1864 Civil War Date Orders From Secretary of the Union Navy Gideon Welles Regarding “Acceptable” Disabilities !
GIDEON WELLES (1802 - 1878). President Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War Period Secretary of the Navy from 1861-1869, nicknamed “Old Neptune.” Successfully blockaded Southern ports towards victory of the Civil War, instrumental in the Navy's creation of the Medal of Honor.
June 13, 1864-Dated Civil War Period, Manuscript Letter Signed,”Gideon Welles” as Secretary of the Navy, measuring about 9.75” x 8” with 2 pages, nicely written upon official “Navy Department” letterhead, Choice Very Fine. Boldly written in flowing, easy to read script. There is some expected minor tone and folded, being addressed to James Greene, at the Naval Asylum, Philadelphia.

This letter providing Orders the convening of a Physical Examination Board, providing exact instructions on its conduct. This historic War-dated Letter outlines that officers who are ordered to report before the head of the Naval Asylum must be examined for injuries such as, “loss of limb, impaired senses of hearing, sight...” and once facts are determined, must make recommendations regarding promotion or retirement. Great military Naval medical response to duty content, and in Very Fine condition!
Gideon Welles found the Naval Department in disarray, with Southern officers resigning en masse. His first major action was to dispatch the Navy's most powerful warship, the USS Powhatan, to relieve Fort Sumter. Unfortunately, Lincoln had simultaneously ordered the Powhatan to both Fort Sumter and Pensacola, Florida, ruining whatever chance Major Robert Anderson had of withstanding the assault. Several weeks later, when Secretary of State William H. Seward argued for a blockade of Southern ports, Welles argued vociferously against the action but was eventually overruled by Lincoln. Despite his misgivings, Welles' efforts to rebuild the Navy and implement the blockade proved extraordinarily effective. From 76 ships and 7,600 sailors in 1861 by 1865 the Navy expanded almost tenfold. His implementation of the Naval portion of the Anaconda Plan strongly weakened the Confederacy's ability to finance the war through limiting the cotton trade, and while never completely effective in sealing off all 3,500 miles of Southern coastline it was a major contribution towards Northern victory. Lincoln nicknamed Welles his "Neptune".

At the start of the war, David Dixon Porter wrote Welles that "the present allowance of crews... if for peace establishment and is not suited at all to times of war. "On another occasion, Porter told Welles that his own vessel lacked coal and that small steamers of shallow draft were required to make the blockade effective. From Mobile to the Mississippi River there were numerous inlets through which small Confederate craft could slip through the Federal blockade.

Despite his successes, Welles was never at ease in the Cabinet. His anti-English sentiments caused him to clash with Seward, and Welles's conservative stances led to arguments with Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase and War Secretary Edwin M. Stanton.