1858 SENATOR RENSHAW NJ USS POWHATAN CHINESE PIRATES BATTLE PENS REPORT DOCUMENT

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HERE’S A PIECE OF AMERICAN NAVAL HISTORY: AN 1858 REPORT OF UNITED STATES SENATOR JOHN RENSHAW THOMSON FROM NEW JERSEY PRAYING FOR AN INCREASE OF PENSION FOR JEREMIAH PENDERGAST WHO WAS DISABLED IN THE LINE OF HIS MILITARY DUTY WHILE ON BOARD THE USS STEAMER POWHATAN ON AUG. 4, 1855 – ON THIS DAY THE USS POWHATAN ENGAGED IN ITS NOTED BATTLE WITH CHINESE PIRATES

During August 1855, Powhatan accompanied HMS Rattler in a successful battle against Chinese pirates off Kowloon, and reached the U.S. on 14 February 1856 with the new treaty.

THE DOCUMENT MEASURES 5½” x 9” AND IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION THE USS POWHATAN The first USS Powhatan was a sidewheel steam frigate in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Powhatan, a Native American chief of eastern Virginia. She was one of the last, and largest, of the United States Navy's paddle frigates. Powhatan's keel was laid on 6 August 1847 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, then Gosport Shipyard.