SECRETARY'S REPORT 21 



graver at the Eome Mint and one of the foremost medal engravers in 

 the world, donated a select group of his own medals exemplifying var- 

 ious stages in his artistic evolution, A modem silver medal of excep- 

 tional artistic merit, issued by the Maison Carree of Nimes in 1961, 

 was given by the Honorable Claiborne Pell, Senator from Rhode 

 Island. 



Armed Forces history. — A unique 1842 pattern musket and set of 

 Ordnance Department inspectors' verifying gauges were received in 

 the division of military history from William H. Guthman. A rare 

 13-inch bomb fired by the British fleet at the time of its attack on 

 Alexandria in 1814 was received from the Department of the Army. 

 Through the courtesy of Adm. Sir John Moore, the Victoria Cross 

 and associated service medals awarded Private Jolm McGovern for 

 gallantry during the Indian Mutiny were deposited as a long-term 

 loan from the Royal United Service Institution. Also received on 

 loan, from David N. Rust, was a rare cavalry saber made by Jolm 

 Potter and formerly owned by Col. George Baylor, aide-de-camp to 

 George Washington. 



A significant addition to the Museum's extensive flag collections 

 is the 48-star national ensign that served as the official flag of the 1960- 

 61 Antarctic Expedition on its traverse from Byrd Station to the 

 South Pole, presented by Rear Adm. David M. Tyree through Rear 

 Adm. William Rea Furlong. 



An important collection of objects recovered from Bermuda ship- 

 wreck sites dating from about 1621 to 1914 was added to the collec- 

 tions through the field work of head curator JMendel L. Peterson, 

 in cooperation with E. B. Tucker and the Government of Bermuda. 



The year's most important accession in the division of naval history 

 is the Continental gundelo Philadelphia. The oldest major American 

 naval relic of the Revolutionary War, the gmidelo reached final moor- 

 ings early in December 1961, when it was moved into the new Museum 

 of History and Teclmology. A shot-scarred survivor of Benedict 

 Arnold's gallant flotilla that opposed superior British invasion forces 

 on Lake Champlain, this flat-bottomed gunboat was sunk at the Battle 

 of Valcour Island on October 11, 1776. For nearly 159 years the 

 Philadelphia lay on the muddy bottom of Valcour Bay, before it was 

 located and raised intact in 1935 through the skillful efforts of Col. 

 Lorenzo F. Hagglund, of New York, who donated the historic war- 

 ship. Over 700 objects were recovered from the 54-foot gundelo, in- 

 cluding her entire main battery of 9" and 12-pound guns, with their 

 original carriages, as well as numerous other items of ship's equipage 

 and the crew's gear. Brought to Washington with the generous as- 

 sistance of the United States Coast Guard and the United States Navy, 

 the oaken-hulled Philadelphia will shortly enter another episode in 



