January 26th Rare Autograph & Book Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/26/2023
Robert Smith Free frank, as Secretary of the Navy, under Thomas Jefferson, "Nav, Dept R Smith" on folded letter to "Daniel T. Patterson, Philadelphia," dated "Nav Dept. 9 Oct 1805.
A Naval Secretary free franked letter addressed to an ambitious young naval officer, who would serve with great valor during the Battle of New Orleans. Patterson had just returned from the Barbary Coast, following the Marines successful assault on Tripoli. Smith and Patterson were corresponding about the need for naval officers to be better versed in gunnery studies and naval-related engineering.
The letter, in secretarial hand, reads:
"Sir.
I have received your letter of the 5th.
It will be very agreeable to me that you should devote your leisure time to the study of gunnery & marine fortification. I am sorry to hear from you 'that but few of our officers have paid much attention to such studies.'
Respectfully, R Smith"
Robert Smith, 2nd Secretary of the Navy (1801 to 1809) - during the Barbary Coast Pirate War
With One of a Kind Collectibles LOA
Robert Smith, 2nd Secretary of the Navy (1801 to 1809) Free Frank Letter Regarding Barbary Wars
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