Commondore Bridge was a U S Naval officer who worked in the Bureau of Provisions. His former college roommate, President Pierce, appointed him to this position. He held this position during the Civil War. He also had the distinction of being the first man in the Navy to employ the idea of comprehensive fleet supply. Under his direction, the systematic supply of Navy vessels on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts during the Civil War was established and carried out with conspicuous success. Bridge wrote The Journal of an African Cruiser, which was edited by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Sketches contained in this book cover the Canaries, The Cape of De Verds, Liberia, Madiera, Sierra Leone, and other locations on the West coast of Africa.