Books and Manuscripts

Washington, (D.C.), March 5, 1872. Partially-printed military commission on vellum, signed by Ulysses S. Grant as President of the United States, appointing Francis M. Bunce a "Commander in the Navy from the 2d day of November 1871 in the service of the United States"; counter-signed by Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson. Blue paper seal at bottom; creasing from contemporary folds; very lightly worn. 19 5/8 x 15 7/8 (498 x 403 mm).

A fine military commission signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, promoting Lieutenant Commander Francis M. Bunce to Commander in the United States Navy. Following his distinguished service in the Civil War, in 1865 Bunce took command of the monitor USS Monadnock, and led her on her voyage from Philadelphia to San Francisco around the tip of Cape Horn. It was the first-ever extended voyage made by a monitor, and it earned Bunce accolades from the Navy Department and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. From 1866-69, Bunce served in the Boston Navy Yard, and in November, 1869, he took command of the newly commissioned North Atlantic Squadron screw steamer USS Nantasket, stationed in Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic). In 1870 he was transferred to Pittsburgh for special ordnance duty, when he received this promotion to Commander. In 1873 he took command of the gunboat USS Ashuelot in the Asiatic Squadron, and then served in the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard in June, 1875, before being dispatched to lighthouse duty from July-October of that year. In 1877 he returned to the D.C. Navy Yard and shortly after was appointed to serve at the Torpedo School in Newport, Rhode Island, from January, 1879 to July, 1881. At the end of this service he finally returned to the sea as a commanding officer on the sloop-of-war USS Marion, and then as commander of the USS Wabash, from 1882-85.

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. 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.

By descent in the Bunce family, and never before offered for sale.