Stephen Bleecker Luce

Background

Stephen Bleecker Luce was born on March 25, 1827 in Albany, New York, United States, the son of Vinal and Charlotte (Bleecker) Luce, who traced their ancestry back to English and Dutch colonists. His paternal ancestor, Henry Luce, is said to have settled on Martha's Vineyard in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. When Stephen was about eight years old the family moved to Washington, D. C.

Education

Luce was instructed at the Naval School in Philadelphia until the newly instituted United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland was opened in 1845. He graduated from the Academy in 1848.

Career

On October 19, 1841, at the age of fourteen, Luce was appointed a midshipman as from the state of New York. He learned the rudiments of seamanship on the North Carolina, the Congress, and the Columbus. In 1849 he was promoted to the rank of passed midshipman. He was ordered for a naval service on the Vandalia and cruised in the Pacific until October 1852.

After shore duty at Washington, during which he assisted in astronomical work, he joined the Vixen, May 1853, and the following year was ordered to the Coast Survey. Promoted to master and lieutenant in 1855, he was on the Jamestown until February 1860, cruising for much of the time along the Mosquito Coast.

In March he was assigned to the Naval Academy as assistant to the commandant. Shortly before the firing on Fort Sumter, Luce was detailed to the Wabash as a watch officer, but his cruise was cut short by his detachment, at the urgent request of the superintendent of the Naval Academy, to become head of its department of seamanship. The Naval Academy, at that time, was at Newport, Rhode Island, having been moved there because of the proximity of Annapolis to the war zone. In 1862 Luce was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander.

His tour of duty at the Academy marks the beginning of work which led to the publication of his book, Seamanship (1863). This supplied a great lack in text-books and became the standard treatise on the subject, passing through many editions. In October 1863 he was ordered to command the monitor Nantucket; later he took over command of the Pontiac; and in 1865, he was ordered to cooperate with General Sherman in the capture of Charleston. He next became commandant of midshipmen at Annapolis under the leadership of Admiral Porter, and on July 25, 1866, was promoted to the grade of commander. In 1869 he was detached, and until 1884 he was with the European Squadron (1869 - 1872), on shore duty (1872 - 1875), in command of the flag ship Hartford (1875 - 1877), of the training ship, Minnesota (1877 - 1881), and of all apprentice ships (1881 - 1884).

In the years following the Civil War, when the navy was in a deplorable condition, he believed in its future, and, determined, persistent, and unselfish, did as much perhaps as any one person to upbuild it. While his activities were varied, he directed his energies principally to raising the efficiency of the personnel. In 1873 he read a paper at the Naval Academy, entitled, "The Meaning of Our Navy and Merchant Marine, " which appeared as the first paper in the initial number of the United States Naval Institute Proceedings. In this and subsequent publications he plead for a better training of seamen, both for the navy and for the merchant marine. Many of his suggestions were later adopted. During the periods when he was in command of training ships he put into operation numerous original methods, the success of which proved their value. Appreciating as did few naval men of his day the great importance of tactics and strategy, he labored, in the face of no little opposition, to secure better training facilities for officers. It was his own practice, when opportunity offered, to put ships through the most intense and exacting tactical maneuvers, often to the extreme annoyance of their officers. Convinced of the need of officers being versed in naval methods he long advocated, though at first meeting not only indifference but ridicule, the establishment of an institution where they might pursue advanced studies. The army had schools for this purpose, but the navy's need of them had not been recognized.

Finally, however, on May 30, 1884, Secretary Chandler appointed a board to make a report on the whole proposition of "post graduate" work for naval officers. Its report resulted in a general order dated October 6, 1884, establishing the Naval War College, with Luce, who had received the rank of commodore November 25, 1881, as the first president. The College was opened in Newport, Rhode Island, and it was not long before Luce had secured as lecturer on tactics and naval history Captain A. T. Mahan, who also became a molding influence in the development of the institution.

At first the college received poor support, both financially and professionally. Time proved its value, however, and eventually, together with technical war-game studies, it provided officers with instruction in history, foreign policy, international law, and higher command. In 1886 Luce was commissioned rear admiral and three years later was retired. He was the naval editor of Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia and of Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary. He also compiled a book of naval songs. He was a prolific writer, most of his articles appearing in the Naval Institute Proceedings and the North American Review. Professional reports of boards on which he served appeared in the reports of the Secretary of the Navy. From 1901 to 1910 he was on special duty at the War College.

Achievements

• Luce distinguished himself for his military service in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was also well known as the founder of the Naval War College. The value of what he did for the education of officers was incalculable; as Admiral Fiske succinctly stated in the Naval Institute Proceedings he "taught the navy to think. " The building at the Naval Academy housing the department of seamanship was named in his honor. Similar naval institutions in England, Japan, Germany, and France were patterned after Luce's ideas.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Text-book Of Seamanship: The Equipping And Handling Of Vessels Under Sail Or Steam. For The Use Of The United States Naval Academy

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Instruction for Naval Light Artillery: Afloat and Ashore

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: United States of America

    (Providence, Museum Of The Rhode Island School Of Design, ...)

  • Seamanship: Compiled From Various Authorities Part 1 (1866)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Seamanship: Compiled From Various Authorities Part 2 (1866)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • History of the Participation of the U.S. in the Columbian Historical Exposition at Madrid ......

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The writings of Stephen B. Luce (Historical monograph series)

    (Military History)

Personality

Luce was a "lean, wiry man of medium height, with thin features between iron gray sidewhiskers, a prominent hawk-like nose, thin lips and determined chin, and piercing gray eyes. " He was good-humored, witty, shrewd, and, above all, inspiring.

Connections

On December 7, 1854, Luce married Eliza Henley, a grandniece of Martha Washington. They had one son and two daughters.

Father:

Vinal Luce

Mother:

Charlotte (Bleecker) Luce

Spouse:

Eliza Henley

References

• Life and letters of Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce,: U.S. Navy, founder of the Naval War College,
• In Memoriam, Stephen Bleecker Luce
• Politics, Strategy, and American Diplomacy: Studies in Foreign Policy, 1873-1917.