Books and Manuscripts

Washington, (D.C.), June 13, 1857. Partially-printed military commission on vellum, signed by James Buchanan as President of the United States, appointing Francis M. Bunce a "Midshipman in the Navy of the United States, from the 10th of June 1857"; counter-signed by Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey; manuscript in bottom left registering the document. Orange paper seal at bottom; creasing from contemporary folds; two small holes in center left fold; creasing in top right. 16 x 13 3/4 in. (406 x 349 mm).

The beginning of a long and distinguished naval career, Rear Admiral Francis M. Bunce's first military appointment, signed by President James Buchanan on the same day Bunce graduated from the United States Naval Academy. Upon his graduation Bunce was assigned to the USS Germantown of the East India Squadron and served for three years before being assigned to the USS Brooklyn.

Bunce served with distinction during his 40-plus year career in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Rear Admiral, in 1898. A graduate of one of the earliest classes of the United States Naval Academy in 1857, he gained attention for his service during the Civil War where he served in various roles and assisted in the Union Army's naval blockade of the Confederate States. Immediately after the war, he commanded the USS Monadnock around the treacherous Cape Horn on a voyage to California, the first long distance deployment of an ironclad monitor. Also, he at various points took command of the Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York Navy Yards, as well as commanded several gunboats, cruisers, and sloops-of-war. His leadership as commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Squadron from 1895-97 saw the fleet modernized into an effective combat unit that would successfully defeat the Spanish Navy during the Spanish-American War in 1898. As Commodore and Commandant of the Navy Yard in New York, he released the famous USS Maine on its voyage to Havana. He died in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1901 and is buried there, in Cedar Hill, Cemetery.

A fine example, descended in the Bunce family, and never before offered for sale.