Civil War-dated LS as secretary of the Navy, one page, 8 x 9.75, Navy Department letterhead, May 4, 1864. Letter to engineer William P. Trowbridge, in full: “The report of yourself and Mr. Twining upon Maj. E. B. Hunt’s Submarine Rocket has been received. The Department will not feel authorized to incur so great an expense as appears to be necessary, from your report, to test the feasibility of Maj. Hunt’s invention, unless Congress shall appropriate the required sum.” In fine condition.
William Petit Trowbridge was a mechanical engineer, military officer, and naturalist (1828–1892) who was one of the first mechanical engineers on the faculties of the University of Michigan, the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale, and the Columbia School of Mines. He had a brief military career after graduating from West Point and later served as Adjutant General for the State of Connecticut from 1873 to 1876. From 1862 to 1865, during the Civil War, he was in charge of the engineering agency in New York City and oversaw the construction of the fort at Willets Point as well as repairs to New York Harbor.
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