(CIVIL WAR) WELLES GIDEON Letter Signed as Secretary of the

ASSIGNING COMMANDER FOR THE BLOCKADE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO (CIVIL WAR.) WELLES, GIDEON. Letter Signed, as Secretary of the Navy, to Commodore William Mervine, ordering him to take command of the steam frigate Colorado [flagship of the Gulf Blockading Squadron]. 1 page, 4to, ruled paper; faint scattered staining, horizontal folds, docketing on verso. "Navy Department" [Washington], 6 May 1861