The Old Navy and the New, with an Appendix of Personal Letters from General Grant

xvi, 15-553, [1] pages. Illustrations. Appendix. Decorative front cover. Ex-library with the usual library markings. Name of previous owner in ink on fep. Boards slightly scuffed, some wear to spine edges. No dust jacket present. Daniel Ammen (May 15, 1820July 11, 1898) was a U.S. naval officer during the American Civil War and the postbellum period, as well as a prolific author. In 1861 62, he commanded the gunboat USS Seneca in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. His bravery was conspicuous in the Battle of Port Royal, November 7, 1861. Under Samuel F. Dupont's command, he took part in all the operations on the coasts of Georgia and Florida. In the engagements with Fort McAllister, March 3, 1863, and with Fort Sumter, April 7, 1863, he commanded the monitor USS Patapsco. He was commissioned captain of the USS Mohican July 26, 1866. Ammen was appointed chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks in May 1869. He was responsible for building and maintaining navy yards, drydocks, and facilities relating to ship construction, maintenance, and repair until August 1871. He was then appointed chief of the Bureau of Navigation and promoted to commodore on April 1, 1872. His responsibilities were to provide nautical charts and instruments and to oversee activities involved navigation research, including the Naval Observatory. In 1872 he was appointed to a commission to examine and report on the feasibility of constructing a canal through Nicaragua. He was promoted to rear admiral on December 11, 1877. Ammen served with the Bureau of Navigation until his retirement in 1878. This book provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of the US Navy during the late 19th century. The book covers everything from the design of ships to the tactics of naval warfare, and addresses the inner workings of one of the world's greatest navies. During the more than half a century covered by this chronicle, so marvelous have been the changes in naval architecture and armament, in the development of means of locomotion both on shore and afloat, and in the establishing of rapid communication over the whole inhabited glove, that the intelligent reader can hardly realize that they have occurred within so brief an historical period of time. A principal object of these memoirs has been to note these mutations in their order, and to present a picture of naval life as affected by them. The writer's intention has been to make the narrative representative not only of his own experiences, but also of that of many other officers, varying from his only in time and circumstances.…