Chapter XXIX: Section 2: And be it further resolved, That the President (p. 408)

of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to
be struck, which shall fitly embody an attestation of the
nation's gratitude for this gift; which medal shall be forwarded
to Cornelius Vanderbilt, a copy of it being made and deposited
for preservation in the library of Congress.

Approved January 28, 1864.

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_The Secretary of State to Cornelius Vanderbilt._

To Department of State,
CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, Esq., Washington, April 17, 1866.
New York.

Sir: I have to inform you that the Congress of the United States,
by a resolution of the 28th of January, 1864, an attested copy of
which is herewith sent, offered you their thanks for your
generous gift to the nation during the last war, of the steamer
"Vanderbilt," and requested the President to cause a gold medal
to be struck and forwarded to you, commemorative of that gift. It
is now my pleasing duty to forward the medal to you accordingly.
I avail myself of the occasion to express a hope that it may
prove acceptable, and also to congratulate you upon the proud
consciousness, which you cannot fail to cherish, of having, by
the act referred to, rendered your country a signal service at a
critical period in its history.

I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
William H. SEWARD.

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_Cornelius Vanderbilt to the Secretary of State._

To the Honorable
William H. SEWARD, New York, May 3rd, 1866.
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

Sir: Your communication of the 17th of April ult., informing me
that the Congress of the United States had, by their resolution
of the 28th of January, 1864, tendered to me their thanks for the
gift of the steamer "Vanderbilt," and requested the President to
cause a gold medal to be struck and forwarded to me in
commemoration of the gift, has been placed in my hands.

I have also received the medal, together with an attested copy of
the resolution in compliance with which you have caused it to be
transmitted.

You have been pleased to express the hope that the medal would be
acceptable to me, with your congratulations for the consciousness
which you consider I cannot fail to cherish of having, by the act
which its presentation commemorates, rendered a service to my
country at a critical period in its history.

Permit me, Sir, to return my acknowledgment for this (p. 409)
national recognition of the act referred to, and to express the
satisfaction with which I have received this generous token of
remembrance. It may not be inappropriate for me to refer to the
transaction which gave rise to the resolve of Congress which your
Department has now so gracefully executed.

About the year 1856, I formed the design and commenced the work
of a steamship for the purpose of demonstrating that individual
enterprise could, without the aid of governmental encouragement,
place upon the ocean steamships equal at least in magnitude,
power and speed, to any which had been constructed under
governmental patronage and protection in any part of the world.
An expenditure of about one million of dollars produced the
steamship "Vanderbilt," which carried the flag of our country
across the sea in a lesser space of time than any national banner
had been hitherto borne.

On the 16th of March, 1862, I received at my residence in this
city a letter from the War Department enquiring if I would
undertake to prevent the Confederate steamer "Merrimac" from
coming out of the harbor of Norfolk, and urging my immediate
attention, as the danger was most imminent and "there was no time
to be lost." I answered by telegraph that I would go to
Washington the next day. On the morning of the 17th of March I
called at the War Department, where I saw for the first time Mr.
Stanton, the Secretary of War. He requested me to accompany him
to the executive mansion, where I was introduced to Mr. Lincoln,
to whom I was then personally a stranger. The President asked me
if I thought I could, with the aid of my steamships, do anything
to prevent the "Merrimac" from getting out of Hampton Roads. I
replied to him that it was my opinion that if the steamship
"Vanderbilt" was there properly manned, the "Merrimac" would not
venture to come out, or if she did, the chances were ten to one
that the "Vanderbilt" would sink and destroy her. Mr. Lincoln
asked me to name the sum of money for which I would undertake the
service; I replied to him that nothing would induce me to become
a speculator upon the necessities of the government, and that I
would not mention a sum as the value of her charter, but that I
would make a gift of her to the government for the service
proposed. The President replied, "I accept her." I left him
promising that the "Vanderbilt" should be at Fortress Monroe
properly equipped and officered under my direction within three
or four days at the farthest, and she was there within the time.
The requisite instrument of transfer was subsequently executed by
me and transmitted to the War Department.

The resolution of Congress of which you have informed me truly
states that I have in no manner sought requital for the gift, and
the recognition of it, which in the discharge of your official
duty you have given me, was altogether unsolicited. I shall
proudly preserve the splendid token of appreciation which you
have transmitted to me, and it is my hope that those who come
after me, as they read the inscriptions of the medal and are
reminded of the event in their father's life which caused it to
be struck, will inflexibly resolve that should our Government be
again imperilled, no pecuniary sacrifice is too large to make in
its behalf, and no inducement sufficiently great to attempt to
profit by its necessities.

I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
C. VANDERBILT.

No. 75. (p. 410) PLATE LXXV.

_April 16, 1865--March 4, 1869._

Andrew Johnson, President of the United States 1865. [Rx]. Peace.

PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON.

[_Seventeenth President of the United States of America._]

ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 1865. Undraped bust of President Johnson, facing the right PAQUET, F. (_fecit_).

America is giving her hand to an Indian chief, before a mausoleum, upon which, in a crown of laurel, is the word PEACE. The mausoleum is surmounted by a small undraped bust of Washington, facing the right; to the left, at the feet of the Indian, are the attributes of savage life, and behind him a buffalo hunt; to the right, at the feet of America, are the emblems of civilization, and behind her a railway train. PAQUET. F. (_fecit_).

ANDREW JOHNSON was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808. He settled in Greenville, Tennessee, 1826; was a member of the State Legislature, 1835 and 1839; State senator, 1841; member of Congress, 1843-1853; governor of Tennessee, 1853-1857; and United States senator, 1857-1863. He remained true to the Union when his State seceded, and was appointed military-governor of Tennessee, 1864; became vice-president of the United States, March 4, 1865; President, after the assassination of President Lincoln, April 16, 1865-1869. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate of the United States in 1870, and for Congress in 1871; but was elected to the Senate in 1875. He died July 31, 1875, near Elizabethtown, Carter County, Tennessee.

No. 76. (p. 411) PLATE LXXVI.

_December, 1853._

By Joint resolution of Congress to the rescuers of the passengers
officers and men of steamship San Francisco, etc. [Rx]. July 26
1866.

WRECK OF THE STEAMSHIP SAN FRANCISCO.

[_Testimonial of National Gratitude._]

BY JOINT RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS TO THE RESCUERS OF THE PASSENGERS OFFICERS AND MEN OF STEAMSHIP SAN FRANCISCO WRECKED DEC. (_December_) 1853. TESTIMONIAL OF NATIONAL GRATITUDE FOR HIS GALLANT CONDUCT. America, personified as a female, seated, and with the eagle, fasces, and shield at her left, crowns with a wreath of laurel a sailor, who is kneeling before her; to the right, the United States capitol; to the left, a ship at anchor. PAQUET. F. (_fecit_).

Thirty-nine stars; a man and a woman on a raft at sea; a ship coming to their rescue. On the raft, PAQUET. F. (_fecit_). Exergue: JULY 26 1866--An anchor and a branch of laurel.[120]

[Footnote 120: See INTRODUCTION, page ix.]

As this medal was not voted by Congress until 1866, it is placed here according to the chronological order adopted.

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ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. (p. 412)

_Resolutions of Congress Voting Medals to Captains Creighton, Low, and Stouffer._

_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_: SECTION 1. That
the President of the United States be requested to procure three
valuable gold medals with suitable devices, one to be presented
to Captain Creighton, of the ship Three Bells, of Glasgow; one to
Captain Low, of the bark Kilby, of Boston; and one to Captain
Stouffer, of the ship Antar(c)tic, as testimonials of national
gratitude for their gallant conduct in rescuing about five
hundred Americans from the wreck of the steamship San Francisco;
and that the cost of the same be paid for out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SECTION 2. _And be it further resolved_, That the sum of seven
thousand five hundred dollars each is hereby appropriated, out of
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the
above named captains respectively, as a reward of their humanity
and heroism in the rescue of the survivors of the said wreck, and
in case either of the said captains may have died, then the
amount hereby appropriated shall be paid to the widow of said
deceased captain respectively; if no widow surviving, then to the
respective child or children of such deceased captain; and in the
event of there being no child or children of said deceased
captain surviving, then the amount hereby appropriated shall be
paid first, to the father, or if the father be not living, then
to the mother of such deceased captain respectively.