Books and Manuscripts

Washington, (D.C.), March 1, 1895. Partially-printed military commission on vellum, signed by Grover Cleveland as President of the United States, appointing Francis M. Bunce a "Commodore in the Navy, from the 1st day of March 1895, in the service of the United States."; counter-signed by Secretary of the Navy Hillary A. Herbert. Blue paper seal at bottom; creasing from contemporary folds. 19 3/4 x 15 1/2 in. (502 x 393 mm).

A fine military commission signed by President Grover Cleveland promoting Captain Francis M. Bunce to Commodore in the United States Navy. Three months following this commission, at the end of June, 1895, Bunce relieved Rear Admiral Richard W. Meade III to become commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Squadron. Called the Navy's "Home Squadron," the North Atlantic Squadron was tasked with protecting commercial and business interests from the Caribbean to Canada, including protecting American cities along the United States's east coast. Bunce commanded the Squadron until 1897, and his leadership during this period was critical in modernizing the fleet's tactical and operational abilities, transforming it into a cohesive and combat-ready unit. After taking charge of the Squadron, Bunce continued and built upon Rear Admiral Meade's novel strategy of training the fleet as a single integrated unit, rather than overseeing individual ships with separate missions. Bunce's intense tactical and blockade training enhanced the fleet's cooperational abilities, features that would prove crucial to the Navy's defeat of the Spanish Navy during the Spanish-American War, in 1898.

Bunce served with distinction during his 40-plus year career in the United States Navy, reaching 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. 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.