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Gideon Welles
Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War
Companies across Connecticut helped keep the Union navy afloat while sea-savvy leaders and sailors from the state kept it in fighting form.
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Gideon Welles, US Secretary of the Navy and Lincoln’s “Neptune”
Gideon Welles was the Secretary of the United States Navy from 1861 to 1869 and a cabinet member during the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.
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Mystic-built USS Galena Part of Plan to Strengthen Union Navy
This 950-ton, steam-propelled gunboat took fire from critics and Confederates during the Civil War.
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Cornelius Bushnell and His Ironclad Ship
Cornelius Scranton Bushnell was a 19th-century Connecticut businessman and shipbuilder whose successfully lobbied on behalf of a local railroad enterprise.
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Gideon Welles Appointed Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy – Today in History: March 7
On March 7, 1861 Gideon Welles was officially appointed into Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet as Secretary of the Navy.
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Gideon Welles’s Role in Lincoln’s Cabinet
Earning the trust of Abraham Lincoln, despite reservations from many in Lincoln’s cabinet, Gideon Welles navigated the Union navy through the Civil War. He did this largely through expanding the navy and investing in new technology, such as ironclad ships.
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