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ods for making the blockade more effective, and to collect necessary information. The commission met from June to Sept. 1861 under the chairmanship of Capt. Samuel F. DuPont; the other members were Capt. Charles H. Davis, U. S. N.; Maj. John G. Barnard, U. S. A.; and Alexander D. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey. Serving as a board of strategy, the commission prepared several important confidential reports concerning both the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts of the Confederacy. These were used in planning expeditions against Hatteras Inlet and Port Royal.

Record Group 45.--Incomplete records of the commission are in subject file ON. These include a penciled journal of proceedings, June 25July 26, 1861; a report, July 13, on Bull's Bay, St. Helena Sound, and Port Royal; penciled drafts of reports, July 16, July 26, Aug. 9, Sept. 3, and Sept. 19 (all of which are printed in Official Records. . . Navies, ser. 1, vols. 12 and 16); a draft of a supplementary memoir, Sept. 2, on the coast of North Carolina; a report of Sept. 5 on placing obstructions at the mouth of the Savannah River (marked "withdrawn"); a draft of a report on Beaufort Harbor and the capture of Fort Macon; and a list of charts and maps. In Official Records... Navies (ser. 1, vol. 12, p. 195–198) is a report of July 5, 1861, which is not among the records of the commission. Commission to Select a Site for a Navy Yard on Western Waters

Secretary Welles under an act of June 30, 1864 (13 Stat. 323), appointed a commission to choose a site for a navy yard on the Mississippi River or one of its tributaries. The commission was composed of Rear Adm. Charles H. Davis, Lt. Col. A. H. Bowman, and George W. Blunt, a civilian. It met at St. Louis on Nov. 21, 1864, and thereafter spent several weeks inspecting points on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, including St. Louis, Carondelet, Evans Landing, Mound City, Fort Massac, Memphis, Cairo, Louisville, Cincinnati, New Albany, and Pittsburgh. In its report of Feb. 4, 1865, the commission recommended Carondelet as the site of a navy yard for construction and the continuance of Mound City as a station for equipment, stores, and repairs. This report was printed as S. Ex. Doc. 19, 38 Cong., 2 sess., Serial 1209; the original manuscript is in the Records of the United States Senate (Record Group 46).

Record Group 45. --The records of the commission are in subject file PS. These records consist of a draft of the commission's report, a list of ironclads built or repaired on western rivers, a record of the commission's itinerary, an estimate of expenses, a table of distances on western rivers, a list of maps accompanying the report, original letters from residents of river towns recommending them as sites for the navy yards, and reports by officers on proposed sites.

Permanent Commission

This body was formed by a precept of Feb. 11, 1863, to carry on the work of examining inventions, plans, devices, etc., submitted to the Navy Department. A predecessor group, the Board of Naval Examiners, had been disbanded before completing its task. The original members of the commission were Commodore Charles H. Davis; Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; and Alexander D. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey. The commission was organized on Feb. 20 under Davis' chairmanship and continued to meet throughout the war.

Nathan Reingold, "Science in mission of the Navy Department," the Civil War; the Permanent Com- Isis, 49:307-318 (Sept. 1958).

Record Group 45. --The commission's records include letters referred, reports on the projects referred, minutes, and letters received from the Secretary of the Navy and from associates who advised the commission. (A volume containing the original reports of the commission is in the records of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy; see above.)

Boards on Claims

Civil War contracts for war vessels gave rise to contractors' claims for additional compensation for alterations and extra work, delays allegedly caused by the Government, and increased costs of labor and materials when the time for completing contracts had been extended. These claims by contractors led to the organization, between 1863 and 1870, of six boards of naval officers having widely divergent instructions but all passing in one way or another on all or part of these claims.

The first board, known as the Board of Aug. 1863, was appointed on June 25, 1863, to examine and report on the claims of two companies for extra work and extra expense on several vessels. It made its report on Aug. 29 and transacted no further business.

On Oct. 7, 1863, the Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair reported to Secretary Welles on the confused condition of accounts of vessels under construction and asked that a board be appointed to examine the extent of the Government's liability in each case. Accordingly, on Oct. 16 the Secretary appointed Adm. Francis H. Gregory president of a board, known as the Gregory Board, to examine and report upon the cost of the changes made since the contracts had been awarded in the vessels of the monitor class then under construction for the Navy Department. This board met irregularly from Oct. 26, 1863, until Jan. 1865, when it took up the various contractors' accounts and prepared them for settlement. The contractors submitted their claims directly to the board without the intervention of the Navy Department. The board recommended the amounts to be paid, and the Bureau of Construction and Repair paid these amounts.

After the death of Admiral Gregory, Oct. 4, 1866, his senior assistant, Commodore Cadwalader Ringgold, assumed Gregory's duties as General Superintendent of Ironclads and as president of the board. The board continued to pass on the bills of contractors and to submit recommendations to the Navy Department until Nov. 1, 1866, when the Office of the General Superintendent of Ironclads was closed. Coincident with the closing of that Office, Commodore Ringgold was appointed president of a board to pass on a number of accounts of contractors. The two continuous boards over which Commodore Ringgold presided were considered as one board and known as the Ringgold Board. It considered some claims received directly from the contractors and others referred to it by the Navy Department. Its procedure was similar to that of the Gregory Board. The Ringgold Board submitted a complete report of its work on May 4, 1867.

On Mar. 9, 1865, the Senate passed a resolution to inquire into and determine how much the vessels of war and steam machinery contracted for by the Navy Department in 1862 and 1863 had cost the contractors over and above the contract price and allowances for extra work. Only vessels that had given satisfaction to the Department, however, were to be considered.

To carry out the inquiry Secretary Welles on May 25, 1865, appointed Commodore Thomas O. Selfridge president of a board known as the Selfridge Board, which met at the New York Navy Yard on July 5 and adjourned on Dec. 23, 1865. This board, furnished with a list of vessels that had given satisfaction to the Navy Department, received claims from contractors directly. Its report stated the excess of cost to contractors but did not determine how far the Government was responsible for any increased cost over and above the contract price and allowance for extra work.

By an act of Congress of Mar. 2, 1867 (14 Stat. 424), Secretary Welles was directed to investigate the claims of all contractors for building vessels of war and their steam machinery under contracts made after May 1, 1861, and before Jan. 1, 1864. The Secretary was to "ascertain the additional cost which was necessarily incurred by each contractor in the completion of his work by reason of any changes or alterations in the plans and specifications required, and delays in the prosecution of the work occasioned by the government, which were not provided for in the original contract." He was directed to report to Congress a tabular statement of each case, giving the name of the contractor, a description of the work, the contract price, the total increased cost of the work over the contract price, and the amount of the cost that was due to alterations or delay by the Government. On July 6, 1867, Commodore J. B. Marchand was appointed president of a board known as the Marchand Board, to gather the required information. This board met in Washington, D. C., from July 8 to Oct. 16, 1867, when it was dissolved; but it was reconvened on Nov. 26, 1867, to consider two more claims and was finally dissolved on that date. The board submitted a tabular statement of the results of its investigations, which Secretary Welles transmitted to Congress on Dec. 4, 1867.

The last claims board, known as the Boggs Board, was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy, Aug. 6, 1869, to examine the claims of two companies for expenses over the contracts to construct several harbor and river monitors. Commodore Charles S. Boggs was president of this board, which met on Aug. 17 and adjourned on Aug. 20, 1869. The board was reconvened in Nov. 1869 to consider another claim, but it was finally dissolved on Nov. 19, 1869. It recommended payment of the first two claims.

As a result of the reports and recommendations of all these boards the Navy Department paid a number of claims, some in the amounts recommended by the boards and others in part; and Congress by special acts and in appropriation acts provided for direct payment of other claims and referred still others to the U. S. Court of Claims for judgment and payment of the amounts found due. Some of these claims were not settled until years after the war.

Record Group 19.--(1) Papers relating to accounts and supplies contain wage and price data compiled from Senate reports and 20th-century reports of the Department of Labor, navy yard payrolls, and contractors' books; correspondence of 1907 regarding prices in the 1860's; diagrams and graphs concerning wages and prices; memoranda of prices consisting of documents of the Civil War period and compilations of later dates; compilations of data regarding payments in connection with changes in specifications and extra work; letters forwarding approved bills; and proposals and advertisements for the construction of vessels and for materials and supplies. These are arranged by envelope number (1-10, 42, 43, 117-118A, 601-602, 604-614 and 620).

(2) Papers relating to war vessels, consisting of correspondence between superintending constructors, inspectors, contractors, and the Navy Department at the time of construction of the vessels; compilations of data regarding costs; analyses of the claimants' evidence before boards of naval officers; and, in Court of Claims cases, bound volumes containing "correct copies" of letters, progress reports, bills, contracts, specifications, blueprints, and financial statements forwarded in response to the call of the Department of Justice. These are arranged in numbered envelopes by name of vessel (except for a few papers filed under the heading "Miscellaneous Vessels"), the class of vessel (such as light-draft monitors), or the name of the contractor (envelope nos. 21, 23, 31, 33, 35-36, 72-103, 123-541, and 703-812). Filed separately are 14 volumes of "correct copies" of documents submitted in Court of Claims cases, most of which bear envelope numbers but which are not arranged numerically.

(3) Papers relating to boards of naval officers, consisting of calculations regarding expenditures and costs submitted to or compiled by the Ringgold Board; papers relating to the establishment and organization of the Gregory and Selfridge Boards, with some related correspondence; proceedings of the Marchand Board; and a report of the Boggs Board containing information regarding its establishment, membership, and awards made. These are arranged by name of board in numbered envelopes (52-60).

(4) Papers relating to Admiral Gregory's Office of General Superintendent of Ironclads, consisting of orders to principal inspectors, correspondence with local inspectors, reports of expenditures and other accounting records, correspondence and estimates concerning the pay of employees, and correspondence concerning the administration of the office. These are arranged in numbered envelopes (105-116).

(5) Miscellaneous records, consisting of correspondence regarding devices for removing harbor obstructions, ideas for new devices, and patents; orders and correspondence regarding the assignment of inspecting engineers; records of the Port Royal, S. C., Working Party (evidently a force engaged in repairing and refitting naval vessels), consisting of letters and reports regarding costs, employees, and repairs and other needs of naval vessels; tables relating to ironclads; charters; "unsorted" and "unidentified" papers; and papers relating to a few Court of Claims cases. These are arranged in numbered envelopes (615-701), except for the Court of Claims papers, which are filed by case number.

Besides the foregoing files there are some other materials. In the early 1890's, when cases involving certain Civil War vessels were tried by the U. S. Court of Claims, several boards, each consisting of two naval officers, were appointed to aid the Department of Justice in preparing the defense. The boards made reports including correspondence, instructions to the former boards, and the results of inquiries relating to the following vessels: Ashuelot, Manayunk, Naubuc, Nauset, Squando, and Wassuc. A small lot of miscellaneous records includes the proceedings of the Marchand Board and proceedings in the U. S. Court of Claims regarding the Secor and Co. claims. Many printed volumes relating to Court of Claims cases involving naval vessels, most of which developed from Civil War contracts, embody Navy Department documentation on the construction of the vessels, as well as petitions, depositions, and evidence of the claimants, evidence and depositions for the defendant, histories of the cases, and findings of facts.

Record Group 45.--Other records of claims boards are in subject file

To carry out the inquiry Secretary Welles on May 25, 1865, appointed Commodore Thomas O. Selfridge president of a board known as the Selfridge Board, which met at the New York Navy Yard on July 5 and adjourned on Dec. 23, 1865. This board, furnished with a list of vessels that had given satisfaction to the Navy Department, received claims from contractors directly. Its report stated the excess of cost to contractors but did not determine how far the Government was responsible for any increased cost over and above the contract price and allowance for extra work.

By an act of Congress of Mar. 2, 1867 (14 Stat. 424), Secretary Welles was directed to investigate the claims of all contractors for building vessels of war and their steam machinery under contracts made after May 1, 1861, and before Jan. 1, 1864. The Secretary was to "ascertain the additional cost which was necessarily incurred by each contractor in the completion of his work by reason of any changes or alterations in the plans and specifications required, and delays in the prosecution of the work occasioned by the government, which were not provided for in the original contract." He was directed to report to Congress a tabular statement of each case, giving the name of the contractor, a description of the work, the contract price, the total increased cost of the work over the contract price, and the amount of the cost that was due to alterations or delay by the Government. On July 6, 1867, Commodore J. B. Marchand was appointed president of a board known as the Marchand Board, to gather the required information. This board met in Washington, D. C., from July 8 to Oct. 16, 1867, when it was dissolved; but it was reconvened on Nov. 26, 1867, to consider two more claims and was finally dissolved on that date. The board submitted a tabular statement of the results of its investigations, which Secretary Welles transmitted to Congress on Dec. 4, 1867.

The last claims board, known as the Boggs Board, was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy, Aug. 6, 1869, to examine the claims of two companies for expenses over the contracts to construct several harbor and river monitors. Commodore Charles S. Boggs was president of this board, which met on Aug. 17 and adjourned on Aug. 20, 1869. The board was reconvened in Nov. 1869 to consider another claim, but it was finally dissolved on Nov. 19, 1869. It recommended payment of the first two claims.

As a result of the reports and recommendations of all these boards the Navy Department paid a number of claims, some in the amounts recommended by the boards and others in part; and Congress by special acts and in appropriation acts provided for direct payment of other claims and referred still others to the U. S. Court of Claims for judgment and payment of the amounts found due. Some of these claims were not settled until years after the war.

Record Group 19.--(1) Papers relating to accounts and supplies contain wage and price data compiled from Senate reports and 20th-century reports of the Department of Labor, navy yard payrolls, and contractors' books; correspondence of 1907 regarding prices in the 1860's; diagrams and graphs concerning wages and prices; memoranda of prices consisting of documents of the Civil War period and compilations of later dates; compilations of data regarding payments in connection with changes in specifications and extra work; letters forwarding approved bills; and proposals and advertisements for the construction of vessels and for materials and supplies. These are arranged by envelope number (1-10, 42, 43, 117-118A, 601-602, 604-614 and 620).

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