Washington, (D.C.), July 24, 1856. Partially-printed military commission on vellum, signed by Franklin Pierce, as President of the United States, appointing Edward R. Thompson a Commander in the Navy; counter-signed by Secretary of the Navy, J.C. Dobbin; MS. bottom recto in a secretarial hand registering the document; original orange paper seal intact; creasing from contemporary folds; soiling along right edge. Handsomely framed with a portrait of Pierce and a presidential medallion, 24 1/2 x 34 3/4 in. (622 x 883 mm). Unexamined out of frame.