Letter signed as C.S.N Flag Officer. Instructs him to carry dispatches between London, Paris, Liverpool and Richmond. "In view of the altered condition of our Naval affairs in this Country," Maury has been selected to obtain dispatches from "Messrs. Slidell & McRae in Paris, Mr. Mason in London and Commander Bulloch in Liverpool" and bring them back to the Confederacy. He is to be versed in all necessary content of the dispatches in case it becomes necessary to destroy them en route. An autograph note signed by Confederate paymaster Felix Senac, noting that he has paid traveling expenses to Maury, appears at the bottom of page 2. Samuel Barron, former commodore in the U.S. Navy, was in Paris as "Flag Officer" commanding Confederate States Naval Forces in Europe. In that role, he helped coordinate the efforts of Confederate naval agents and blockade runners abroad.