On the same day, I received the following acceptance of my resignation:—
Navy Department, Feb. 15, 1861.
Sir:—Your resignation as a Commander in the Navy of the United States, tendered in your letter of this date, is hereby accepted.
I am respectfully your obedient servant,
I. Toucey.
Raphael Semmes, Esq., late Commander
U. S. Navy, Washington.
A few days previously to my resignation, by the death of a lamented member of the Light-House Board, I had been promoted from the Secretaryship, to a Membership of that Board, and it now became necessary for me to inform the Board officially, of my being no longer a member of it, which I did in the following communication:—
Washington, D. C., Feb. 16, 1861.
Sir:—I have the honor to inform you, that I have resigned my commission, as a Commander in the Navy of the United States, and that, as a consequence, I am no longer a member of the Light-House Board. In severing thus my connection with the Board, at which I have had the honor to hold a seat, since the 17th of November, 1858, I desire to say to the members, individually, and collectively, that I shall carry with me to my home in the South, a grateful recollection of the amenities, and courtesies which have characterized, on their part, our official intercourse.
I am very respectfully your obedient servant,
Raphael Semmes.
Commander T. A. Jenkins, U. S. N.,
Secretary Light-House Board, Washington.