"In the years preceding the American Civil War, twelve successor publications were promulgated under a number of titles by the President, the Navy Department and the Secretary of the Navy.A decision by the Attorney General that the last of the pre-Civil War issuances was invalid led to the inclusion in the 1862 naval appropriations bill of a provision that "the orders, regulations, and instructions heretofore issued by the Secretary of the Navy be, and they are hereby, recognized as the regulations of the Navy Department, subject, however, to such alterations as the Secretary of the Navy may adopt, with the approbation of the President of the United States."