A Midshipman's Narrative

A Midshipmans Narrative" is an entertaining look at the earliest days of the Navys midshipmans life, when Annapolis served as Ft. Severn. The Naval School was established in 1845, and Gift enrolled there three years later.

The author writes of his travel to the newly formed naval academy at Annapolis. He describes seeing a railroad in operation, gas lights and the telegraph, all for the first time. Gift reports that in those early days, one who was appointed to the Naval Academy would travel to Annapolis at his own expense. If, after a physical exam and testing of basic academic achievement, the candidate was found to be in good health and proficient in language and math skills, he would be given a warrant to pay expenses incurred. If he failed in the exams, he reports that he was "turned adrift," with no payment. He recalls, "This caused me many hours of thoughtful anxiety." "A Midshipman's Narrative" is an entertaining look at the earliest days of the Navy's midshipman's life, when Annapolis was little changed from the days when it served as Ft. Severn. The Naval School was established without Congressional funding, at Fort Severn in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 10, 1845. When Gift arrived three years and a few months later, the school was not yet officially the United States Naval Academy. Volunteers at the Napa County Historical Society discovered Gift's narrative in old copies of the Napa County Recorder of which Gift was editor and collected the author's articles. CDR John Holt III, (Ret), a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, found illustrations of some of the ships mentioned in the book and offers some additional information in his foreword about Gift and his life.