108 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



navy or placed upon what was to be called the "re- 

 served list" and receive either leave of absence pay or 

 furlough pay, according to the degree of their disability ; 

 they were, moreover, to be ineligible for further promo- 

 tion, and subject at all times to the Navy Department 

 for duty. 



The members of this board were Captains William B. 

 Shubrick, Matthew C. Perry, Charles S. McCauley, 

 C. K. Stribling, and Abraham Bigelow; Commanders 

 G. J. Pendergrast, Franklin Buchanan, Samuel F. Du 

 Pont, and Andrew H. Foote; and Lieutenants John S. 

 Missroon, Richard L. Page, Sylvanus W. Godon, William 

 L. Maury, and James S. Biddle. The board met on the 

 20th of June, and continued its sessions daily, except 

 for Sundays and the 4th of July, until it finished its work 

 on July 25, and the following day it reported the results 

 of its deliberations. Its judgment was that seventy-one 

 officers should be placed on the "reserved on leave of 

 absence pay" list, and eighty-one on the "reserved on 

 furlough pay" list; while forty-nine were recommended 

 to be "dropped from the navy". 



Official announcement of these results was not made 

 until some weeks later, and Maury did not receive 

 notice from the Secretary of the Navy until September 

 17, 1855 that his name had been placed on the "reserved 

 on leave of absence pay" list. The Secretary's letter, 

 however, informed him that he was not detached from 

 the Naval Observatory, but was to continue on his pres- 

 ent duty. 



To this letter Maury at once replied, "This announce- 

 ment has taken me by surprise. I have been in the 

 navy upwards of thirty years. During this time I have 

 aimed in every station to which I have been called to 



