan to San Fransisco on Kanrin Maru with the steamer USS Powhatan and to Washington, D.C. via Panama and Cuba. You can read more about the 150th anniversary of this historic event at the Consulate-General of Japan in New York's website.

To naval historians of the American Civil War, the picture shows just how gut wrenching the war would become as brother officers would have to fight against each other. Half of the officers in this picture would "Go South" less than a year later. Notable officers in this picture are David Dixon Porter (fourth from the left, wearing the straw hat), Samuel DuPont (center, wearing the top hat), and Franklin Buchanan (center, next to DuPont).  A complete listing of the officers can be found at the NHHC's website.