Lot 512: CSA Navy Appointment, Semmes and Mallory plus Photo of Lt. Armstrong

1861 Confederate States Navy Department appointment signed by CSA Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory and Commander and future Admiral Raphael Semmes, to midshipman and future First Lieutenant Richard Fielder Armstrong. In this partly printed letter on lined paper, dated Montgomery, Alabama, April 17th 1861, Mallory directs Armstrong to proceed to New Orleans and report to Commander Raphael Semmes for duty aboard the CSS Sumter; Semmes notes that Armstrong reported on May 1, 1861. Placed atop cream colored mat in a later molded wood frame, under glass. Sheet: 10 in x 8 in.  Also included with this item is a cabinet card photograph of Lt. Richard F. Armstrong, in civilian clothes, by Pugh, Macon GA, 6 1/2 in x 4 1/4 in. Note: Richard Fielder Armstrong was born 1842 in Eatonton, Georgia. Appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1857, he resigned in January 1861 when Georgia withdrew from the Union and briefly served as a Midshipman in that state’s navy. He became a Midshipman in the Confederate States Navy in April 1861 and served under Commander Raphael Semmes on the CSS Sumter during her cruise against Federal shipping in 1861-62. In mid-1862, Armstrong was assigned as Second Lieutenant of the cruiser CSS Alabama, also under Semmes’ command. He served on the Alabama for the entire duration of its cruise during the Civil War. The CSS Alabama was the most successful commerce raider for the Confederate Navy. Armstrong was slightly wounded in the 19 June 1864 action with USS Kearsarge that ended with Alabama’s sinking. Rescued by a French pilot boat and taken to Cherbourg, First Lieutenant Armstrong returned to the Confederacy later in the year. He was present during the bombardment of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in December 1864, and served in several positions during the Civil War’s final months. After the conflict, he lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was involved in railroad work. Richard F. Armstrong died in Halifax on 6 May 1904. Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. 

PROVENANCE: The living estate of Bennett Armstrong of Alexandria, TN, a direct descendant of Lt. Richard F. Armstrong. 

CONDITION: Document: partially adhered to backing. Light dampstaining and toning, fold lines. Needs rematting. Photograph: Creasing, small loss upper right, toning.