Reduction of the Mississippi Squadron

JUNE 2ND, 1865:  Assistant secretary of the Navy Fox ordered the Mississippi squadron reduced to 15 ships "with all possible dispatch."  In his letter to rear Admiral S.P. Lee of the Mississippi Squadron, Fox concluded:  "Economize in the use of coal and give directions to all vessels to keep steam down, except in an emergency...."

With the war completed, a number of similar steps were taken to cut expenditures to a  minimum and reduce drastically what had become during the years of conflict the strongest Navy afloat.

--Old B-R'er