naval force at command." Additionally, Grant requested that Congress give more funding for the completion of the five modernized warships that Robeson had ordered in 1874. Grant stated that the high cost of building new ships was caused by the use of steam power machinery. Grant commented on Robeson's annual report on the condition of the U.S. Navy: "The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows that branch of the service to be in condition as effective as it is possible to keep it with the means and authority given the Department. It is, of course, not possible to rival the costly and progressive establishments of great European powers with the old material of our Navy, to which no increase has been authorized since the war, except the eight small cruisers built to supply the place of others which had gone to decay. Yet the most has been done that was possible with the means at command; and by substantially rebuilding some of our old ships with durable material and completely repairing and refitting our monitor fleet the Navy has been gradually so brought up that, though it does not maintain its relative position among the progressive navies of the world, it is now in a condition more powerful and effective than it ever has been in time of peace." Farewell speech (1877) On March 14, 1877, two days after his term of office ended, Robeson gave a farewell speech to his former subordinate chiefs and clerks at the Naval Department at his luxurious K Street house in Washington D.C. He thanked them for showing up and said that he was leaving office with relief and regret. He said that workers in his Naval Department had served faithfully and that he himself had faithfully and steadily advanced the Naval Department. Robeson admitted he had made mistakes during his long tenure as Secretary of the Navy. He said he had the courage not to deny the rights of any man due to his class. Legal career Camden County Robeson left the U.S. Navy Secretary office in March 1877. Having failed in the U.S. Senate bid, Robeson returned to his law practice in Camden County. Hunter murder trial Although Robeson previously served as a state prosecutor, he served on the defense team of Benjamin F. Hunter, who was put on trial for the murder of John M. Armstrong. Hunter had loaned