Adams, John, second President

Autograph letter signed ("John Adams"), 1 1/4 pages (9 7/8 x 7 3/4 in.; 250 x 197 mm), Quincy, 24 April 1813, to Secretary of the Navy William Jones, congratulating Jones on his appointment as Secretary and modestly admits his key role in creating the U. S. Navy, but regrets he had not aggressively pursued its further development; small docket hole in upper left corner, closed short tear on bottom margin with residual stain. Pale blue moire folding case, blue morocco spine, 3 teal morocco lettering pieces.

The father of the American Navy congratulates the Secretary of the Navy on his recent appointment. "I rejoice in the appointment to the Head of the naval Department, of a Gentleman who is represented to me, to be so well qualified and so well disposed to promote the Service." William Jones was apprenticed in a shipyard during the American War of Independence; he saw combat at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton and later served at sea. With the War of 1812 raging, Jones became Secretary of the Navy in January 1813. His direction contributed substantially to American success on the Great Lakes and to the strategic defense of the American coastline. Toward the end of his term in late 1814, he made recommendations on the reorganization of the naval department.

"Far be from me, any Pride or Vanity, in the recollection of any share I have taken in the Institution of Our American Navy: I am ashamed when I look back and recollect how little I have done or said or written in favour of this Essential Arm for the defence of our Country," remarks Adams modestly.  On 13 October the Continental Congress—after hot debate—established a small naval force, hoping that even a diminutive navy would be able to offset to some extent what would otherwise be an uncontested exercise of British sea power. By the end of October, Congress authorized the purchase and outfitting of four armed vessels. Adams, one of five members of Congress appointed to the Naval Committee, drafted regulations for the Navy which were adopted on 28 November 1775. He was so active in championing the nation's naval interests throughout his political career that he is often called the father of the American navy.

The Continental Congress had a very limited role in mind for the navy. It was not expected to contest British control of the seas, but rather to thwart and harry the British, in conjunction with the scores of privateers outfitting in American ports. The Continental navy's ships were to raid commerce and attack the transports that supplied British forces in North America.

"Congress could not appropriate Money, to a purpose more beneficial to the Interest, the Safety, the Independence the Honour Power and Glory of their Country, if they should devote to a Man of Letters, who would undertake the Work, four times as large a sum as the Dutchess of Marlborough bequeathed for the Biography of her Husband." While sea power clearly had exerted an extremely important role in the Revolution, the years immediately following the war were difficult ones for the Continental navy. Two years after the end of the war, the money-poor Congress sold off the last ship of the Continental navy, the frigate Alliance.The failure of Congress to maintain a naval force was understandable. Navies were, and remain, expensive instruments of national security.

Adams also mentions a young man by the name of Marston, who apparently had solicited a position in the navy from Secretary Jones. While Adams ordinarily disapproved of "begging" letters, in this instance he agrees with Jones that the Marston's patriotic desire to serve his country justified the request. "The Reason you assign is perfectly satisfactory to me: and I rejoice in it, as it proves the good Sense and generous Feelings of our American Young Men, which have animated such Numbers, to sollicit the Post of danger.

"Commodore Rodgers has accepted young Marston as a volunteer, and he is now on Board the President below the Castle, ready I presume for Sea as soon as Winds and Circumstances will permit." John Paul Jones had suggested during the War of Independence the need for systematic instruction of naval officers. But before Annapolis was founded in 1845, midshipmen simply reported aboard ship where they obtained an uneven and irregular education from their officers.