Gustavus Vasa Fox was born in Saugus, Massachusetts, on 13 June 1821. He became a U.S. Navy midshipman in January 1838, beginning his seagoing career in USS Cyane. During the next decade and a half, Fox had seen wide-ranging service at sea and with the U.S. Coast Survey, but the slow promotions typical in those days prevented his advancement to the rank of Lieutenant until 1852. For much of the first half of the 1850s he was on leave, serving as an officer on commercial steamships, and in 1856 resigned from the Navy to enter private business. Fox managed a Massachusetts textile mill until mid-1860. In March 1861, after South Carolina had left the Union and tried to isolate Fort Sumter, he offered his services to newly-inaugurated President Abraham Lincoln. Though his efforts to relieve Fort Sumter were not successful, Fox displayed such energy and ability that he was appointed Chief Clerk of the Navy Department in May 1861. At the beginning of August he became the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
During the four long years of the Civil War, and for a year and a half after the end of the conflict, Fox played an extremely important role in the management of the Navy. Described by one authority as the "de facto chief of naval operations", he maintained close relations with squadron commanders and other senior officers and planned many of the Navy's campaigns against the Confederacy. He was also a forceful advocate of new technologies, notably including the "monitor" type of armored warships.
In mid-1866, in a demonstration of seagoing abilities of low-freeboard armored turret ships, Assistant Secretary Fox crossed the Atlantic in the large monitor Miantonomoh. During this trip he visited Russia and several other northern European nations, making diplomatic calls and collecting information on foreign Naval technological advances. Resigning from the Navy Department soon after the end of his European travels, Fox reentered the business world, ultimately returning to textile manufacturing in Massachusetts. Gustavus V. Fox retired in the later 1870s and died in New York City on 29 October 1883.
The U.S. Navy has named three ships in honor of Gustavus V. Fox, including: USS Fox (Torpedo Boat # 13); USS Fox (DD-234); and USS Fox (DLG-33, later CG-33).
This page features all the views we have concerning Gustavus V. Fox, who was Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1861-1866.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 61175 Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1866 19th Century print. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 79KB; 620 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 91990 Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1866 Print published by C.D. Fredricks & Company, New York, circa 1861-1865. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 74KB; 570 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 91991 Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1866 Print published by C.D. Fredricks & Company, New York, circa 1861-1865. It was inscribed by Fox to Rear Admiral William B. Shubrick in 1865. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 85KB; 600 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 66623 Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1866 19th Century engraved portrait. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 52KB; 530 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 64904 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox Photograph published on a carte de visite at St. Petersburg, Russia. It was probably taken when Fox visited there in August 1866. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 46KB; 465 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 49410 Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1866 Engraved portrait, published during the 19th Century. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 167KB; 595 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 49409 Gustavus V. Fox Photograph by Metcalf & Welldon, 24 Temple Place, Boston, Massachusetts. Though dated 13 November 1879, this view appears to have been taken much earlier, perhaps during Fox' service as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1861-1866. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 59KB; 415 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 44519-KN (Color) Union Leaders of the Civil War Painting by Creative Arts Studio, prepared for use in an official film on Naval history, circa the early 1960s. It depicts an imaginary meeting of some of the Union's most important leaders. President Abraham Lincoln is standing, at right, holding a map of the war zone. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant (left) and Secretary of State William H. Seward (right) are seated in the foreground. On the other side of the table, at left, are (from left to right): General Winfield Scott; Secretary of War Simon Cameron; Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox; and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 114KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 50747 Asssistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox (6th from left, 2nd row) With Russian officers and officers of USS Miantonomoh and USS Augusta, during his visit to Europe in 1866. Others identified in this group are: Captain Alexander Murray, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Augusta (3rd from left, 2nd row); and Commander John C. Beaumont, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Miantonomoh (7th from left, 2nd row). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 53392 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox (top); Commander Alexander Murray, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Augusta (lower left); and Commander John C. Beaumont, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Miantonomoh (lower right) Photographs published as a carte de visite at St. Petersburg, Russia. Probably taken during the August 1866 visit there by Assistant Secretary Fox accompanied by USS Augusta and USS Miantonomoh. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 77KB; 440 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 76538 Banquet in Moscow, Russia, 13 (25) August 1866 Given by the Society of the City of Moscow. Prince Sherbatoff is shown speaking, in front of a portrait of Czar Alexander II, with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox seated on his right. Print, after a design by A.C. Savrassoff, published in Moscow, circa 1866. It was presented to Mr. Fox on 3 April 1868 by Jeremiah Curtin, who was Secretary of the American Legation in Russia in 1866. The inscription below the print states that the banquet was given for a delegation of the Congress of the United States. Photo # NH 76539 and Photo # NH 76540 are views of labels affixed to the original print. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 162KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 29 March 2003
Link added 21 April 2003