Ironclad captaIns

of the cIvIl War

also by Myron J. sMIth, Jr., and froM Mcfarland

Joseph Brown and His Civil War Ironclads:

The USS chillicothe, Indianola and tuscumbia (2017)

Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters:

956 Confederate and Union Naval
and Military Personnel, Contractors, Politicians,
Officials, Steamboat Pilots and Others (2015)

The Fight for the Yazoo, August 1862–July 1864: Swamps,

Forts and Fleets on Vicksburg’s Northern Flank (2012)

The CSS arkansas:

A Confederate Ironclad on Western Waters (2011)

Tinclads in the Civil War: Union Light-Draught Gunboat

Operations on Western Waters, 1862–1865 (2010)

The USS carondelet:

A Civil War Ironclad on Western Waters (2010)

The Timberclads in the Civil War: The lexington, conestoga

and tyler on the Western Waters (2008; paperback 2013)

Le Roy Fitch: The Civil War Career of a Union River

Gunboat Commander (2007; paperback 2014)

Compiled by Myron J. smith, Jr.

The Baseball Bibliography, 2d ed. (2006)
Ironclad captaIns
of the cIvIl War
Myron J. smith, Jr.
Foreword by Mark f. Jenkins

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Jefferson, North Carolina
 ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-6636-5
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3129-5

lIbrary of congress cataloguIng-In-publIcatIon data

brItIsh lIbrary cataloguIng data are avaIlable

© 2018 Myron J. smith, Jr. all rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

front cover: view on the deck of the uss Monitor looking forward from the
starboard side on the James river in virginia on July 9, 1862 (library of congress)

printed in the united states of america

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
 In memory of
susan b. ekey
1945–2017
a good and gentle person
 acknowledgments

What I am able to offer here would not have been possible without the
help of personnel at a number of libraries and archives who kindly provided
insight and access to resources during the research and writing stages of this
outing. among them were the folks manning the libraries and collections of
the u.s. navy department; library of congress; national archives; Mariners
Museum; emory university; university of tennessee; Mississippi department
of archives and history; university of southern Mississippi; Missouri his-
torical society; new york public library; new york historical society; uni-
versity of arkansas; university of north carolina at chapel hill; duke
university; east tennessee state university; Kentucky historical society; u.s.
army historical center; free library of philadelphia; vicksburg national
Military park; louisiana state university; tennessee state library and
archives; Illinois state library; Indiana historical society; chicago historical
society; ohio historical society; ohio state university; greeneville-greene
county public library; and tusculum university.
for their insights and suggestions in this and earlier outings, I would
also like to thank and remember those who offered comments regarding the
biographees on the Civil War Navies Message Board. these include alan doyle,
tom ezell, henry e. Whittle, ed cotham, george Wright, the late terry foe-
nander, shawn clark, david adams, gary Matthews, and terry g. scriber.
since Mark f. Jenkins took over the naval forum subdivision a few years
ago, the Civil War Talk Forum has also become quite helpful.
a special tip of the hat goes to two colleagues who have been especially
helpful. their interest and assistance has tremendously aided this project and
its previous biographical inspiration: david tschiggfrie, editor, S&D Reflector,
and david Meagher, historian and naval architect.
finally, I am particularly grateful to my longtime friend and henry
Walke aficionado, Mark f. Jenkins, for his insights and generous foreword.

vi
 table of contents

acknowledgments vi
foreword by Mark f. Jenkins 1
Introduction 3
abbreviations 11

the captaIns a–Z 13

appendix: register of Ironclad captains 229

bibliography 233
Index 247

vii
This page intentionally left blank
 foreword
by Mark f. Jenkins
the ironclads of the american civil War
look like no other vessels. they are almost
unmistakable, and the shapes of the Monitor
and the Virginia (formerly the Merrimack)
are familiar to many. Indeed, a great part of
the fascination with these vessels must come
from their outlandish appearance. they were
like nothing that had come before, and naval
architecture evolved so quickly in the latter
part of the 19th century that even their tech-
nological descendants soon looked very dif-
ferent. While few people would call them
beautiful, most would agree that they cer-
tainly are intriguing.
perhaps this instant attraction to the ships
serves to draw attention away from the
human element. faced with armor plates, big
guns, and rotating turrets, the viewer can
easily forget the gunners, engineers, and offi-
cers operating the machinery and steering
the vessel’s course. but in many ways, these
men were at least as interesting as the strange
new ships they served aboard. they had to
adapt to the rapidly changing technology in
the midst of a shooting war, and they had to
do it without a guidebook, as it was new to
all. even more striking, not all of the tech-
nologies were evolving at the same rate. the
guns could shoot farther than traditional
methods of aiming could effectively control;
and the lack of masts on many ironclads
hampered ship-to-ship communications,
which were still usually conducted with sig-
1
nal flags. In at least one instance, a monitor’s
crew had to resort to a chalkboard to com-
municate with the steamship towing their
ironclad. When a speaking tube broke down
during the battle of hampton roads on
March 9, 1862, Monitor skipper lieutenant
John l. Worden had to resort to having his
paymaster run verbal messages back and
forth between the pilothouse and the gun
turret. this sort of rapid adaptation to new
challenges called for the best the men had to
offer. some could adapt better than others.
some made a quick retreat to more familiar
surroundings; others succeeded and thrived
in the new conditions. the story of human
adaptation of technology—and adaptation to
technology—is both as old as history and as
new as the latest headlines and therefore al-
ways relevant. as fascinating as the ironclads
themselves undoubtedly are, the men de-
serve at least as much attention.
It was a transformative era for the amer-
ican navy, as it was for all navies. Men who
had been brought up to “hand, reef, and
steer” and to climb ratlines to furl and unfurl
sails were now expected to command ships
that had no sails at all—and this in the mid-
dle of a national tragedy that divided families
and comrades. on July 15, 1862, union com-
mander henry Walke’s ironclad gunboat
uss Carondelet fought it out (unsuccess-
fully) with confederate lieutenant Isaac
newton brown’s ironclad css Arkansas in
Foreword by Mark F. Jenkins
the “old river” portion of the yazoo above
vicksburg, Mississippi. twenty years before,
Walke and brown had been messmates and
friends on an around-the-world cruise
aboard the sailing sloop uss Boston. While
Walke and brown were unaware at the time
that they were battling each other, there were
plenty of occasions where the adversaries
knew perfectly well whom they faced. the
antebellum u.s. navy was a small organiza-
tion with a tight-knit band of officers who
had served with each other and were often
related by marriage and by blood ties. they
knew each other well, frequently using this
knowledge in the service of their chosen nav-
ies. While in command of a later (non-iron-
clad) vessel, Walke took his knowledge of
captain thomas Jefferson page into account
in the confrontation with page’s css Stone-
wall off ferrol, spain, suggesting courses of
action based on what he knew of page. the
supreme tragedy, of course, is that these cap-
tains expended their efforts, and in some
cases their lives, fighting each other. In some
cases, survivors were fortunate to mend the
disruptions to family and friends; but for
Mark F. Jenkins has created websites on the ironclads and the war on the Western rivers and has served
as a Naval Forum moderator on CivilWarTalk.com. He is researching the life and career of Union naval
officer Henry Walke. A marketing analyst, he lives in Westerville, Ohio.
2
others the divisions and wounds, physical
and emotional, lasted as long as life. none
were unaffected.
Myron J. (“Jack”) smith, Jr., has followed
up his recent collection of short biographies
of men connected with the civil War on the
western rivers with this work dealing with
the officers who commanded the union and
confederate ironclads. as was the case with
those covered in Civil War Biographies from
the Western Waters, some of those profiled
have been the subjects of full biographies;
others have remained in the shadows; and
some have never had their stories told in this
way at all. Jack has performed a great service
in bringing many of these fascinating men
out of obscurity. I have had the privilege of
getting to know Jack through our correspon-
dence in the past several years, and I have
the utmost respect for his scholarship. li-
brarian and historian by trade and author by
talent, he excels in extracting data from
widespread sources and collecting it to pro-
duce results that are readable and informa-
tive. I am sure the reader will find this latest
work to be both.
 Introduction
the storm broke in april 1861. at 2:30
p.m. on april 13, Maj. robert anderson sur-
rendered his beleaguered fort sumter, in
charleston harbor, south carolina, to the
confederacy. two days later, president abra-
ham lincoln declared a state of insurrection
and called for 75,000 three-month volunteers
to quash the revolt. years of talk, hope, and
work spent in seeking a solution to the eco-
nomic, political, and social differences that
divided the north and the south had ended
in failure. the most tragic conflict in amer-
ican history was “on.” When the southern
states enacted ordinances of secession, they
claimed as their own those states and geo-
graphical features lying within their borders.
Quickly, leaders prepared for military de-
fense, first locally and then for the entire new
confederacy. Within weeks of the outbreak
of the rebellion, northern politicians and
commanders devised recovery strategies.
among the keys to success for both sides
would be the introduction of steam-powered
armored naval vessels on a scale not yet seen,
and employed in ways unpracticed.
by the end of the 18th century, the gold
standard for war craft were large sailing
ships-of-the-line protected by thick oak sides
and firing large numbers of smoothbore can-
non. that would all change shortly into the
19th century. the concept of armored vessels
of war, both powered and unpowered, was
not altogether a new one in 1861 and dated
back, some of said, as far as the Koreans in
the 1500s. during the 1830s, warships began
3
to use steam propulsion, initially as adjunct
to sail power, employing large engines and
side paddle wheels. screw-powered vessels
came into the picture during the 1840s and,
at about the same time, the british and
french began a large steam-powered ship-
of-the-line building race that continued a
decade longer. simultaneously with this pro-
pulsion revolution a significant advance in
ordnance power took place that saw the in-
troduction of shell-firing cannon and explo-
sive ammunition. this development put paid
to the wooden fighting ship, as demonstrated
in a war between russia and turkey. In the
united states as early as the 1840s, new Jer-
sey engineer robert l. stevens persuaded the
u.s. government to grant him $250,000 and
two years to build an american craft, the
“stevens battery.” Its progress—or lack of
same—was keenly watched by interested
parties in the u.s. and abroad, including u.s.
senator stephen r. Mallory. by 1861 the
stevens enterprise was still not completed,
however, though it had already consumed
$586,717.84.
realizing the necessity for increased pro-
tection, the anglo-french navies began an
upgrade in warship shielding during the
early 1850s, starting with the introduction of
light-draught floating batteries covered with
heavy iron and mounting large guns. the al-
lies employed floating batteries with success
during the crimean War. these were fol-
lowed by the propelled (steam and sail) ar-
mored ships Gloire (1859) of france, Warrior
Introduction
(1861) of the uK, and similar units in other
armadas. the years thereafter until the ar-
rival of hMs Dreadnought in 1906 were
known as the age of the Ironclads. Major
warships built by the powers featured, to var-
ious degrees and in different configurations,
the three attributes later summarized by brit-
ish naval historian richard J. hill: “a metal-
skinned hull, steam propulsion and a main
armament of guns capable of firing explosive
shells.” “It is only when all three character-
istics are present,” he wrote, “that a fighting
ship can properly be called an ironclad.”1
When, even before fort sumter, the new
confederacy was initially formed by a few of
the southern states, it was from the start any-
thing but timid in its approach to new naval
thinking. stephen Mallory, who was con-
firmed as the confederate navy secretary on
March 4, 1861, was keenly aware that rebel
yells alone would not defeat the u.s. navy in
the pending civil conflict. all the guns avail-
able on all the war craft in southern hands
did not then equal the battery of a single fed-
eral sloop-of-war. so it was that, as soon as
he was sworn in, the new confederate navy
boss took stock of his situation. the flor-
idian quickly determined that richmond
would never be the power center for a major
sea power. but by doing a few things well, his
new command might be able to extract max-
imum advantage against the larger yankee
foe.
Within weeks, secretary Mallory was en-
couraging the development and deployment
of commerce raiders, submarines, underwa-
ter mines (then known as “torpedoes”), small
“mosquito” gunboat flotillas, and amphib-
ious raids. as the war was launched and
deepened, the former vessels, most success-
fully those purchased in britain and france,
caused panic among union merchants, while
the subsurface attacks actually destroyed
nearly 50 federal warships. as James phin-
ney baxter put it, secretary Mallory “staked
the success of the confederate navy on two
well conceived projects: the creation of com-
4
merce destroyers … and the construction of
ironclads to break the blockade and carry the
war to the enemy.”2 It was in the area of iron-
clad warship design and operations that the
confederate navy and its chief made their
greatest mark and the one most germane to
this story. these “armorclads,” as they were
called by prof. William n. still, Jr.,3 would,
it was hoped, by their inherent quality counter
the superior number of warships available to
the enemy.
Mallory and his colleagues initially be-
lieved that an ironclad fleet could be pur-
chased from europe, and in May 1861 the
confederate congress appropriated funds
for that purpose. simultaneously, the rich-
mond government came into possession of
the abandoned usn yard at gosport, near
norfolk, virginia, along with huge stores
of ordnance and several abandoned, albeit
damaged, warships. as readers may recall,
one of these was the half-burned steam frig-
ate Merrimack. the decision was quickly
taken to convert this prize into an ironclad
that could command local waters and maybe
steam beyond. designed by John luke porter
and John M. brooke, the powerful ship,
christened css Virginia, had a built-up, iron-
covered box, called a casemate or shield, af-
fixed to its deck. protected inside was a bat-
tery of heavy guns, while the vessel’s machin-
ery was protected in the hold down below.
during the late spring and summer of 1861
as the Virginia took shape, designs were pre-
pared for a number of other southern iron-
clads, some of which would win renown,
including Arkansas, Atlanta, Tennessee, Albe-
marle, and Richmond. It is of interest that the
first southern ironclad, operational in feb-
ruary, was the Manassas, a small one-gun
vessel based at new orleans that would
cheer the confederacy as, on october 12, she
became the first armorclad in history to enter
combat when she participated in the battle
of head of passes. unhappily for richmond,
its effort to purchase a foreign-built ironclad
fleet fizzled; only one vessel, the Stonewall,
 5 Introduction
was acquired and that too late to make a dif-
ference.
Most of the usn remained loyal to the
union at the outbreak of the conflict, though
a large number of its officers “went south.”
the blue water fleet comprised some 50 ves-
sels, including six large steam-frigates, and
within a short time the federal navy depart-
ment began an active acquisition and con-
version program. Much of this initial effort
was turned toward finding vessels to operate
a blockade of confederate coastal waters and
cities. simultaneously, the war department
undertook the construction of a fleet on the
Western waters designed to assist the u.s.
army in its efforts to crush the rebellion in
the Mississippi valley. as early as summer,
designs were in hand for the construction of
this river fleet, including a number of iron-
clads.
While conversion of the Merrimack con-
tinued, union intelligence provided suffi-
cient information to spur the usn into ac-
tion, and once a specially appointed Ironclad
board deliberated, it let contracts for three
armorclads: the revolutionary, turreted Mon-
itor, designed by swede John erricson; the
little underarmored Galena; and the war’s
most invulnerable warship, the giant ocean-
going New Ironsides, which featured a con-
ventional broadside battery. While these
three were under construction, James b. eads
completed seven ironclad gunboats at st.
louis and Mound city, with the first entering
service in January 1862. the army’s Western
ironclad flotilla was the first into combat in
february and several of its units attacked the
southern bastions at fort henry and fort
donelson, tennessee, on the tennessee and
cumberland rivers respectively. these ves-
sels, designed specifically to engage land tar-
gets, enjoyed complete success at the former
and failure at the latter, due largely to river
current and the height (or lack of it) of the
defending citadels above the water.
the first fight between armorclads oc-
curred on March 9, 1862, when ericson’s
Monitor intercepted the css Virginia and
fought her to a standstill in the second day
of the battle of hampton roads. It was the
naval action of the entire war, the one most
reported in journals and histories ever since.
It has been credited with ending the reign of
the wooden warship and confirming that
navies henceforth would feature vessels with
the three attributes enumerated by professor
hill above. both sides would continue to
build as many armorclads as possible as iron-
clad fever swept the naval establishments.
after the Virginia, over 20 more became op-
erational with the csn. With a much larger
shipbuilding industry, the north was able to
begin 60 monitors (finishing 37) and 39 other
armorclads, including Galena, New Ironsides,
and some very strange-looking vessels em-
ployed on the Mississippi.4 each of these
ships, like all other vessels plying the oceans
or inland waterways, had a commander. In
gershom bradford’s The Mariner’s Diction-
ary, we find a succinct definition of a captain:
“In the navy, the commissioned rank next
below that of rear admiral (commodore in
certain circumstances); also, by extension,
the commander of any naval vessel, irrespec-
tive of commissioned rank.”5 When the civil
War opened, the commissed pay-grade rank
of captain was the highest north or south,
although the temporary titles of commodore
and flag officer were employed for men com-
manding fleets, major yards, or districts.
although 126 of the 571 federal captains,
commanders, and lieutenants, most with
over 10 years of experience, resigned and
“went south,” neither naval establishment
suffered from a lack of officers, though pro-
visions for expansion were put into place
within a year. In 1862 both sides started to
add new ranks, including first lieutenants
(csn), lieutenant commanders (usn) and
pay-grade commodores and admirals of var-
ious grades. also, the federal navy instituted
a system of volunteer officers, the highest rank
for those men being acting volunteer lieu-
tenant commander, while the south created
Introduction
several “provisional” ranks. competition
from the armies for soldiers placed far greater
pressure on both sides in the recruitment of
deck sailors.
prior to the war, the commanders of u.s.
naval vessels were all commissioned line
officers (as opposed to those from technical
fields such as engineers or paymasters or vol-
unteers) and all, aboard frontline and auxil-
iary ships alike, had significant sea service
experience. those ranked as captain skip-
pered the largest vessels, with smaller ships
falling under commanders and lieutenants.
even as the war began, these men were in-
creasingly and informally divided by edu-
cation. Many who became available to the
competing governments for the command
of warships, such as roger stembel and Isaac
newton brown, had joined the service before
the 1845 founding of what became the u.s.
naval academy and were educated on the
job. as the war progressed, others with the
advantage of an annapolis education also
enjoyed important commands, including on
the ironclads, officers such as george Mifflin
bache II and Jonathan handby carter.
Most of the confederate vessels and all but
a handful of the union vessels, regardless of
type, had more than one captain during the
course of their service; some of those officers
were quite effective and others were not.
Many crews were led in their lifetimes by a
mix of commissioned officers of various rank
and, in the north, officers of volunteer re-
cruitment, though no commissioned com-
modores or admirals regularly and physically
commanded individual vessels. Most of the
commissioned vessel commanders ranked
as commanders or lieutenants, although
there were a handful of pay-grade captains
such as union hero henry Walke. Walke’s
first ironclad vessel might serve as an exam-
ple of this rank diversity. of her seven skip-
pers, there was one captain and two each
lieutenant commanders, acting volunteer
lieutenants, and acting masters.6
the captains of the civil War ironclads
6
had the same duties and most of the same
privileges of all the line officers commanding
other naval vessels north and south. some
of these requirements were quite ancient and
not much changed from those in use during
the War of 1812. the number one rule was
that, acting under regulations, captains were
the sole arbiters of all aspects of their vessels,
“both animate and inanimate,” and were to
be ready for combat at any moment. officers
made captain—by another’s death or by ap-
pointment—were all expected to be, or to
quickly become, intimately knowledgeable
regarding their ships and men. elevated ex-
ecutive officers appointed in their ships
might be expected to have great knowledge
of their ships and men by having already
served aboard. captains named to new ships
often had the opportunity to observe or even
participate in the construction and rigging
of their commands. they certainly had the
worries of the outfitting and manning of
their craft. part of this was working with
their subordinate shipboard officers, who in
turn oversaw crew activities.
In addition to these duties in common
with captains of other naval vessels, those in
command of civil War ironclads had a myr-
iad of additional challenges occasioned by
the new vessel technologies. In particular,
they needed to understand the seaworthiness
of their craft, particularly when venturing
into blue water, whether alone or under tow.
the capabilities of the great guns employed
and any special arrangements under which
they were operated had to be understood.
Warfare from within an armored casemate
or turret was unique and different in numer-
ous ways from that experienced on the open
decks of a sloop-of-war or gunboat. visibility
was far more limited from within an ironclad
casemate or pilothouse than it was from an
exposed quarterdeck. the armor protecting
the ship was also a concern. In some vessels,
such as the federals’ city series of Western
river ironclads, armor protection over cer-
tain quarters was weak; in others, like the
 7 Introduction
union’s Keokuk and Galena, it was poor
throughout and failed quickly. engine relia-
bility and the exposed arrangement of steer-
ing gear, particularly on confederate iron-
clads like the Arkansas and the second
Tennessee, could be quite problematic.
once their vessels were commissioned
and ordered underway, captains, when not
under specific orders, chose the speed and
courses steamed and were the only officers
allowed to choose the style of combat, order
ships cleared for action, initiate gunnery, and
order actions broken off. given their respon-
sibilities, the position of captain aboard a
union or confederate man-o’-war was soli-
tary, allowing for equal opportunity to plan
and worry and to attend to mountains of pa-
perwork (reports, crew assignments, requi-
sitions, etc.). there were opportunities for
glory in triumph, as found by John Worden,
John rodgers, Isaac newton brown, and
William h. parker, as well as failure, like that
experienced by franklin buchanan and Wil-
liam gwin. Indeed, many of those who com-
manded ironclads on the union side and
survived eventually retired as commodores
or admirals.
Criteria and Arrangement
over the past decade or so, employing re-
sources and contacts developed over 45
years, I have had the opportunity to pen
eight books detailing the civil War on West-
ern waters. I began with that most fasci-
nating of gunboatmen, the Indiana sailor
cmdr. le roy fitch, following that with titles
reviewing the gunboat war from the perspec-
tive of the non-ironclad timberclad and tin-
clad gunboats and the confederates they en-
gaged. those works were followed by two
detailed ironclad histories, one each for the
uss Carondelet and the css Arkansas, which
also served as platforms to report on the
larger river war. the books dove into all as-
pects of the federal campaign to capture or
defend vicksburg, as seen from its northern
flank on the yazoo river, and then offered
profiles in a biographical directory of 956
participants in the great rivers conflict. fi-
nally, I looked at another little-known par-
ticipant who, like fitch, played a significant
role. Joseph brown, builder of Chillicothe, In-
dianola, and Tuscumbia, led a fascinating life
on the Western waters and in the Midwest
public arena for the entire middle of the 19th
century.
the present work grew out of an interest
in civil War ironclads developed primarily
as a result of my years of research into the
Mississippi valley fight. there were casemate
ironclads and monitors employed on the in-
land rivers and natural curiosity led me to a
desire to know more about the warships of
these types that operated along the coasts
east and south of the alleghenies. In this re-
view, it was discovered that profiles for most
of the men who captained those vessels,
north and south, were not easily available,
save for a few of the more famous such as
franklin buchanan. so it was that the deci-
sion was taken to attempt a biographical di-
rectory for just civil War ironclad captains
similar in vein to that offered earlier for the
various river-war connected men of the
West. these profiles are limited to those who
actually commanded the ships and seldom
the admirals (e.g., foote, dupont) who sent
them into battle. given that the 158 men pro-
filed in this outing were all naval officers, it
was expected that locating information con-
cerning their lives might prove somewhat
easier than had been the case with Civil War
Biographies from the Western Waters. that
assumption proved iffy on the northern side
and not true for the confederates. yes, the
names of many were, to some degree or an-
other, in official reports or dusty texts. Would
it be possible to learn more about these men,
some of whom gave their all for the cause in
which they believed?
In addition to archival records maintained
by government agencies ranging from the
Introduction
national archives, library of congress, and
particularly the u.s. navy, as well as reposi-
tories within the states and academia, a vast
paper trail grew in the decades after the con-
flict, occasioned by agendas as diverse as
southern pride and northern technological
satisfaction. federal and state government
agencies, historians, and commercial pub-
lishers entered the lists, offering dozens of
official records or accounts and biographical
directories. those latter provided by former
gunboatman lewis b. hamersly come most
easily to mind. genealogists and newspaper-
men have sought and publicized family re-
lations or human interest activities and the
Internet proved to be a boon, while county
and city histories often profile noted mem-
bers of the community, including those ger-
mane to our study. fold3, the membership
Internet site, has made available thousands
of archival records, particularly pension data.
armed with, and having sifted through, a
vast amount of information, it was deter-
mined that we could again prepare a biogra-
phical directory and make an honest effort
to profile most of the men who commanded
northern and southern ironclads during the
civil War. there is not full information on
everyone, especially the volunteer officers
who commanded armorclads. even for some
commissioned officers, the task was virtually
impossible. due to the passage of time and,
in some cases, paucity of information, we are
left with holes in some of our profiles, not
knowing when they began or ended or miss-
ing important antebellum or postwar career
highlights. still, what is offered here is the
first work to bring life profiles of the civil
War ironclad captains together in one place.
though the size of the entries varies, our re-
search allows more individuals to be given
public recognition than was the case up until
now.
every entry has certain standardized fea-
tures. each begins with the subject’s name,
birth and death dates if known, and the per-
tinent wartime organization—usn or csn.
8
Within each profile, the name of the iron-
clad(s) commanded appears in bold. docu-
mentation follows the biographical summary
listed as “sources.” book, periodical article,
and scholarly paper citations found in the
work’s bibliography are abbreviated; one-off
newspaper and Internet references are given
in whole. an appendix, “register of Ironclad
captains,” is a list of union and confederate
warships with the captains of each. the work
is illustrated with almost 200 photos and
drawings of described individuals or their
vessels.
Notes
1. richard J. hill, War at Sea in the Ironclad Age
(london: cassell, 2002), 17.
2. James p. baxter, 3rd, Introduction of the Ironclad
Warship (cambridge, Ma: harvard university press,
1933; repr., annapolis: u.s. naval Institute, 2000), 222.
3. William n. still, Jr., Iron Afloat: The Story of
Confederate Armorclads (nashville: vanderbilt uni-
versity press, 1971; repr., columbia: university of
south carolina press, 1985); still, “the confederate
Ironclad navy,” Naval History 28 (february 2014), 30–
37. In May 1861 only the French Gloire, an armored
frigate, was operational. It was this vessel or one like
her that Mallory initially thought he could purchase;
hMs Warrior would not be ready for duty until oc-
tober (donald l. canney, The Confederate Steam Navy
[new york: schiffer, 2016], 107).
4. In addition to hill (pp. 113–140) and other works
cited in the footnotes above as well this work’s bibli-
ography, numerous studies over the years have ap-
peared that detail the ironclad acquisition and ship-
building programs of the north and south. employed
here and recommended are the following: frank M.
bennett, Steam Navy of the United States: A History of
the Growth of the Steam Vessel of War in the U.S. Navy,
and of the Naval Engineer Corps (pittsburgh, pa: War-
ren, 1896); bennett, The Monitor and the Navy Under
Steam (boston: houghton Mifflin, 1900); donald l.
caney, Lincoln’s Navy: The Ships, Men and Organiza-
tion, 1861–65 (london: conway Maritime press, 1998);
canney, The Old Steam Navy, vol. 2: The Ironclads,
1842–1885 (annapolis, Md: naval Institute press,
1993); canney, The Confederate Steam Navy; William
n. still, Jr., Confederate Shipbuilding (athens: univer-
sity of georgia press, 1969; repr., columbia: university
of south carolina press, 1987); still, ed., The Confed-
erate Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1861–
1865 (annapolis, Md: naval Institute press, 1997).
5. gershom bradford, The Mariner’s Dictionary
(new york: Weathervane, 1952), 40; Myron J. smith,
Jr., The U.S.S. carondelet: A Civil War Ironclad on
 9 Introduction
Western Waters. (Jefferson, nc: Mcfarland, 2010),
passim.; u.s. navy department, Regulations for the
Government of the United States Navy (Washington,
d.c.: gpo, 1865), 52–84; u.s. navy department, of-
fice of naval records and library, naval War records
office, Register of Officers of the Confederate States
Navy, 1861–1865 (Washington, d.c.: gpo, 1931); can-
ney, The Confederate Steam Navy, 9.
6. uss Constitution Museum, “rank and respon-
sibilities of captain,” A Sailor’s Life Forum, http://
www.asailorslifeforme.org (accessed January 1, 2017);
caney, Lincoln’s Navy: The Ships, Men and Organiza-
tion, 1861–65, pp. 140–145; u.s. navy department,
Regulations for the Government of the United States
Navy (Washington, d.c.: gpo, 1865), 52–84.
This page intentionally left blank
 abbreviations
Organizations, Locations and
Entities
acs = confederate army
aus = u.s. army
crdf = confederate river defense force
csMc = confederate states Marine corps
csn = confederate states navy
csna = confederate states naval academy
dc = Washington, district of columbia
dept. = department
egbs = east gulf blockading squadron
(usn)
lc = library of congress
nabs = north atlantic blockading
squadron (usn)
nas = north atlantic squadron (usn)
noaa = national oceanic and athmos-
pheric administration
nps = north pacific station (usn)
nWc = naval War college
nyc = new york city
pf = potomac flotilla (usn)
sabs = south atlantic blockading squadron
(usn)
sas = south atlantic squadron (usn)
sps = south pacific station (usn)
usaMhI = u.s. army Military history In-
stitute
uscs = u.s. coast survey
usMa = u.s. Military academy
usMc = u.s. Marine corps
11
usMs = u.s. Mississippi squadron (usn)
usn = u.s. navy
usna = u.s. naval academy
usno = u.s. naval observatory
usQM = u.s. Quartermaster department
usrcs = u.s. revenue cutter service
usWf = u.s. army Western gunboat
flotilla
Wgbs = West gulf blockading squadron
(usn)
WIs = West Indies squadron (usn)
Individual Rank or Status
brevet = brev.
brigadier general = brig. gen.
captain (army or navy) = capt.
colonel = col.
commander = cmdr.
commodore = com.
general = gen.
governor = gov.
lieutenant (army or navy) = lt.
lieutenant colonel = lcol.
lieutenant commander = lcmdr.
lieutenant general = lt. gen.
Major = Mjr.
Major general = Maj. gen.
private = pvt
rear admiral = radm.
sergeant = sgt.
This page intentionally left blank
 The Captains A–Z
Ammen, Daniel (1820–1898, USN)
Having removed to Georgetown, OH, from
Virginia in 1810, newspaperman David Ammen
(1775–1846) and his wife Sara Houtts Ammen
had two sons, Daniel and Jacob (1806–1894), a
future Civil War general. Daniel, who had res-
cued his friend Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)
from a stream in 1829, was appointed a USN
midshipman on July 7, 1836, and sent on leave
to West Point for a remedial mathematics course
taught by USMA instructor Lt. Jacob Ammen.
With his skills improved, Ammen was posted to
the supply ship Relief at Norfolk, VA, for partic-
ipation in the South Seas and Exploring Expe-
dition. In July 1837 he transferred aboard the
West Indies Squadron frigate Macedonian and
cruised against pirates and slavers. Between
March 1838 and November 1839 he served on
Levant and Vandalia of the same squadron. In
March 1840 he was aboard the sloop-of-war Pre-
ble for her inaugural cruise to Labrador and the
Mediterranean. Returning to Boston in May
1841 aboard the ship-of-the-line Ohio, Ammen
studied at the Philadelphia Naval School and
after examination was promoted to the rank of
passed midshipman on July 1, 1842. After a year
of Delaware Bay survey duty, he became navi-
gator of the Mediterranean Squadron storeship
Lexington in October 1843, deployed to the Lev-
ant for 18 months. From April 1845 to April 1847
he served off China in the East Indies Squadron
sloop-of-war Vincennes. Seconded to the USCS,
from May until October 1849 Ammen did not
participate in the Mexican War, although he was
promoted to the rank of master on March 10 and
lieutenant on November 4 of the latter year.
From January to November 1850, he was aboard

the frigate St. Lawrence in the Baltic and then
returned to the USCS in January 1851. Sent to
California, Ammen chose the Mare Island area
in April as the location of the first U.S. naval base
on the Pacific coast. From February 1853 to April
1854, he participated in the South American
coastal exploring expedition of the newly com-
missioned paddle-wheel gunboat Water Witch.
He thereafter served aboard the Brazil Squadron
brig Bainbridge until taking leave in January
1855. Following a lengthy (April 1855–August
1857) tour at the Naval Observatory in Wash-
ington, D.C., Ammen served aboard the Pacific
Squadron screw sloop-of-war Saranac until June
1858, when he was transferred to the squadron
flagship, the steam frigate Merrimac. In March
1860 he was detailed to operate the naval ren-
dezvous (recruiting station) at Baltimore, MD.
After the opening of the Civil War on April 12,
1861, Ammen found it impossible to execute his
duty in pro–Southern Baltimore. Relocating to
Washington, he was assigned temporary duties
at the Navy Department before his transfer as
executive officer to the North Atlantic Blockad-
ing Squadron (NABS) screw sloop-of-war Roa-
noke, which destroyed the Southern schooner
Mary at Lockwood Folly Inlet on July 13. De-
tached, Ammen completed outfitting of his first
command, the new Unadilla class gunboat Sen-
eca, which joined the South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (SABS) in mid–October and partici-
pated in the capture of Port Royal, SC, on Novem-
ber 7. After Confederate forces abandoned Hil-
ton Head, Ammen personally led 30 bluejackets
ashore and raised the United States flag over
Fort Beauregard, holding it until the arrival of
Federal soldiers. Following the November 9–12
capture of Beaufort, SC, the Seneca joined in
Ammen
operations to isolate Savannah, GA, via Tybee
Sound. On January 1, 1862, Ammen led the force
that attacked the Port Royal ferry, and in March
his ship was part of a SABS task group that en-
tered Florida’s St. Johns River and captured Jack-
sonville and also engaged in operations against
Fernandia.
Having been promoted to commander in
February, he assumed command in August of
the “double-ender” gunboat Sebago, then under
repair at New York, but he was immediately or-
dered to complete the new Passaic class monitor
Patapsco, which was christened on January 2,
1863, and assigned to the SABS under RAdm.
Samuel F. Dupont (1803–1865). Patapsco arrived
on station in time to participate with two sister
ships in the heavy but unsuccessful March 3
bombardment of Fort McAllister, GA. Dupont
hoped that his nine available ironclads could re-
capture Charleston Harbor, SC, and on April 7
he launched a massive bombardment of the Fort
Sumter facility, which guarded the port entrance.
Lying approximately 600 yards from Fort Moul-
trie and twice that from Sumter, the Patapsco
Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Ammen, USN, was the first cap-
tain of the monitor Patapsco and a close friend
of President Ulysses S. Grant throughout his life
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).

loosed a total of 10 rounds against her targets.
She was struck 47 times, and one of her guns
failed for mechanical reasons. Southern posi-
tions held while five monitors were damaged;
the perforated Keokuk sank that night. The
SABS did not renew the contest, withdrawing
for repairs. An ill Ammen went on sick leave
from June until September, when he became
aide to the new SABS commander, RAdm. John
A. Dahlgren (1809–1870). After leading a Sep-
tember 22 small-boat reconnaissance of obstruc-
tions in the harbor and a new, again unsuc-
cessful, monitor attack that hit Fort Sumter in
mid–October, he was sent to Washington, D.C.,
to explain the failure. Navy secretary Gideon
Welles (1802–1878) penned a reply, sending it
back with Ammen, who remained on duty off
Charleston when he returned to sick leave in
January 1864. Temporary captain of the NABS
screw sloop Shenandoah from March to May, he
led a contingent of 220 army transfers of men
from New York to Aspinwall, Panama, via the
steamer Ocean Queen. Two days out, a number
of the men mutinied but were stopped by
Ammen, who shot two ringleaders.
While undergoing a name-clearing court-
martial for his decisive and long-remembered
action, Ammen traveled to the headquarters of
the Army of the Potomac at Culpepper, VA, to
visit his boyhood friend Lt. Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant, commander of all Federal armies, whom
he had not seen in 21 years. The two rode the
countryside, examining the vast Union army
camped along the Rapidan River. During the
summer, Ammen’s murder case was adjudicated,
he was honorably acquitted, and in October he
became captain of the NABS sloop-of-war Mo-
hican, which cruised off Wilmington, NC, pro-
viding gunfire support during the unsuccessful
December 24–25 First Battle of Fort Fisher and
the victorious Second Battle of Fort Fisher of
January 13–15, 1865. The Mohican blockaded off
Warsaw Sound, GA, and Ossabaw Island, SC,
from February until April 24, assisting AUS
forces in the area. During this time, Ammen de-
signed and rigged up a cask “Balsa,” a lifeboat-
landing raft also known as the “Ammen Balsa”
that was subsequently carried as a life-saving
and general maintenance vehicle aboard all U.S.
warships into the early 20th century.
During August and September Ammen over-
 
saw final preparations of the new North Atlantic
Squadron (NAS) double-turreted monitor Mi-
antonomah and on July 25, 1866, he was pro-
moted to the rank of captain. In August 1867 he
became commander of the Asiatic Station flag-
ship, the screw steamer Pisquataqua, which vis-
ited destinations in the Philippines, China, and
Japan for over a year, helping to protect U.S. in-
terests during the Japanese civil war. While so
deployed, Ammen purchased two sets of Rose
Medallion china, one for himself and one for
Gen. Grant. Within weeks of his inauguration,
President Grant requested Ammen’s rotation
home from the Orient. When Ammen reached
Washington, the chief executive’s boyhood friend
was promoted to commodore and named chief
of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, effective
May 1, 1869, and served in that capacity until he
became chief of the Bureau of Navigation on Oc-
tober 1, 1871. During the Grant administration,
Ammen took every Sunday dinner at the Ex-
ecutive Mansion, where it was said that the con-
versation between the sometimes taciturn pres-
ident and his favorite seaman was generally
quite convivial. Also a confidant of navy secre-
tary George M. Robeson (1829–1897), Ammen
engineered numerous reforms, including work
on harbor defenses, a reorganization of the Hy-
drographic Office, oversight of various surveys
designed to review possibilities of an Isthmian
canal, the service of deep-sea sounding, and day
and night signaling at sea.
As secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commis-
sion, Ammen pushed a route from the Atlantic
to the Pacific via Nicaragua rather than Panama.
When Robeson was out of town, Ammen served
as acting navy secretary, as during the time in
August 1875 when he issued orders for USN hon-
ors upon the death of ex-president Andrew John-
son (1808–1875). After leaving office on March 4,
1877, President Grant set off, with Com. Ammen,
for a trip to Ohio, where the two visited their
boyhood home of Georgetown before traveling
to St. Louis and then Galena, IL, enjoying the
greetings of crowds while en route. Ammen was
promoted to the rank of rear admiral on De-
cember 11 and retired on June 4, 1878. Not long
afterwards, he purchased a farm of several hun-
dred acres on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
line north of Washington below Laurel, MD.
Through his generosity, St. Joseph’s Church
Ammen
was built at the little nearby settlement, seat
of the Normal School of the Brothers of the
Christian Schools. The town was later renamed
Ammendale in his honor. In May 1879 Ammen
became a delegate to the Interoceanic Canal
Congress at Paris organized by Ferdinand de
Lesseps (1805–1894) to consider an American
Isthmian Canal. Simultaneously, Ammen con-
tinued to push another old Civil War idea for
an unarmed but armored steel harbor defense
ram, which was commissioned the Kathadin
in February 1897. Beginning with papers for the
new U.S. Naval Institute, his writings concern-
ing the Civil War and other subjects appeared
before the public frequently during the years
after his departure from the Navy Department.
Late in 1897 Ammen, by now a widower, became
ill and began 10 months of treatment at the
Washington, D.C., naval hospital, where he died
on July 11, 1898. He was buried in Arlington Na-
tional Cemetery two days later. Two USN de-
stroyers were named in his honor, DD-35 and
DD-527.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Rey-
nolds; Cogar; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; Smith, “Daniel
Ammen”; Ugaalltheway, pseud., “Daniel Ammen,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=mr&MRid=46547901 (accessed May 19,
2016); Austin, Related Families of Botetourt County,
Virginia; Haitz, Brown County; Thompson, The U.S.
Monitor Patapsco; Belknap, “Rear Admiral Daniel
Ammen: A Biographical Sketch”; Durham, Guardian
of Savannah: Fort McAllister, Georgia, in the Civil War
and Beyond; Wise, Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charles-
ton Harbor, 1863; Ammen, “The Attempted Mutiny
Onboard the Ocean Queen,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat,
December 19, 1885; “Mutiny in the Navy,” Reading
Eagle, January 13, 1901; Gibson, Mutiny! Blood Mutiny;
New York Daily Tribune, May 6, 1900; Gragg, Confed-
erate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher; Smith, Grant;
U.S. State Department, Instructions to Rear Admiral
Ammen and Report on the Paris Canal Congress; Pres-
ton, The Katahdin; “Catholic Naval Hero,” Irish World
and American Industrial Liberator, July 23, 1898;
Ammen, The Purpose of a Navy and the Best Methods
of Rendering It Efficient; Ammen, The Inter-Oceanic
Canal Question; Ammen, American Inter-Oceanic Ship
Canal; Ammen, On the Transit Question; Ammen, The
Atlantic Coast: The Navy in the Civil War, vol. 2; Ammen,
“Marine Rams,” in Hamersly, ed., A Naval Encyclope-
dia, pp. 480–482; Ammen, “Recollections and Letters
of Grant”; Ammen, Country Homes and Their Im-
provement; Ammen, Errors and Falacies, Inter-Oceanic
Transit; Ammen, Nicaragua Canal Contrasted with
Ship Railways; Ammen, “Du Pont and the Port Royal
Expedition,” in B&L, I, 671–690; Ammen, “A Sketch
Bache
of Our Second Bombardment of Fort Fisher: War
Paper No. 4,” in District of Columbia Commandery,
MOLLUS War Papers 1–88; Ammen, Considerations
Relating to the Navy; Ammen, The Old Navy and the
New; Feller, “The White House ‘Rose Medallion’: Dan-
iel Ammen and the Ulysses S. Grant Porcelain”; New
York Times, July 12, 1898; San Francisco Chronicle, July
12, 1898; Denver Evening Post, July 12, 1898; Baltimore
Sun, July 12–13, 1898; New York Tribune, July 17, 1898;
Washington Post, July 14, 1898.
Bache, George Mifflin, II
(1840–1896, USN)
The eldest of two sons of USCS Cmdr. George
Mifflin Bache I (1811–1846) and great-great-
grandson of Benjamin Franklin, Bache—who
did not use the title junior—was born on Novem-
ber 12, 1840, in Washington, D.C. When Bache
was just six years old, his father was lost at sea
while in command of the USCS brig Washing-
ton. Bache joined the USN in August 1855, serv-
ing until May 1857 as the captain’s clerk aboard
the sloop-of-war Saratoga. Briefly attached to
Lt. George Mifflin Bache, USN, was captain of
the Mississippi Squadron ironclad Cincinnati
prior to her sinking before Vicksburg in May
86. He was also nephew to RAdm. David Dixon
Porter (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
6
the USCS schooner Nautilus, he was appointed
an acting USN midshipman on November 9. He
was then posted to the USNA, from which he
was detached on April 27, 1861, just after the out-
break of the Civil War, and ordered to the Wash-
ington Navy Yard. Having graduated on June 1
as a full midshipman, he was warranted a passed
midshipman 30 days later. He then went to sea
in the sloop-of-war Jamestown, which was op-
erating along the Confederate Atlantic coast.
On June 11, 1862, Bache transferred as acting
master to the steam sloop-of-war Powhatan and
on July 16 became a lieutenant. On August 12 he
was transferred to the casemate ironclad New
Ironsides, remaining aboard until October 29,
when he was detached and ordered west to join
the Mississippi Squadron, then under command
of his uncle (RAdm.) David Dixon Porter. Arriv-
ing at the Cairo, IL, squadron headquarters on
November 8, Bache took command of the Pook
turtle Cincinnati and joined in the Yazoo River
campaign against Vicksburg, MS, conducted by
Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. On December
27–28, while troops attempted to find a lodg-
ment in the Walnut Hills, the Cincinnati sup-
ported the giant ironclad Benton in her attacks
against Confederate defenses on Haynes Bluff.
A stiff breeze made it impossible to fire effec-
tively and the Benton was unable to complete
the mission alone. In March 1863 the Cincinnati
participated in an effort to flank Vicksburg from
the north via Steele’s Bayou. With Porter em-
barked, the warship was the second in and next
to last out of the stream following several weeks
of unsuccessful advance and a retreat made suc-
cessful only by the timely intervention of Maj.
Gen. Sherman’s corps.
On May 27, as Union forces worked their way
toward Vicksburg from the east and Porter’s
gunboat’s bombarded the citadel from the river,
the Cincinnati assaulted Vicksburg’s Upper River
Battery, which was impeding an advance by
Sherman against the city from the right flank.
Surprised by unexpected fire from the river
bluff, the vessel was mortally wounded and
eventually sank in 18 feet of water. Bache, who
could not swim, was rescued by a ship’s boat
manned by four of his sailors, who were subse-
quently awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor. Bache’s handling of the doomed Cincin-
nati was praised by Porter, Sherman, and Navy
 
Department commendation. He then assumed
command of the timberclad Lexington and led
her in a number of engagements with Confed-
erate forces during the remainder of the year
and in 1864, including the battle at Blair’s Land-
ing, LA, on April 26, 1864, during the Red River
campaign. He then assumed naval command of
the White River with the timberclad Tyler and
fought a notable June duel with Confederate
cavalry under Brig. Gen. Jo Shelby near Claren-
don, AR. On July 5 the Tyler hit a snag. Watch-
ing the shoreline from the quarter gallery of the
Tyler’s roundhouse, Bache was thrown into the
White River. Still not having learned to swim,
he floundered about trying to tread water. For-
tunately, the current was not very swift and the
captain was able to grab hold of a piece of wheel-
house wreckage and hang on until, once again,
a small boat came alongside and “fished” him
out.
On October 7 Bache returned east when his
uncle took command of the North Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (NABS). Now executive
officer of his earlier ship, the Powhatan, Bache
engaged in both the unsuccessful and successful
assaults on Fort Fisher, NC, in December 1864
and January 1865. While participating in the naval
landing assaults of the second contest, he was
wounded slightly in the right shoulder. De-
tached from the Powhatan on February 23, on
March 30 he joined the Malvern, which trans-
ported President Abraham Lincoln up the James
River in April to visit Richmond. The Malvern
was decommissioned at New York City on Oc-
tober 24 and on November 13 Lt. Bache was sent
home on sick leave.
He returned to duty on February 28, 1866, was
ordered to the new screw frigate Chattanooga,
and served aboard her for six months, including
her shake-down cruise off the U.S. East Coast.
He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant com-
mander on July 25. Named executive officer of
the reserve steam sloop-of-war Sacramento on
August 29, he participated in her long sea voy-
age via Liberia and Capetown, South Africa. Al-
though the ship was destroyed on a reef at the
mouth of the Godavary River, Madras, India, on
June 19, 1867, Bache and the crew were all saved
and returned to America on November 19. After
serving as equipment officer at the Philadelphia
navy yard in 1868, he joined the reactivated
Bacon
steam sloop-of-war Juniata for a three-year cruise
on the European Station. He was ordnance offi-
cer at the Philadelphia navy yard from July 1872
to July 1873 and at the Washington Navy Yard
until he retired with the rank of commander on
April 6, 1875. His final promotion came on the
day his service concluded and by Act of Con-
gress he was retired on full service pay.
Bache traveled overseas in the early 1880s and
was married to Harriet DuBois (1849–1931) in
an elaborate ceremony in Susquehanna County,
PA, in January 1887. The couple, who resided in
Washington, D.C., had three children. Bache
died of a heart attack at home on February 11,
1896, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. A
20th century USN destroyer (DD-470) was
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Daily
National Intelligencer, October 5, 1846; Callahan;
DANFS; Smith, Civil War Biographies; Smith, The
Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Tinclads in the
Civil War; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Hamersley, 3rd
ed.; Tucker, “George Mifflin Bache”; “Cmdr. George
Mifflin Bache,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GSsr= 521&GSvcid=
266131&GRid=37675051& (accessed July 12, 2012);
Kathryn Silberger, ed., “You Affectionate Son: Civil War
Letters of Daniel Francis Kemp and Family,” Marist
College, http://foxweb.marist.edu/users/jwez/dfk/index.
html (accessed March 29, 2011); Daniel F. Kemp, “Civil
War Reminiscences,” edited by Barbara Covello,
American Civil War Homepage, http://sunsite.utk.edu/
civil-war/warweb.html (accessed March 29, 2011;
Porter, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War; Wash-
ington Evening Star, February 11, 1896.
Bacon, George Bement
(1835–1890, USN)
The son of William and Virginia Bacon, George
Bement was born in Ogdensburg, NY, on Feb-
ruary 26, 1835. After attending local schools, he
was appointed an acting USN midshipman from
New Jersey on October 1, 1850. Ordered to the
USNA, Bacon graduated in 1856 and was ad-
vanced to the rank of passed midshipman. He
participated in the U.S. paddle wheel frigate Mis-
sissippi’s Far Eastern cruise (1857–1858), being
appointed a lieutenant in the latter year. Two
voyages to the west coast of Africa followed.
Late in 1861 upon the formation of the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS), Bacon was
appointed executive officer of the gunboat Itasca.
Bacon 8

Executive officer of the gunboat Itasca during the April 862 capture of New Orleans, Lt. Cmdr. George
Bacon, USN, commanded the Mississippi Squadron ironclad Louisville (depicted) from late 86
through the end of the war (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

On April 20, 1862, the vessel, with two other
gunboats, maneuvered close to Forts Jackson
and St. Philip on the Lower Mississippi below
New Orleans and broke the boom, which pre-
vented the assembled squadron of Union ships
from sailing up the river to attack New Orleans.
Four days later the Union squadron dashed
through the passage to take the South’s largest
and most highly industrialized city. Itasca, in
the dangerous rear of the movement, was caught
in a hailstorm of cannonballs and disabled. Sur-
viving unhurt, Bacon assisted in his vessel’s work
to free the flagship Hartford after she had run
aground below Vicksburg on May 14. Having
come down with malaria, the Lieutenant Bacon
was ordered north to recover at his Ogdensburg
home. During this leave, he married Miss La-
vinia Chapin (1840–1918), and eventually the
couple had three daughters.
On July 16 Bacon was promoted to the rank
of lieutenant commander and thereafter out-
fitted the gunboat Nipsic. Before she could put
to sea, he was transferred to command of the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
converted ferryboat Commodore McDonough.
His gunboat was employed during 1863–1864 in
army liaison and shore bombardment work in
and around the forts ringing Charleston, SC.
  Badger
Among her activities were engagements with
enemy batteries in January and April 1863 and
an expedition on the South Edisto River in May
1864. That October, Bacon was transferred to
command of the Mississippi Squadron Pook tur-
tle Louisville, which participated in the routine
of late war patrol through May 1865, until her
demobilization. He resigned from the service
on June 6 and relocated in Kentucky, where he
entered the lumber business.
The Bacon family moved to NYC in 1869
when the former naval officer was appointed
U.S. Weigher at the New York Custom House, a
position he lost when the Cleveland adminis-
tration took office in 1885. During his retire-
ment, Bacon often traveled to his boyhood home
at Ogdensburg. It was there, while on an April
1, 1890, visit that he died suddenly, most likely
of a heart attack. He was buried in Ogdensburg Acting captain of the Mississippi Squadron iron-
Cemetery. No USN vessels have been named in clad Indianola in the fall of 862, Lt. Cmdr. Oscar
C. Badger, USN, later served as commander of
his honor. the monitors Patapsco and Montauk during the
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla- 86 campaign against Charleston, SC (courtesy
han; “Civil War Correspondence of George B. Bacon, Naval History and Heritage Command).
1855–1936: Finding Aid,” Princeton University, Library,
Manuscript Division, http://findingaids.princeton.
sissippi. Badger participated in the attack on the
edu/getEad?eadid=C0383&kw=#bioghist (accessed
December 1, 2011); Bacon, “One Night’s Work, April coastal Mexican town of Alvarado in the spring
20, 1862”; Mahon, ed., “The Civil War Letters of Lieu- of 1847, was warranted a passed midshipman on
tenant Commander George Bacon”; Ann Cady, “George August 10, 1847, and transferred to the Brazil
Bement Bacon,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave. Squadron frigate Brandywine and, in 1848, the
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27384427 (ac-
cessed May 31, 2016).
same unit’s brig Perry. She captured the slavers
Ann D. Richardson and Independence east of Rio
de Janeiro on December 16 and 18 before contin-
Badger, Oscar Charles uing on antislavery patrol over the next months
off the west coast of Africa. During this time,
(1823–1899, USN)
she put into Ambrizette in the Congo, where
Badger was born in Mansfield, CT, on August Badger and several other officers from the ship
12, 1823. A relative, the 12th navy secretary, visited the local queen.
George E. Badger, made certain the young Oscar In 1850 the midshipman joined the Pacific
Charles received a USN midshipman’s appoint- Squadron storeship Supply but before the year
ment from Pennsylvania on September 9, 1841, was out he was ordered aboard the frigate Sa-
being first posted aboard the Home Squadron vannah. The year 1851 was only a few months
razee Independence. Shortly thereafter, in 1842, old when Badger became navigator of the sloop-
he transferred to the sloop-of-war Saratoga and of-war Vincenne, which cruised off South Amer-
served on the antislavery patrol off the west ica until late fall, closely monitoring the activ-
coast of Africa. While aboard her in 1843, Bad- ities of revolutionaries in several nations. The
ger participated in his first action, a landing warship visited the Hawaiian Islands at the end
party sent from his ship as part of a punitive ex- of the year and returned to New York in Sep-
pedition that destroyed the Berribee villages. He tember 1852. Badger married Margaret M. John-
then attended the Annapolis Naval School, pre- son (1830–1908) of Rockville, MD, in a summer
decessor of the USNA, and was in 1846 assigned ceremony. The couple had two children, one of
to the Gulf Squadron paddlewheel frigate Mis- whom was RAdm. Charles J. Badger (1853–1932).
Badger
Following an 1853–1854 USNO tour, he was pro-
moted to master in August 1855 and became
navigator of the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war
John Adams. During her three year commission,
the warship visited various islands, including
Fiji, although the stops were not always warm.
On September 12, 1855, Marines and sailors from
the warship landed at Nukulau, Fiji Islands, to
seek debt owed to Americans from the King of
Fiji, Cakobau. Three days later, during this in-
cident, Badger was promoted to lieutenant. In
1858 he transferred to the sloop-of-war Mace-
donian for a two-year cruise in the Mediterran-
ean and on the antislavery patrol off the coast
of West Africa. At the start of 1861 he served a
short tour aboard the steam frigate Minnesota.
He was at the Washington Navy Yard when the
Civil War erupted in April.
In late summer 1861 Badger was given com-
mand of the two-gun Potomac Flotilla steamer
Anacostia. In addition to yard work and river
patrols, the Anacostia participated in several of-
fensive sorties against Confederate positions
along the Virginia shore, including Freestone
Point on December 8 and Cockpit Point on Jan-
uary 31, 1862. From March on into April, the
Anacostia escorted AUS troop transports from
Washington down to Fort Monroe in prepara-
tion for the Union’s Peninsula Campaign. There-
after, she conducted reconnaissance missions
along the western shore of Chesapeake Bay and
into the York River. The Anacostia bombarded
the Virginia towns of Gloucester and Yorktown
on the night of April 15/16 and four days later
joined in capturing the Confederate steamer Eu-
reka in the Rappahannock River. On her own,
Anacostia took the Southern sailing ship Monit-
or as she attempted to exit the Piankatank River
in early June.
Badger remained in the Rappahannock dur-
ing the summer, being commissioned a lieuten-
ant commander on July 16. During the first week
of September, he arrived at Cincinnati, OH, to
serve as assistant ordnance inspector for the
Western Flotilla and to assist in delivery of the
new ironclads Indianola and Chillicothe. Noting
that two 11-inch guns were aboard, Badger was
present at the launching of the Indianola on Sep-
tember 4 and began to handle her outfitting.
Further, he took it upon himself, working with
Capt. John A. Duble (?–1901), to assemble a
2
pick-up crew for the ironclad. Twenty days after
Badger wrote to Mississippi Squadron com-
mander David Dixon Porter (1813–1891) on Oc-
tober 1 asking him to “appoint some one to com-
mand the vessel and retire me from further
responsibility in the matter,” he was dispatched
to New Albany, IN, where he took charge of sit-
uating the cannon within the casemate of the
Tuscumbia and designing the arrangement of
her magazine.
Badger continued his responsibilities in Port-
er’s command into 1863, helping to insure the
proper arming of the new ironclads and many
light-draught gunboats known as “tinclads” then
entering service. His last service as that fleet’s
ordnance officer occurred in early June when he
oversaw transfer to Cincinnati of cannon to out-
fit the new “super light draughts” Moose and
Reindeer. In July he returned to Washington for
a short positing in the Bureau of Ordnance be-
fore he was sent to command the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) Passaic-class
monitor Patapsco.
Beginning in mid–August, Badger’s ironclad
resumed, with others, a program of bombard-
ment against Charleston’s defending fortifica-
tions initiated in April. He assumed command
of the monitor Montauk on August 18 and led
her, together with four other ironclads, in the
SABS attacks made the night of August 21/22.
Despite poor visibility, the Montauk and her
companions dropped 71 shells on Confederate
positions. By month’s end, it appeared that Fort
Sumter’s offensive capability was diminished.
Badger had, by this time, been appointed the
squadron’s flag captain, being assigned to the
flagship USS Philadelphia, and participated in
discussions with AUS leaders regarding a joint
attack. Determined to be a part of the September
operation, Badger was allowed to observe from
inside the turret of the monitor Weehawken.
During the night of September 2 six ironclads
assaulted the Charleston forts. Unhappily for
Badger, a Confederate shot sheered off a piece
of iron from the base of the Weehawken’s turret
and sent it into the fleet captain’s right leg. With
a shattered limb, Badger was forced into an ex-
tended period of sick leave. After his convales-
cence, he served at the Philadelphia navy yard
and Pittsburgh ordnance plant (1864–1866).
Promoted to the rank of commander on
 2 Bankhead
July 25, 1866, Badger became captain of the
North Atlantic Squadron (NAS) side-wheel
steamer USS Peoria, which during her 1867
Caribbean cruise provided assistance to victims
and local authorities on July 4 as a great fire de-
stroyed the Leeward Islands city of Basse Terre.
Equipment officer at the Portsmouth navy yard
from September 1867 through 1870, Badger be-
came a captain in 1871 and captained the South
Atlantic Squadron (SAS) steamer Ticonderoga
off South America until 1873 when he took over
the Boston receiving ship Ohio. At the Wash-
ington Navy Yard from 1875 until February 1878,
he undertook his last sea duty, as commander
of the famous frigate Constitution, “Old Iron-
sides,” representing the U.S. at the Paris Expo-
sition for a year. On special Washington, D.C.,
duty in 1880, he assumed command of Philadel-
phia’s Naval Asylum in 1881 and, as a com-
modore, became Boston navy yard comman-
dant that November, a post he held until his
retirement in August 1885. Living out a quiet re-
tirement in Concord, MA, Badger died at home
on June 20, 1899, and was buried in Arlington
National Cemetery. Four 20th century USN de-
stroyers were named in honor of Badger or
members of his family.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ap-
pletons’, I, 133; DAB, I; Smith, Civil War Biographies;
Smith, Joseph Brown; DANFS; Hamersly, 3rd ed.;
Callahan; Bill Heneage, “Oscar C. Badger,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page
= gr&GSsr= 561&GSvcid= 266131&GRid= 6801979&
(accessed June 3, 2010); Smith, Le Roy Fitch; Heitz-
mann, “The Ironclad Weehawken in the Civil War”;
Merrill, “USS Weehawken: Gallant Ironship”; Neeser,
“Historic Ships of the Navy: Montauk”; Thompson,
The U.S. Monitor Patapsco; Porter, “Report Relative
to the Tuscumbia,” in U.S. Navy Department, Report
of the Secretary of the Navy in Relation to Armored Cmdr. John P. Bankhead, USN, was in command
Vessels; Raleigh News and Observer, July 25, 1899; Bal- of the Monitor when she sank in a storm on
timore Sun, June 22, 1899; Washington Post, June 23, December , 862. He served on the North Car-
1899. olina blockade thereafter (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).

Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.”
(1821–1867, USN)
One of three sons born to the distinguished
Mexican War artilleryman, Brev. Brig. Gen.
James Monroe Bankhead (1783–1856), and his
wife Anne, James was born at Fort Johnson on
James Island, SC, on August 3, 1821. A cousin,
John Bankhead Magruder (1807–1871), became
a Confederate major general. Bankhead was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman in August 1838 and
was posted aboard the 36-gun West Indies
Squadron frigate Macedonian, which cruised
from the Caribbean to the west coast of Africa
on anti-pirate and antislavery patrol. Two years
later he was transferred to the Brazil Squadron
sloop-of-war Concord. That vessel, dispatched
to the South Atlantic Island of Tristan da Gunha
Bankhead
on June 28, 1842, to protect American whalers,
grounded on a sandbar at the mouth of the
Loango River in October and could not be
saved, although Bankhead and the survivors
were rescued. Briefly aboard the Home Squad-
ron flagship Independence in early 1843, he stud-
ied at the Philadelphia Naval School, graduated
second in his class, and on May 20, 1844, was
advanced to the rank of passed midshipman and
assigned to the USCS. With the Mexican War
on, he requested in December 1846 an assign-
ment to one of the Home Squadron warships
then operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead,
Bankhead received orders to join a naval battery
bombarding the city of Vera Cruz in coopera-
tion with the AUS. These guns were assigned to
the unit led by Brev. Brig. Gen. James Monroe
Bankhead (1783–1856), who warmly praised his
son’s activities at war’s end.
Following a year’s leave, Bankhead in 1850 re-
ported aboard the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-
war Vandalia, which made several visits to the
Hawaiian Islands before October 1852. While
aboard, Bankhead became a master, on May 8,
1851, and a lieutenant, on April 7, 1852. Ill during
1853 but recovered in 1854, he then served
aboard the Home Squadron flagship, the frigate
Columbia. Late in 1855 he deployed aboard the
Mediterranean Squadron flagship, the sloop-of-
war Constellation, for a three-year flag-showing
cruise. When he returned in 1858, Bankhead was
seconded to the USCS and his first command,
the schooner Cranfield.
When civil war came in April 1861, Bankhead
was ordered aboard the side-wheel Atlantic
Blockading Squadron steamer Susquehanna,
which participated in the joint military-naval
offensive against Hatteras Inlet, NC, and cap-
tured Fort Clark on August 29. As the probable
result of a letter written to his old shipmate Gus-
tavus Vasa Fox (1821–1883), who became USN
assistant navy secretary, Bankhead was ordered
to the Novelty Iron Works at New York on Oc-
tober 8 to oversee final outfitting of the Pembina,
one of numerous so-called “90-Day Gunboats”
then entering the fleet. She arrived off the South
Carolina coast on November 5, joining the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron’s campaign
against Port Royal Sound, which resulted in the
capture of that town on November 11. There-
after, she continued to survey and conduct small
22
runs up St. Helena Sound, the Coosaw River,
and the Ashpoo River. At the beginning of De-
cember, the Pembina, with two other gunboats,
steamed south to Warsaw Sound, GA, on recon-
naissance, also visiting Ossabow Sound and the
Vernon River during the next two months.
On January 27, 1862, Cmdr. John Rodger’s
task group, including Bankhead’s ship, engaged
a small Confederate squadron in waters south-
west of the Savannah River. During February,
Bankhead was ordered to use his USCS experi-
ence to mark channels and river entrances, and
locate underwater mines, then known as “tor-
pedoes.” The Pembina was one of several vessels
ordered to participate in the Fernandia, FL, of-
fensive in March. Although she did not make it
to the town before its surrender, Bankhead’s
craft, with another gunboat, pushed up the St.
Johns River to Jacksonville. When the task group
withdrew, the Pembina was left at Mayport on
blockade. On May 15 Bankhead steamed up to
Charleston, SC, to again make use of his survey
experience to ascertain the depth of water at the
entrance of the Stono River and to participate
in the blockade. He became a commander on
July 16 and in mid–August received orders from
the Navy Department directing that he become
captain of the original Monitor, the same craft
that had fought the CSS Virginia back in March.
The ironclad, arriving under tow at the Wash-
ington Navy Yard from New York in October,
was extensively refreshed. From late October,
the Monitor proved a popular crowd attraction,
with hundreds of people lining the dock to see
her. In early November, Bankhead held a formal
review aboard for the visiting President Abra-
ham Lincoln (1809–1865). Towed to Hampton
Roads, the vessel, under tow of the Rhode Island,
departed south for waters off Charleston, SC, on
December 29. A heavy storm with great waves
developed off Cape Hatteras, NC, on December
31 and the little ironclad quickly began to vio-
lently roll and pitch and take on water. Despite
every effort, Bankhead’s command foundered
and sank about 16 miles southeast of Cape Hat-
teras. A total of 47 officers and men were rescued
by boats from the towing warship, but 16 others
drowned; Bankhead, the last man off, was saved,
suffering badly from exposure.
Returning to New York, he sent in his report
and went on sick leave, during which the Navy
 2
Department did not order a board of inquiry.
Eighteen sixty-three was new when the conva-
lesced Bankhead assumed command of the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
paddle-wheel steamer Florida on the blockade
off Wilmington, NC, at the end of March, re-
maining on that station for the next five months.
He then became violently ill, reportedly suffer-
ing an appendicitis attack, and returned to New
York to recuperate. Recovering slowly, he was
given command of the new NABS double-ender
gunboat Otsego in February 1864, and on June
21 was appointed senior officer in command of
a five-boat USN task group in the North Caro-
lina Sounds. Four days later, the Otsego weighed
anchor and departed for New Bern, with orders
to capture or destroy (or at least contain) the
Confederate ironclad Albemarle. Bankhead
guarded the mouth of the Roanoke into the
summer when, once again, he was forced onto
sick leave, which kept him out of service until
March 1865 when he was ordered to the East In-
dies Squadron sloop-of-war Wyoming.
In late September, Bankhead’s Wyoming ar-
rived at Singapore, from whence she partic-
ipated in the late stages of the search for the
Confederate ocean raider Shenandoah, which
was even then en route to Great Britain. For just
over a year, Wyoming undertook an anti-piracy
patrol along the China coast, during which de-
ployment Bankhead was advanced to captain,
on July 25. At the beginning of 1867, however,
Bankhead became ill and requested sick leave.
While taking passage home aboard the Bengali
steamer Simla, he died off Aden on April 27. No
USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; The
Monitor’s Crew: Commander John Payne Bankhead,
The Monitor Center, http://www.monitorcenter.org/
the-monitors-crew/ (accessed May 1, 2016); Quarstein,
The Monitor Boys; Still, Ironclad Captains; Neeser,
“Historic Ships of the Navy: Monitor”; New York Times,
June 2, 1867; “Rubbings,” pseud., “Captain John Payne
Bankhead,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/ fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=87524974 (accessed
May 1, 2016); Warren, “The Bankhead Family”; Daly,
ed., Aboard the USS Florida, 1863–1865.
Barbot, Alphonse Pierre
(1824–ca. 1884, CSN)
A native of Louisiana, born in 1824, Barbot was
appointed a USN midshipman in February 1838
Barbot
and was promoted to the rank of passed mid-
shipman in May 1844. During the Mexican War
in 1847, he was aboard the USS Mississippi and in
1848 he was acting master of the storeship Sup-
ply during her expedition to the Dead Sea. Upon
the supply vessel’s return from the Mediterran-
ean later in the year, Barbot became acting mas-
ter of the brig Dolphin. Promoted to the rank of
master in June 1852, he and his ship participated
on a special year-long cruise as far as the English
Channel to test and perfect discoveries made by
Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–1873) in his
investigation of the winds and currents of the
ocean. In November 1853 Barbot, advanced to
lieutenant in March, became master aboard the
paddlewheel East Indies Squadron supply ship
Southampton. While in the Pacific, he also
served as master aboard the sloop-of-war Van-
dalia and participated in the opening of Japan.
Continuing to participate in the normal rou-
tine of ship and shore duties through the ante-
bellum period, he became executive officer of
the screw steamer Mohawk in September 1859
and spent the next two years patrolling against
pirates and slavers off the U.S. East Coast and
in the Caribbean. Beginning on November 15,
1860, the Mohawk and another warship de-
fended Forts Jefferson and Taylor at Key West
from actions of “bands of lawless men,” helping
to insure its retention during the upcoming re-
bellion. While off Key West on January 31, 1861,
Barbot shot his ship’s gunner’s mate, whom he
perceived to be mutinous. The steamer imme-
diately returned to her New York base, where
the lieutenant was ordered to stand court-
martial. On March 16, just prior to the outbreak
of the Civil War, Barbot, though living in Phila-
delphia, PA, with his wife Caroline and four chil-
dren, elected to cast his fortune with the Con-
federacy and resigned his commission; he was
formally dismissed from the USN on June 10.
On November 4, 1861, Barbot was appointed
a master in the Confederate Navy and was posted
to the naval station at New Orleans. There he
became acting master of the purchased steam-
boat CSS Red Rover (later the first USN hospital
ship), the barracks ship for the floating battery
New Orleans. On March 5, 1862, Barbot was pro-
moted to the rank of lieutenant and guided both
vessels up the Mississippi River to Island No. 10.
Returning downstream, he served aboard the
Barrett
incomplete Confederate ironclad Louisiana until
she was lost when the Federal fleet steamed past
Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip below the city
in April. Following the capture of the Crescent
City, Barbot was assigned to the Jackson, MS,
naval station and from there was posted aboard
the ironclad ram Arkansas, then being outfitted
at Yazoo City under the direction of Lt. Isaac
Newton Brown (1817–1889). Barbot was one of
the four gunnery officers aboard when she made
her breakout into the Mississippi River on July
15, passed through the combined Union fleet,
and steamed to the safety of Vicksburg. He es-
caped the scuttling of the ironclad off Baton
Rouge on August 6 and, with other members of
the crew, returned to the naval station at Jack-
son. During the month, he and the other Arkan-
sas crew members were assigned to the new gun
batteries at Port Hudson, LA, and on September
7 these fought an inconclusive battle with the
U.S. ironclad Essex.
During the fall of 1862 Barbot transferred to
the Charleston, SC, naval station and early in
1863 became first lieutenant aboard the Confed-
erate ironclad Atlanta at Savannah, GA. On June
17, with the officer serving as commander of the
forward battery, the vessel engaged the U.S. mon-
itor Weehawken in Ossabaw Sound, GA, lost the
battle, and was captured. Barbot was taken to
Fort Lafayette, New York Harbor, then on July
4 to Fort Warren, Boston Harbor. He was ex-
changed and sent to Richmond from City Point,
Virginia, in October 1864, where he was ad-
vanced to the rank of first lieutenant, effective
that past January. On November 7 the Louisi-
anan became first lieutenant aboard the James
River Squadron ironclad CSS Fredericksburg.
When that ship’s captain became ill in February
1865, Barbot became the ironclad’s temporary
commander. On April 3 he was transferred as a
major to the 2nd Regiment of the Naval Brigade
led by Adm. Rafael Semmes (1809–1877) and
with the unit surrendered at Greensboro on April
26 and was paroled. After the war, according to
his Arkansas shipmate George Gift (1833–1879),
Barbot moved to New York City, where he died
sometime just prior to 1884.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; DANFS;
Booth, I; Callahan; ORN, 2, 1: 318; CSN Register; Smith,
CSS Arkansas; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; Sterling, The Sterling Genealogy; Ness,
2
“Louisiana Officers of the Confederate Navy”; New
York Times, February 19, 1861; Foenander; Gift, “The
Story of the Arkansas”; Coski, Capital Navy.
Barrett, Edward Andre Gabriel
(1827–1880, USN)
Born into a family of Creole origin, Barrett,
the second of six children, came into the world
in New Orleans, LA, on February 4, 1827. His
father, Thomas, was collector of the Port of New
Orleans, a position granted him personally by
President Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), while
his mother Marie was descended from the com-
mander of the French force to which George
Washington (1732–1799) had surrendered in
Pennsylvania in 1755. Barrett was appointed a
USN midshipman on November 3, 1840, and at-
tached to the new Mediterranean Squadron
sloop-of-war Preble. He soon transferred aboard
the Brazil Squadron frigate Columbia and sailed
in South American waters until February 1844,
when she deployed to the Mediterranean for
eight months. Barrett did not return home with
the ship but remained in Europe until 1845 when
ordered to the Annapolis Naval School (fore-
runner of the USNA) where he completed a brief
course of study in February 1846. Promoted to
the rank of passed midshipman on July 11, the
officer joined the Mexican War aboard the pad-
dle wheel Home Squadron frigate Mississippi.
Off besieged Vera Cruz in early 1847, Barrett
shuttled between several nearby vessels, includ-
ing Cumberland, Raritan, and John Adams. Going
ashore from the Raritan, he took over command
of an ambulance corps working with the naval
battery, then cooperating with AUS artillery, and
participated in the March battle of Alvarado and
surrender of Vera Cruz itself. After the triumph,
Barrett successively served as prize master for
two vessels captured with contraband and sent
to New Orleans for adjudication.
Quickly back on the Raritan in the warzone,
Barrett went ashore with her naval landing par-
ties at Tuxpan on April 18 and Tabasco, June 15–
16. He was on sick leave from February 1848
until he deployed to Mediterranean waters late
in the year aboard the USS Jamestown. There
the sloop-of-war helped to protect American in-
terests during the several revolutions shaking
the continent. In May 1850 he transferred aboard
 2
Lt. Cmdr. Edward Barrett, USN, is shown aboard the monitor Catskill, which he commanded before
Charleston, SC, in 86 and 86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
the sloop-of-war Lexington, then cruising along
the East Coast, before returning to Europe on
leave. It was during those months that he mar-
ried Palmira De Ribrocchi, daughter of a minor
noble from Tortona, Piedmont, Italy; the couple
would have four children. (It was later reported
that Barrett entered into a common-law mar-
riage in the U.S. after the Civil War and had two
more children by the time of his death.) Barrett
was with the Mediterranean Squadron from 1852
on into 1858, serving aboard the frigate Cum-
berland and the sloop-of-war St. Louis, becom-
ing a lieutenant on September 14, 1855. On New
York navy yard duty in 1859, he deployed in July
1860 on a three-year antislavery patrol aboard
the Africa Squadron screw frigate San Jacinto,
but in the fall was transferred on board the East
Indies Squadron steam sloop-of-war Dacotah,
which, following the outbreak of the Civil War,
returned to the U.S. in December 1861.
Barrett
Just after stepping off the Dacotah, Barrett
was faced with charges of disloyalty, stemming
primarily from his Louisiana birth. When the
allegations were disproved, he was ordered, on
February 11, 1862, to Annapolis and a berth as
gunnery instructor on board the USNA training
frigate Savannah. While instructing midship-
men on ordnance, he completed four textbooks
and was named a lieutenant commander on July
16. From late 1863 until July 1864, Barrett was
captain of the never-finished side-wheel gun-
boat Massasoit, at Boston, MA. Thereafter, he
received command of the South Atlantic Block-
ading Squadron (SABS) Passaic-class monitor
Catskill, which had seen much service in 1863
in the contests with Confederate forts at the
mouth of Charleston Harbor. With much of the
heavy bombardment work there already com-
pleted, her mission was now blockade and army
support. When Charleston was evacuated on
Beaumont
February 18, 1865, Barrett led a party ashore to
take possession of two grounded blockade run-
ners. The Catskill returned to Philadelphia for
decommissioning in July.
Barrett became a commander on December
24, 1865, was captain of the North Atlantic Squad-
ron (NAS) double-ender gunboat Agawam,
which spent 1866 on East Coast training exer-
cises and commanded the South Atlantic Squad-
ron (SAS) steam sloops-of-war Quinnebaug and
Ticonderoga on multiple cruises between March
1867 and the end of 1871. From 1872 to 1874 Bar-
rett was captain of the NAS steam sloop-of-war
Canandaigua in the Caribbean before taking
over the screw sloop-of-war Plymouth in the
same area. He was at sea in May 1875 when his
promotion to the rank of captain was announced.
In 1876 the Plymouth represented the U.S. gov-
ernment at the closing of the International Cen-
tennial Exposition at Philadelphia. In a personal
highlight during the year and with the author’s
permission, he organized an anthology from the
works of English writer Thomas Carlyle. The Ply-
mouth was chosen to test the jetties constructed
by engineer James Buchanan Eads (1820–1887)
at South Pass, at the mouth of the Mississippi
River, to protect the port of New Orleans. Dur-
ing his successful visit in the spring of 1877,
Capt. Barrett contracted malaria and was briefly
hospitalized. When labor riots broke out in Wash-
ington, D.C., in July the Plymouth was ordered
up the Potomac River and, from the Washington
Navy Yard, Barrett created a pick-up brigade of
sailors and Marines to protect public establish-
ments in the capital city and provide first aid.
When the Plymouth was decommissioned in
May 1879, her captain went ashore only to fall
ill again with the malaria that had attacked him
at New Orleans in 1877. Hospitalized, Barrett
was confined for months, though he received a
few friends on January 13, 1880, when news ar-
rived of his promotion to the rank of commo-
dore. Barrett died on March 31 and was buried
on April 3 in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn,
NY. Although no USN vessels have been named
in his honor, Barrett is the only Civil War iron-
clad captain with his own Italian-language In-
ternet home page.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, XX; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Frank Leslie’s Illustrated
Newspaper, April 17, 1880; DANFS; Barrett, Gunnery
26
Instructions Simplified for the Volunteer Officers of the
U.S. Navy; Barrett, Dead Reckoning; or, A Day’s Work;
Barrett, Naval Howitzer: Instructions Condensed for
the Volunteer Officers of the U.S. Navy; Barrett, Tem-
porary Fortifications: Prepared for the Naval Service;
Barrett, The Carlyle Anthology; New York Tribune
(April 2, 1880); New York Times, April 4, 1880; Grand
Army of the Republic, “Com. Edward Barrett” Find-
aGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GRid=104392176 (accessed May 2, 2016);
“Cmdr. Edward Gabriele Andre Barrett: ‘Sans Peur et
Sans Reproche,” CmdrBarrett http://cmdr.barrett, net
(accessed May 12, 2016).
Beaumont, John Colt (1821–1882,
USN)
The son of U.S. congressman Andrew Beau-
mont and his wife Julia, John Colt Beaumont
was born in Wilkes Barre, PA, on August 21,
1821, the fourth of eight children. A product of
local education, he was appointed a USN mid-
shipman on March 1, 1838, and detailed to the
Atlantic Coast Squadron sloop-of-war Erie for
a 28-month cruise along the East Coast and in
the Caribbean with the mission of guarding
American interests during the French blockade
of Mexican ports. Beaumont was ordered aboard
the East India Squadron flagship, the frigate
Constellation, in October 1840 and participated
in an 1841–1844 circumnavigation of the globe
under Com. Lawrence Kearny (1789–1868). Upon
his return home, Beaumont learned that he had
been advanced to the rank of passed midship-
man. In November 1844 he joined the new sloop-
of-war Jamestown, which exercised off the East
Coast until June 25, 1845. Thereafter she sailed
as Africa Squadron flagship for 14 months off
the west coast of the “Dark Continent.”
Beaumont subsequently joined the Home
Squadron ship-of-the-line Ohio, which arrived
off Vera Cruz in March 1847 and remained to
supply men and guns for missions ashore during
the course of the Mexican War. Between Febru-
ary 1848 and June 1849, Beaumont spent eight
months at the USNO and nine seconded to the
USCS before transferring to the Mediterranean
Squadron flagship, the razee Independence. After
a three-year deployment, during which he be-
came a master, on August 30, 1851, he resumed
duty at the USNO. Promoted a lieutenant on
August 29, he married Fanny Dorrance on Oc-
tober 27; the couple would have three children.
 2 Beaumont

Lt. Cmdr. John C. Beaumont, USN, commanded the monitor Nantucket during the Civil War and
afterwards the giant monitor Miantonomoh on a voyage to Russia. He is shown here (th from left,
2nd row) with Assistant Navy Secretary Gustavus Vasa Fox (6th from left, 2nd row) and others in
866. Photograph taken at St. Petersburg (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

Beaumont participated in a test of the engines
of the screw frigate San Jacinto in a July–
September 1854 visit to Southampton, England,
after which he cruised along the East Coast on
the Home Squadron flagship, the frigate Poto-
mac. Joining the squadron’s new screw frigate
Wabash, he participated in her first mission, the
transfer of President Franklin Pierce (1804–
1869) from Portsmouth, NH, to Annapolis in late
summer 1856. As squadron flagship, she stood
south to the waters off Nicaragua in 1857, ar-
rested the American William Walker (1824–
1860), who had attempted to establish a Central
American empire, and returned him to New
York in February 1858. There Beaumont joined
the receiving ship North Carolina, where he re-
mained until April 1859, when he was posted to
the screw sloop-of-war Hartford. Following a
shakedown cruise off the East Coast, the new
East Indies Squadron flagship steamed to the
Orient, arriving in Chinese waters in the fall.
During November, she embarked the U.S. min-
ister and carried him on diplomatic visits to a
number of Far East cities, including Manila,
Canton, Swatow, and Shanghai. This mission
was cut short by the eruption of the Civil War
and the ship’s return to the U.S. in November.
After completing her outfit, Beaumont’s first
command, the Unadilla-class gunboat Aroo-
stook, joined the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) on February 20, 1862, and ini-
tially steamed southeast of Cape Cod to assist
the storm-damaged Vermont. Damaged herself
but repaired, the Aroostook joined a small squad-
ron in April supporting the Union ironclad Mon-
itor as she stood guard against the Confederate
Belknap
ironclad Virginia. It was not known exactly how
the little ships would fight the Southern behe-
moth if she sortied from Norfolk, VA, again.
However, Beaumont planned, if opportunity
presented itself (it did not), to render her un-
maneuverable by running alongside and snaring
her propellers with a net his men had made from
“rattling stuff.” In early May the Aroostook pro-
ceeded up the James River and joined the Mon-
itor and the iron-plated gunboat USS Galen, in
unsuccessfully attacking Confederate defenses
at Drewry’s Bluff, the last Southern obstacle be-
fore Richmond.
Exhausted and ill, Beaumont went on sick
leave about the time he was promoted to the
rank of commander on July 16. Restored to duty
in October, he assumed command of the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron steamer Sebago
and joined the blockade off Charleston, SC, re-
maining there until April 1863. On May 3 Beau-
mont assumed command of the Passaic-class
single-turret monitor Nantucket, taking aboard
with him a surviving journal he had begun
aboard the Sebago and which he would maintain
until November. With other SABS ironclads, his
ironclad supported AUS operations against Mor-
ris Island, on the southern approaches to Charles-
ton, blasting Fort Wagner during July 16–18 and
July 24. Morris Island was abandoned by the
Confederates on September 6/7. In February
1864 Beaumont took over the NABS double-
ender gunboat Mackinaw, commanding her on
James River picket duty that continued most of
the summer. The ship was transferred to the
blockade off Wilmington, NC, in the fall and
played a major gunfire support role in the cam-
paign against Fort Fisher, Wilmington’s major
defense. On December 24–25, her ordnance
covered an unsuccessful naval infantry attack.
Beginning on January 12, 1865, the Mackinaw
was one of 56 Union vessels that pounded Fort
Fisher, prior to a second—and successful—
Union effort to take the bastion on January 14–
15. On February 18, she participated in the attack
on Fort Anderson up the Cape Fear River. Beau-
mont fell ill in July and went on sick leave until
February 1866.
Beaumont was in command of the double-
turreted North Atlantic Squadron (NAS) mon-
itor Miantonomoh when she arrived at St. John’s,
Newfoundland, and on May 23, 1866, embarked
28
Navy assistant secretary Gustavus Vasa Fox
(1821–1883) and his party en route to Russia
and other points in Europe on a special mission
for President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875). The
first monitor to cross the Atlantic Ocean, she
concluded her 17,700-mile voyage and arrived
at Philadelphia, PA, on July 22, 1867. Having re-
ceived no orders, Beaumont was placed on the
Navy Department’s retired list in April 1868;
however, he was restored to the active list in
1872, becoming executive officer of the Wash-
ington Navy Yard in December. He was captain
of the NAS flagship, the paddle-wheel frigate
Powhatan, from July 1873 to May 1874, cruising
the East Coast until his promotion to the rank
of commodore in June and assignment to the
USN Board of Inspection and Survey.
A widower, Beaumont married Fannie King
and, from September 1876 to April 1879, was
chief signal officer of the navy. Named comman-
dant of the U.S. Navy Yard at Portsmouth, NH,
in May, he was promoted to rear admiral on No-
vember 25, 1881, and voluntarily retired on Feb-
ruary 3, 1882. While visiting with his family at
Durham, NH, on August 2 of that year, he died
of a heart attack. The admiral was buried at Oak
Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. No USN ves-
sels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; DANF;
Cogar; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Rodehorst, Guide to the
John C. Beaumont Journal, 1862–1863; Russ Dodger,
“Adm. John Colt Beaumont,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid= 159
43621 (accessed May 3, 2016); Washington Post, Au-
gust 4, 1882; New York Tribune, August 4, 1882; Chi-
cago Daily Tribune, August 6, 1882; New York Times,
August 7, 1882.
Belknap, George Eugene
(1832–1903, USN)
One of six sons of farmer-manufacturer Saw-
yer B. Belknap and his wife Martha Mary, George
was born at Newport, NH, on January 22, 1832.
He appointed a USN acting midshipman on Oc-
tober 7, 1847, and was sent to the USNA. That
December he joined the Africa Squadron brig
Porpoise on a three-year antislavery patrol. As-
signed to the Pacific Squadron frigate Raritan
in July 1850, he sailed along the west coast of
South America as far west as the International
Date Line, until October 1852. As passed mid-
 2
shipman as of June 10, 1853, Belknap completed
his USNA before he was seconded to the USCS
paddle-wheel steamer Corwin in January 1854
until October. The sloop of war Albany had dis-
appeared off the west coast of Venezuela in Sep-
tember with the sons of several notables aboard,
and on December 16 the frigate Falmouth, with
Belknap aboard as acting master, was one of sev-
eral warships sent on an unsuccessful nine-
month search to find her. After brief service on
the sloop-of-war Saratoga until October and the
receiving ship Ohio until March 1856, he shipped
on the East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Ports-
mouth under Cmdr. Andrew Hull Foote (1806–
1863). In September 1857 she took America’s
minister to Japan, Townsend Harris, the first
mail he had received from the U.S. in 14 months.
In October, Belknap’s ship was dispatched to
China to observe British operations during the
Second Opium War. Tasked with protecting
American lives, Foote ordered Marines and
sailors from his ship, and another landed at Can-
Lt. Cmdr. George E. Belknap, USN, photographed
in a business suit, was captain of the monitor
Canonicus as well as the casemate ironclad New
Ironsides. In May 86 his monitor was sent to
Havana, Cuba, to take possession of the Confed-
erate ironclad Stonewall. Upon his return, he had
the pleasure of knowing that his vessel was the
first of its type to reach a foreign port and return
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Belknap
ton (now Guangzhou) in November. On No-
vember 15 the withdrawing force was shelled by
Chinese forts lining the Pearl River, bringing on
a return U.S. bombardment the next day. Four
days later, the U.S. warships again fired on the
Chinese bastions. Foote led a landing party in
small boats, one of which was commanded by
Belknap, who had been promoted to the rank of
master on September 15 and lieutenant a day
later. The party took two of the forts, and two
more fell on November 24. After the Portsmouth
returned to Virginia in mid-1858, Belknap be-
came an instructor aboard the Ohio until Jan-
uary 1859, when he went aboard the Home
Squadron sloop-of-war St. Louis. Two years
later, the St. Louis was required to break off her
Caribbean deployment and take station at Pen-
sacola, FL, there to guard the base during a time
of intense turmoil.
In April 1861 Belknap commanded small
boats from the St. Louis in the first and second
reinforcements of Fort Pickens and in Septem-
ber when a Confederate blockade-runner was
captured at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
In November he became executive officer of the
new Unadilla-class gunboat Huron. On Decem-
ber 8 he married Ellen Deborah Reed, with
whom he would have a daughter. Joining the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in Febru-
ary 1862, the Huron patrolled the coast between
Georgia and Florida and also participated in
several small raids. April and May brought a
time of “happy hunting” for Belknap’s vessel as
she caught four blockade-runners. Promoted to
lieutenant commander on July 16, he became ex-
ecutive officer of the casemate ironclad New
Ironsides, which, following shakedown and
modifications, arrived off Charleston, SC, in
January 1863. On April 7 she served as flagship
during an unsuccessful bombardment of Fort
Sumter. As she withdrew, the New Ironsides ac-
tually anchored directly over a Confederate un-
derwater mine, or “torpedo,” packed with 3,000
pounds of high explosive—but it failed to ex-
plode. When the captain of the giant ironclad
was promoted in June, Belknap assumed com-
mand and continued to maintain her on station,
participating in all of the summer events sur-
rounding the Federal effort to take that city.
When the New Ironsides returned to Philadel-
phia for refit, Belknap was briefly appointed
Belknap
commander of a “90-day wonder,” the North At-
lantic Blockading Squadron Seneca, another
Unadilla-class gunboat. However, in November,
he took over the new single-turret monitor Ca-
nonicus, the lead ship of her class, and joined
two sister ships off City Point in the James River
on April 16, 1864. These ironclads supported
the AUS in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign
in May and June, and on June 21 the trio en-
gaged a Confederate battery at Howlett’s Farm
in a spirited duel that lasted several hours.
Remaining in the James for the remainder of the
summer and fall, the monitor fought a return
engagement with the Howlett Battery on Decem-
ber 5–6.
With the NABS in need of additional gunfire
support vessels for the year-end Fort Fisher
campaign, the Canonicu was towed to Beaufort,
NC, where on December 24–25 a first unsuc-
cessful attack was made by U.S. forces on the
Southern citadel. Between January 13 and 15,
1865, the Union mounted a second successful
assault. Towed to Charleston, SC, on January 19,
the Canonicus joined in the long-running SABS
blockade of that city. Belknap, witness to the
enemy evacuation of the city on the night of
February 4, sent to, and received from, Fort
Moultrie the last rounds exchanged in its de-
fenses.
Still off the South Carolina coast in April
when the Civil War concluded, Belknap’s iron-
clad and another were both towed in May to Ha-
vana, Cuba, there to take possession of the Con-
federate oceangoing ironclad Stonewall, which
had been turned over to Spanish authorities by
her captain. The Canonicus returned to the U.S.
on June 6. Sick all summer while he was at the
USNA, Belknap’s wife Ellen died in October. The
following month, he was appointed executive
officer of the screw sloop-of-war Shenandoah,
which spent the next year with the East Indies
Squadron. Advanced to commander on July 25,
1866, Belknap married, on December 23, Fran-
ces Georgiana Prescott (1842–1912), with whom
he would have four children, including RAdm.
George Rowan Belknap (1871–1959). At year’s
end, Belknap became captain of the squadron
flagship, the famous sloop-of-war Hartford. Fol-
lowing a native massacre of American survivors
from the bark Rover on southern Formosa in
March 1867, the Hartford and another vessel

were dispatched to the scene in June on what
turned out to be an unsuccessful punitive expe-
dition.
Already having been detached, Belknap was
back at the USNA that summer. On recruiting
duty or unemployed, Belknap was on navigation
duty at the Boston navy yard from April 1869
until late April 1872, when his career became
centered on exploration, hydrographic scienti-
fic research, and experimentation in deep-sea
sounding, winning him his greatest recognition.
Appointed captain of the screw sloop-of-war
Tuscarora in May 1872, he undertook a series of
hydrographic voyages in the North Pacific that
lasted until late 1874, during which he invented
several exploratory tools. For his scientific work,
he was elected a fellow of the American Geo-
graphic Society and was awarded a silver medal
by the Geographical Society of France. Pro-
moted to the rank of captain on January 25, 1875,
Belknap commanded the Pensacola navy yard
until April 1876, when he was ordered to under-
take another six-month hydrographic expedi-
tion in the Pacific before resuming his duties at
Pensacola, which he performed until March
1881.
He became captain of the North Pacific Sta-
tion screw sloop-of-war Alaska in April 1881,
and for the remainder of the year and the first
half of 1882 he performed hydrographic sound-
ings in the Alaska Deep (then named for the
ship, but now called the Peru-Chile Trench) and
Alaska Rise (now the Chile Rise). During late
fall, he received special honors from the King of
Hawaii and learned that he had been recognized
in an anthology of New Hampshire poets. From
1883 to 1885 he was commandant of the Norfolk
navy yard and president of several boards, in-
cluding that which examined the new dispatch
vessel Dolphin (PG-24), one of the so-called
ABCD ships. Promoted to commodore on
June 2, 1885, Belknap served as USNO superin-
tendent for a year and then became comman-
dant of the Mare Island navy yard, overseeing it
until March 1889. Having been appointed a rear
admiral on February 12, 1889, he was sent to
Yokohama, Japan, to assume command of the
Asiatic Squadron, which he oversaw until Feb-
ruary 1892. For the remainder of the year
through 1893, he headed several boards, was a
VIP escort at the Chicago World’s Fair, and over-
 
saw speed and other trials for the cruisers De-
troit, New York, Columbia, and Marblehead.
Belknap was placed on the USN retired list
on January 22, 1894, but in both his writings
(scientific and otherwise) and his activities he
was far from inactive. At the beginning of 1903,
seeking a different climate, he accepted a Navy
Department contract to serve as superintendent
of hydrographic work in connection with a naval
base at Key West, FL. Belknap died there of a
heart attack on April 7 and was buried at Arling-
ton National Cemetery two days later. Two 20th
century U.S. warships (DD-251/AVD-8/APD-
34 and DLG/CG-26) were named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Cogar, I; DANFS; Cowley, “Rear Admi-
ral George Eugene Belknap”; Douglas Niermeyer,
“Rear Admiral George Eugene Belknap, USN,” Mili-
tary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States:
Loyal Legion Vignettes, 2005, http://suvcw.org/mollus/
art042.htm (accessed May 15, 2016); “Rubbings,” pseud.,
“Adm. George Eugene Belknap,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
35564139 (accessed May 16, 2016); Stewart, Admirals
of the World; McClellan, “The Capture of the Barrier
Forts in the Canton River, China”; Roberts, USS New
Ironsides in the Civil War; Neeser, “Historic Ships of
the Navy: New Ironsides”; Nicholson, George E. Belk-
nap Papers: A Finding Aid to the Papers in the Naval
Historical Foundation Collection in the Library of Con-
gress; Chapin, comp., The Poets of New Hampshire;
The second, incomplete, Confederate ironclad Nashville was commanded at Mobile, AL, in 86 and
86 by Lt. John William Bennett, CSN, who surrendered her on May , 86. Prior to that he had
commanded the gunboat Gaines (depicted) in the Battle of Mobile Bay (courtesy Naval History and
Heritage Command).
Bennett
History of Bedford, New Hampshire; Belknap, “Remi-
niscences of the New Ironsides Off Charleston”; Belk-
nap, “The Home Squadron in the Winter of 1860–61:
Paper Read January 5, 1897”; Belknap, “Reminiscences
of the Siege of Charleston”; Belknap, “Concerning
Deep Sea Soundings with Large Plate”; Belknap, “The
Depth of the Pacific Off the East Coast of Japan”; Belk-
nap, ed., The Letters of Capt. George Hamilton Perkins,
USN; Belknap, “Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen: A Biog-
raphical Sketch”; Belknap, “Some Aspects of Naval
Administration, in War, with Its Attendant Belongings
of Peace”; New York Times, April 8, 12, 1903; Boston
Daily Globe, December 31, 1899; April 8, 1903; Wash-
ington Post, April 8, 14, 1903.
Bennett, John William (1822–
1902, CSN)
Bennett was born on January 11, 1822, the son
of a wealthy Talbot County, MD, family. He was
appointed a USN Midshipman on February 10,
1840. Graduating with the first USNA class, he
became a passed midshipman on July 11, 1846,
and was ordered aboard the paddle-wheel fri-
gate Mississippi when she departed for the Mexi-
can War. Arriving off besieged Vera Cruz in early
1847, Bennett rotated among several nearby ves-
sels, including Cumberland, Raritan, and John
Adams, and participated in the March battle of
Alvarado and the surrender of Vera Cruz itself.
Brent
After the fall of Vera Cruz, Bennett joined the
naval landing parties at Tuxpan on April 18 and
Tabasco, June 15–16. Afflicted with a light case
of yellow fever and confined aboard the Missis-
sippi, he recovered, becoming acting master of
the paddle-wheel gunboat Spitfire and re-
maining in the Gulf of Mexico protecting AUS
supply ships.
Bennett was seconded to the USCS during the
winter of 1848–49 and was engaged in explo-
rations of the “Outer Diamond Shoal” off Cape
Hatteras, NC. A year later he was transferred
aboard the frigate Raritan, successively flagship
of the West India Squadron and the Home
Squadron. In October 1851 Bennett was ap-
pointed navigator aboard the paddle-wheel East
Indies frigate Susquehanna and participated in
the “Opening of Japan” (1853–1855). He was
rated a master on March 1, 1855, and lieutenant
on September 14. When the Civil War erupted,
Bennett was on duty at the USNO and resigned
from the Federal navy. Officially dismissed by
the USN on April 19, 1861, he traveled to Rich-
mond and entered the CSN as a first lieutenant
on June 20. Working with the ACS, the lieuten-
ant was present during the First Battle of Man-
assas (Bull Run) in July and commanded two
of the eight batteries at Manassas until March
1862.
Bennett then became executive officer aboard
the ocean cruiser Nashville, originally fitted out
at Charleston, SC, to transport Confederate
commissioners to England. The diplomats went
by another vessel and the raider sailed directly
for Southampton, capturing the U.S. merchant-
man Harvey Birch in the North Atlantic while
en route. In the fall of 1862 the returned Bennett
took over the paddle-wheel gunboat CSS Gaines,
which he would command for months. Ap-
pointed a first lieutenant, Provisional Navy, to
take effect from January 6, 1864, he commanded
Battery Buchanan at Choctaw Point on Mobile
Bay. He also captained the Gaines in the Battle
of Mobile Bay, on August 5, where she left the
fight in sinking condition and was grounded.
Most of the crew reached Mobile in small boats,
and Bennett devoted his energies to Battery
Buchanan until November 26. Early in 1865, he
became captain of the second Nashville, a case-
mate ironclad originally launched at Mont-
gomery, AL, but at that time nearly finished at
2
Mobile. On March 27 her guns helped to beat
off Federal advances on Spanish Fort, firing until
Union guns drove her off. On April 2, she
shelled Northern soldiers near Fort Blakely, but
10 days later when the city surrendered she re-
treated up the Tombigbee River to Demopolis
only to formally surrender on May 10. Paroled
at Nunna Hubba Bluff that May 10, Bennett re-
turned to Maryland by way of New Orleans and
Norfolk and, with his family, settled in the Car-
roll County community of Sykesville. There he
farmed and was active in politics. Upon his
death at age 80 on June 29, 1902, the captain was
buried in Springfield Cemetery, located at the
Springfield Presbyterian Church in Sykesville.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Fro-
nander; DANFS; CSN Register; Driver, Confederate
Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Fran Midkiff, “John W. Bennett and the
Battle of Mobile Bay”; Sykesville Gatehouse Museum
ArtiFACTS, http://www.sykesvilleonline.com/john-
w-bennett-and-the-battle-of-mobile-bay/ (accessed
May 12, 2016); Atlanta Constitution, June 30, 1902;
“Seagull,” pseud, “Captain John William Bennett,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=37281262 (accessed May 12,
2016); “Capt. John W. Bennett,” Confederate Veteran;
Napier, “Montgomery’s Confederate Warship”; Hearn,
Mobile Bay and the Mobile Campaign: The Last Great
Battles of the Civil War.
Brent, Thomas William (1808–
1875, CSN)
The son of militia colonel William Brent and
his wife Catherine was born in Washington,
D.C., on February 20, 1808. He was appointed a
U.S. Navy acting midshipman on March 1, 1825.
During the next 20 years, he participated in the
normal routine of sea and shore duty common
to naval officers of the antebellum period. Brent
was promoted regularly: passed midshipman,
June 1831; lieutenant, March 1836; and com-
mander, September 1855. He married Merced
Gonzalez (1824–1919) at Pensacola, FL, on July
12, 1841; the couple would have 11 children. Dur-
ing the Mexican War of 1847–1848, his vessel,
the sloop-of-war USS Falmouth, blockaded Mex-
ican Gulf ports. After serving ashore as an ord-
nance officer, Brent received his first command
in 1857, the 16-gun Africa Squadron sloop of war
Marion. She served on antislavery patrol off the
west coast of Africa from early 1858 through
  Brown
1860 before returning to her home port of Ports-
mouth, NH.
On January 19, 1861, Brent resigned his USN
commission. He was appointed a CSN com-
mander on March 26 and assigned to superin-
tend the Pensacola navy yard. He orchestrated
the transportation of Confederate soldiers to
Santa Rosa Island, FL, on October 8–9. On March
8, 1862, he was ordered to evacuate his facility
and torched the navy yard and defending forti-
fications. He subsequently served as commander
of the Georgia and South Carolina naval station
at Savannah, GA, until October1863, when he
was promoted to commander of naval forces
west of the Mississippi. Deployed to that post
only briefly, he left the defenses on the Red River
to Lt. Jonathan Carter (1822–1884), who was
then building the CSS Missouri. Brent was next
assigned to the staff of RAdm. Franklin Bu-
chanan (1800–1874) at Mobile and, in June 1864,
was given command of the ironclad CSS Savan- The Confederate ironclad Savannah, under
nah, then entering service at her namesake city. Cmdr. Thomas W. Brent, was stationed at her
A force-in-being, the ship saw no action until namesake city in 86 and on December 2
the end of the year, when for two days it pro- became the last CSN vessel to fight in Georgia
vided gunfire support as Confederate forces waters when it engaged Union artillery. This pic-
evacuated the city. On December 20 the Savan- ture of Brent in later life is taken from a photo-
graph of a painting in the possession of Dreda
nah became the last CSN vessel to fight in Geor- and Larry Grimes of Pensacola, FL, and Hunts-
gia waters when it engaged Union artillery. The ville, AL (courtesy Anne Fields).
next day, while attempting to escape the advance
of Sherman’s army, the ship became entangled archaeology/css-savannah (accessed May 17, 2016);
in a Southern minefield, requiring its destruc- Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters;
tion. Traveling by way of Hardeeville, Brent ar- Jean Whelan Booton, “Thomas William Brent,” Find-
aGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
rived at the Charleston, SC, naval station two
page=gr&GRid=89869379 (accessed May 17, 2016).
days later. Before that command ended, he was
sent to participate in the defense of Mobile, AL,
where he was captured and then paroled on May Brown, George “Spud” (1835–
22, 1865.
1913, USN)
After the war, Brent returned to Pensacola,
working in the fire/casualty insurance business The middle of six children of U.S. congress-
until his death on November 10, 1875. man William John Brown (1805–1857) and his
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; DANFS; wife Susan (1807–1888), George was born in
Callahan; ORN, 2, 1; CSN Register; Foenander; Driver, Milroy, Rush County, IN, on June 19, 1835. A pro-
Confederate Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Vir- duct of local public schools, he was appointed a
ginia and Maryland; Larry Grimes, “A Talk on Com-
mander Thomas William Brent: Pensacola Historical USN acting midshipman on February 5, 1849,
Society,” in “Ancestors of LCDR Thomas William Salt- and joined the frigate Cumberland for a two-
marsh, Jr., USN (Ret.),” Family Origins, http://www. year cruise of the Mediterranean and visiting
familyorigins.com/users/s/a/l/Thomas-W-Saltmarsh- ports in support of American interests. Trans-
jr/FAMO1–0001/d8.htm (accessed April 1, 2012); ferring to the Pacific Squadron frigate St. Law-
Hartman, comp., Biographical Rosters of Florida’s Con-
federate and Union Soldiers, 1861–1865, I; Stephen rence in October 1851, he spent the next three
Huggins, “CSS Savannah,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, and one-half years sailing along the west coast
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history- of South America and occasionally to Hawaii.
Brown
Lt. Cmdr. George Brown, USN, commanded the
ill-fated ironclad Indianola when she was lost to
Confederate forces below Vicksburg in February
86. He later became a rear admiral (Library of
Congress).
Having returned to the USNA in fall 1854, he
graduated 6th in a class of 39 on June 12, 1855,
and became a passed midshipman. Although he
became a master on September 16 and a lieuten-
ant on June 2, 1856, he was unemployed until
December. Assigned to the Brazil Squadron
sloop-of-war Falmouth, he participated in the
October 1858–February 1859 U.S. Paraguay Ex-
pedition, a diplomatic mission backed by force.
Following leave, Brown reported aboard the

storeship Supply, which deployed to the west
coast of Africa in August as part of the Africa
Squadron, from whence he transferred to the
same squadron’s sloop-of-war Portsmouth in
December. On February 6, 1860, a “cutting out”
party from the vessel captured the slave ship Vir-
ginian off the mouth of the Congo River and
Brown, as her prize master, returned to the U.S.
in April with his first independent command.
In August, Brown joined the Home Squadron
paddle-wheel frigate Powhatan and cruised off
the coast of Mexico.
In April 1861 as civil war erupted, Brown’s ves-
sel was involved in an unsuccessful Federal
effort orchestrated by Secretary of State William
H. Seward (1801–1872) to relieve Fort Pickens,
FL, after which she was shifted to the blockade
of Mobile, AL. In November, Brown assumed
command of the new paddle-wheel double-
ender North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
steamer Octarora. After a few weeks off Wilm-
ington, NC, she reported to Ship Island, MS,
where she became flagship of Cmdr. David
Dixon Porter’s (1813–1891) Mortar Flotilla, a
component of the West Gulf Blockading Squad-
ron that captured New Orleans in April 1862. In
May, June, and July elements of the WGBS, in-
cluding Octarora, ascended the Mississippi River
past Baton Rouge to attack the Confederate
citadel at Vicksburg, MS. In the predawn dark-
ness of June 28, the mortar schooners controlled
from Brown’s ship opened fire upon the South-
ern fortress while heavy squadron elements
steamed upriver to a position in the river above
the stronghold. During the action, the Octarora
was damaged and was subsequently ordered to
return east for repairs. Still, while on that Mis-
sissippi sojourn, Brown was advanced to the
rank of lieutenant commander on July 16. At the
beginning of October, RAdm. Porter, new com-
mander of the Mississippi Squadron, appointed
his late deputy captain of the ironclad Indianola
being completed at Cincinnati, OH. The new
vessel went to war on January 24, 1863, and on
February 13/14 ran downstream past the Vicks-
burg batteries to join with another vessel in halt-
ing the flow of supplies to the Confederate
citadel from the Red River. On February 21 In-
dianola quit her Red River blockade to return
to base but was engaged before she could do so
by a small Confederate task group on February
 
24/25. Rammed several times, the Federal iron-
clad was forced to run ashore and surrender.
Brown and many of his crewmen were held as
POWs until they were exchanged at Richmond
on May 23.
In June Brown was assigned to special duties
at Cincinnati and the following month sup-
ported the light draught units of the Mississippi
Squadron in their successful attempt to corral
the rampaging Rebel Brig. Gen. John Hunt Mor-
gan. Brown assumed command of the Unadilla-
class gunboat Itasca and arrived off New Orleans
on New Year’s Eve. As 1864 began, the Itasca was
assigned to the WGBS blockade of Mobile Bay,
AL, but saw no significant action for eight
months. On August 5 she joined other units of
her squadron in the Battle of Mobile Bay, par-
ticipating in the capture of CSS Selma, the last
Confederate ship to surrender during the en-
gagement. After the fight, the Itasca was trans-
ferred to the Texas coastal blockade. At year’s
end, Brown was ordered back to New Orleans,
where in January 1865 he assumed command of
the squadron flagship Arizona, which was then
completing repairs. While en route from South
West Pass to New Orleans on February 27/28, a
fire broke out onboard that could not be con-
tained, forcing the Arizona to ground on the
west bank of the Mississippi River, where she
exploded. At month’s end, Brown assumed com-
mand of the Pook turtle Cincinnati, transferred
to the WGBS from the Mississippi Squadron,
which patrolled in the Mississippi Sounds and
off Mobile Bay, and participated in the campaign
against Spanish Fort and the defenses of Mobile
from March 23 to April 14. Brown later recalled
her firing on guerrillas attacking AUS transports
at Catawba, 15 miles from Selma, AL, and that
this was the navy’s “the last shot of the war.” Fol-
lowing his ship’s withdrawal, he took over the
screw gunboat Pocahontas on the Texas block-
ade.
In December, Brown, on New York ordnance
duty since July, was given command of the for-
mer blockade-runner CSS Lady Stirling, which
had been renamed USS Hornet, and sent to
Cuba to escort the onetime Confederate iron-
clad ram CSS Stonewall back to America. Pro-
moted to the rank of commander on July 25,
1866, he was given leave in August 1867 to re-
cruit a small crew and, as the purchaser’s agent
Brown
and ship captain, deliver the former Stonewall,
now the Kōtetsu, to the government of the Japa-
nese Tokugawa shogunate at Yokahoma. Slowed
by ill-functioning machinery in the doldrums
of the Pacific, the ship ran out of vegetables and
had nothing but salt horse and hardtack. Unable
to signal-down an encountered eastward-bound
vessel, Brown ordered a shot put across her bow.
Once the ship hove to, a cutter from the Kōtetsu
went alongside and requested to purchase a
quantity of potatoes, which “spuds” were duly
delivered. Both ships went their separate ways,
with the warship’s captain gaining his nickname.
Arriving at their destination in late January 1868,
the crew of the Kōtetsu learned that the Boshin
War had erupted between the shogunate and the
imperial government. With the U.S. pledged to
neutrality, the American minister ordered the
ironclad to display an American flag and await
offshore with the U.S. squadron. The vessel was
finally delivered to the new Meigi government
in February 1869, allowing Brown to return to
his ordnance duties until September 1870, when
he became captain of the Great Lakes gunboat
Michigan. On October 4, 1871, Brown married
Kate Morris; the couple would have two sons,
both USN officers. His niece, Ms. Eliza G. Brown,
would become Indianapolis city librarian.
Brown’s Great Lakes deployment continued
until October 1873, after which he returned to
ordnance duties, this time at Boston. On April
25, 1877, he became a captain and served and
served as inspector of the 10th Lighthouse Dis-
trict at Buffalo, NY, for a year until given com-
mand of the North Pacific Station sloop-of-war
Alaska. From 1879 through June 1881 Brown
cruised the waters off Alaska, the West Coast of
the U.S., and along South America as far down
as Peru. At the end of August 1881, he completed
orders to establish a coaling station at Pago Pago.
Following his Pacific sojourn, Brown was inspec-
tor of the 3rd Lighthouse District at Tompkins-
ville, NY, until June 1885, when he was sent to
the Norfolk navy yard. Becoming a commodore
on September 4, 1887, he took command of the
Pacific Squadron onboard the protected cruiser
San Francisco (C-5) in January 1890 and once
more visited many of the ports he had first seen
while aboard the Alaska. Brown was close to the
ill Hawaiian King David Kalākaua and was pres-
ent at his February 1891 burial. In September off
Brown
Valparaiso during the Chilean civil war, he or-
dered a force of sailors and Marines sent ashore
from the San Francisco to guard the U.S. con-
sulate. He also controversially took aboard 35
ranking refugees from the conflict’s losing side,
sending them to Peru. Although criticized in the
press of the U.S. and Chile, his actions were up-
held by President Benjamin Harrison (1833–
1901) and the Navy Department. The San Fran-
cisco returned to the U.S. East Coast in February
1893 and, in April and May, he served as USN
representative during the International Naval
Review held at Hampton Roads, VA. On August
1, as a newly created rear admiral and the rank-
ing USN officer in the USN, he became com-
mandant of the Norfolk navy yard. After
representing his service at the March 4, 1897, in-
auguration of President William McKinley
(1843–1901), he retired on June 19.
After returning to Indianapolis, the admiral
took an interest in the Indianapolis Street Rail-
way Company, later becoming its president, a
post he held at his death. In August 1898 during
the Spanish-American War, he undertook a spe-
cial duty of inspecting U.S. West Coast navy
yards and stations. At the beginning of 1913, doc-
tors found Brown was suffering from a leaking
heart valve and attendant complications. Con-
fined to bed in May, he died on June 29 and was
laid to rest in Crown Hill Cemetery on July 2.
Perhaps due to his loss of the Indianola, no USN
warships have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; DANFS; OR, I, 23; Callahan; Cogar,
I; Smith, Le Roy Fitch; “JKB,” pseud., “Adm. George
Brown,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39920348 (accessed May
18, 2016); Smith, Joseph Brown and His Civil War Iron-
clads; Tom Huntington, “From Dixie to the Land of
the Rising Sun”; “Admiral Brown’s Nickname,” Chicago
Daily Inter Ocean, July 17, 22, 1893; New York Times,
July 12, 1895; Atlanta Constitution, February 3, 1902;
Castle Rock (CO) Journal, January 24, 1902; Washing-
ton Post, June 20, 1897; San Francisco Chronicle, Au-
gust 30, 1898; Indianapolis Star, June 19, 1908; June 30,
July 1, 3, 1913.
Brown, George Washington
(1835–1915, USN)
Brown was born in Newport, NH, on May 10,
1835. Eventually he ran away from home and,
6
without parental consent, shipped aboard the
Delhi, a merchant sailing vessel engaged in the
West Indian and Mediterranean trade. In 1855
he became master of the brig Marshfield in the
West Indies but lost her while crossing a reef
two years later. Having settled in Brooklyn, NY,
and becoming engaged in the ship brokerage
business, he was recruited as a USN acting mas-
ter on July 18, 1861, and was posted aboard the
paddle-wheel gunboat Keystone State the next
day. Through October, the Keystone State cruised
the West Indies attempting to halt Confederate
blockade runners exiting island ports. Brown
next became captain of the schooner Dan Smith,
converting her into a warship equipped with a
pair of 32-pounder smoothbore cannon and a
giant 13-inch mortar. Assigned to the Mortar
Flotilla, a division of the newly formed West
Gulf Blockading Squadron she arrived off the
mouth of the Mississippi River on March 11,
1862. Between April 18 and April 24 Brown’s
craft participated in the bombardment of Fort
Jackson and Fort St. Philip and the capture of
New Orleans. In June and July, the Dan Smith
joined other elements of her group in ascending
the Mississippi and joined in the failed effort to
subdue Vicksburg, MS, occasionally shelling the
city, together with the Southern ironclad Arkan-
sas, until returning to Baltimore for a refit.
In October Brown became captain of the Mis-
sissippi Squadron light-draught gunboat Forest
Rose (Tinclad No.9), which completed modifi-
cation and entered service in December. His
ship participated in the January 4–11, 1863, cam-
paign that resulted in the reduction and capture
of Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post and Brown
was that month promoted to the rank of acting
volunteer lieutenant. In February he led the first
reconnaissance trips into the Delta across the
Mississippi from Helena, AR, and, at month’s
end, the Forest Rose participated in the unsuc-
cessful advance down the Yazoo Pass, the Cold-
water and Tallahatchie rivers, to Greenwood,
MS, where the Union plan to reach the upper
Yazoo River failed before determined Confed-
erate defense at Fort Pemberton. Brown’s com-
mand provided Mississippi River convoy and
antipartisan support during the remainder of
the Vicksburg campaign and in late May was
part of the naval expedition that ascended the
Yazoo and Sunflower rivers, taking Yazoo City
 
The unique Mississippi Squadron river monitor Ozark (depicted) was commanded on the 86 Red
River Expedition and through the remainder of the conflict by Acting Volunteer Lt. George W. Brown,
USN (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
in the process. When Vicksburg fell on July 4,
Brown’s vessel immediately joined several others
in armed reconnaissance missions up the Red,
Black, White, and Tensas rivers.
The veteran tinclad commander was ordered
to outfit the new river monitor Ozark, which he
placed into commission on February 18, 1864.
In mid–March, the single-turreted warship par-
ticipated in the joint army-navy expedition up
the Red River of Louisiana but saw no significant
action save, with other fleet elements, her dra-
matic May escape from low water via the dam
at Alexandria. Brown returned to his inventive
ways while maintaining his vessel as a station
ship at key locations along the Mississippi River
shore for the remainder of the war.
After decommissioning his ironclad at
Mound City, IL, on July 24, 1865, Brown was
honorably discharged on September 3 and re-
turned to Brooklyn where, for the next 15 years,
he was employed as a special agent for the Ma-
Brown
rine Underwriters insurance firm. As he traveled
the world investigating and adjusting claims in
shipping losses, his mastery of Spanish fre-
quently took him to the Caribbean and South
America. In 1898 he became acting governor of
the Sailors’ Snug Harbor and later was its ad-
missions director. An Episcopalian, Brown mar-
ried Mary E. Stainboon in the 1850s; the couple
had three children, one of whom became an
Episcopal priest and who was with the seaman
when he died at home in 1915.
Sources: Callahan; Wheeler, The History of New-
port, New Hampshire, from 1766 to 1878; George W.
Brown, “Service in the Mississippi Squadron and Its
Connection with the Siege and Capture of Vicksburg,”
in vol. 1 of James Grant Wilson and Titus Munson
Con, eds., Personal Recollections of the War of the Re-
bellion: Addresses Delivered Before the New York Com-
mandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1883–
1891; OR, I, 26; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith,
Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, Civil War Biographies from
the Western Waters; “Capt. George W. Brown,” Find-
aGrave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
Brown
page=gr&GSmcid=46620889&GRid=100856723&df=
7& (accessed March 1, 2013); Ross, A History of Long
Island: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time,
III.
Brown, Isaac Newton (1817–
1889, CSN)
Named for the great philosopher-inventor,
Isaac Newton Brown—the fifth of five chil-
dren—was born to Presbyterian minister Sam-
uel Brown and his wife Susan Miller Brown in
Caldwell County, Kentucky, on May 27, 1817. He
spent most of his youth in Western Kentucky,
near Covington, where he took a childhood in-
terest in architecture and spent many days
watching construction of the Tipton County
Courthouse, completed in 1832. Shortly after the
death of his father, he was appointed a USN
midshipmen in March 1834. Brown joined the
West Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Vandalia in
January 1835, participating in her mission to
suppress piracy and the slave trade in the Ca-
ribbean for five years as well as supporting AUS
forces ashore in Florida during the Second
Cmdr. Isaac Newton Brown, CSN, won glory as
commander of the Confederate ironclad Ar -
kansas on the Mississippi River and afterwards
was captain of the ironclad Charleston at her
namesake city (courtesy Naval History and Her-
itage Command).
8
Seminole War, 1836–1839. Promoted to the rank
of passed midshipman on July 6, 1840, Brown
served aboard the Home Squadron sloop-of-war
Falmouth from 1841 to 1843 as she cruised New-
foundland.
After two years aboard the sloop-of-war Bos-
ton in the West Indies, he was married at Ports-
mouth, VA, in the spring of 1845 to Mayflower
descendant Eliza Ann Read Denison from a
plantation near the little town of Como, on a
high point in Coahoma County located near
Moon Lake in the Mississippi Delta. Brown
came to call the farm home; the couple would
have three sons. During the fall he returned to
the Falmouth, at the time Home Squadron flag-
ship, and operated chiefly in the Gulf of Mexico,
carrying messages and U.S. government officials,
convoying army transports to Texas, and pro-
tecting American interests in Mexico. When the
Mexican War erupted in April 1846, the Fal-
mouth blockaded enemy ports then returned for
a refit in late fall to Boston, where Brown, who
had become a master on August 15, was pro-
moted to the rank of lieutenant on October 31.
He was sent aboard the receiving ship North
Carolina at New York and served under a future
opponent, Lt. Henry Walke (1809–1896), until
January 1847 when he returned to the Gulf
aboard the refurbished ship-of-the-line Ohio.
The giant 64-gun warship arrived off Vera Cruz
in late March, just in time to land a number of
cannon used in the attack on the city. After par-
ticipating in the Tuxpan River Expedition of
June, the Ohio reinforced the Pacific Squadron,
to which she remained attached until 1850.
Following two West Indian cruises aboard the
sloop-of-war Albany, during which time while
home on leave in early 1853, Brown’s only sur-
viving son, Henry Denison Brown (1853–1914),
was born, he joined the sloop-of-war Vincennes,
flagship of a small task group, the North Pacific
Exploring and Surveying Expedition. Complet-
ing her survey mission as far as a northern por-
tion of the Bering Strait, the Vincennes com-
pleted her circumnavigation in early 1856.
Brown became first lieutenant of the Mediter-
ranean Squadron flagship, the paddle-wheel
steam frigate Susquehanna. During her two-year
deployment, the warship supported the first at-
tempt to lay a transatlantic cable and helped to
suppress filibusters, led by William Walker, in
 
Nicaragua. While in the Caribbean in the weeks
before sailing home, many aboard contracted
yellow fever. After entering New York Harbor,
half the crew, including Brown, found them-
selves confined to the quarantine hospital. Upon
recovery, Brown became executive officer of the
U.S. steam frigate Niagara, and from June 1860
to April 23, 1861, he completed his second cir-
cumnavigation, returning to Tokyo the members
of the first Japanese embassy party to the U.S.
Determined to fight for the South, Brown re-
signed his Federal commission on April 25, 1861,
but, upon going ashore, was arrested by order
of Massachusetts governor John Albion Andrew
(1818–1867) and held in jail at Boston City Hall
on charges of refusing to take an oath of alle-
giance. Through the intercession of Mayor Jo-
seph Milner Wightman (1812–1885), Brown was
permitted to escape, via Vermont, to Canada,
where in civilian clothes he purchased a ticket
across Lake Erie and hence, via Ohio and Indi-
ana, to Louisville, KY, and Memphis, TN, trav-
eling to Como aboard a river steamer. A com-
mission having been offered, Brown became a
CSN lieutenant on June 6 and took a billet at the
Richmond naval station. During this initial de-
ployment he became interested in and support-
ive of the construction and use of underwater
mines, then known as “torpedoes.” In August,
Brown was sent west to assist Maj. Gen. Leoni-
das Polk with naval defenses on the Mississippi
River in the vicinity of Columbus, KY, and Fort
Pillow, TN, and arranged for heavy cannon from
the captured Federal base at Norfolk, VA, to de-
fend those points and Fort Randolph while si-
multaneously meeting with Dr. A.L. Saunders
of Memphis regarding the placement of torpe-
does offshore of those posts.
In the fall Brown traveled to Nashville, TN,
to acquire steamers suitable for conversion into
gunboats and was then charged with turning the
steamboat Eastport into an ironclad at Cerro
Gordo. Federal naval forces under Flag Officer
Andrew Hull Foote (1806–1863) captured Fort
Henry in February 1862 and three timberclad
gunboats, sent on a sweep up the Tennessee
River, captured the Eastport. Brown escaped to
New Orleans with orders to finish four ironclads
under early construction at Algiers, LA, but in
late April he had to flee once again when a Fed-
eral fleet captured nearby New Orleans. Having
Brown
evacuated to Vicksburg, MS, he was ordered by
the Confederate Navy Department on May 26
to command and complete the ironclad Ar-
kansas, then outfitting at Greenwood, MS. Trav-
eling up the Yazoo, he found no activity and
chose to have the vessel towed to Yazoo City,
MS. The task finished, Brown took her down-
stream on a dramatic July 15 breakout onto the
Mississippi River and through the Federal fleet
to Vicksburg, in the process defeating the USS
Carondelet, captained by prewar messmate Cmdr.
Henry Walke.
Sick and exhausted, Brown was not in charge
of the Arkansas when, in early August, she was
ordered to Baton Rouge, LA, where her engines
failed and she was scuttled. Brown, though still
ill, was able to locate the survivors of his crew
and lead them back to Jackson, MS, where, in
recognition of his gallant actions aboard the
Arkansas, he was promoted to the rank of com-
mander and honored by the Confederate con-
gress. During the fall, Brown and numerous ex-
Arkansas crewmen assisted in developing the
river defenses at Port Hudson, LA, before re-
turning up the Yazoo River to help develop the
defenses at Snyder’s Bluff. Simultaneously at
Yazoo City, he undertook to construct several
gunboats and ironclads, being frustrated by his
inability to obtain sufficient manpower, armor
plate, and working engines. Once more he over-
saw the development and use of underwater
mines (“torpedoes”) as river defense, one of
which claimed the USS Cairo on December 3,
the first warship ever sunk by such a weapon of
war. In early 1863 Brown, now tacit head of CSN
operations on the Western Rivers, provided aid
and support to Maj. Gen. William W. Loring
(1818–1886) in the defense of Fort Pemberton,
at Greenwood, MS, during the U.S. Yazoo Pass
Expedition. Several steamers were fitted up as
cottonclad gunboats and operated under his di-
rection, though none were in actual combat.
Following the conclusion of the Greenwood
enterprise, Brown, having now abandoned his
shipbuilding activities, turned his attention to
the defense of Yazoo City. On June 1 he was
given authority for heavy artillery at that town,
but, even so, he was unable to prevent its Federal
capture in late July following the surrender of
Vicksburg. Escaping east, Brown became cap-
tain of the six-gun ironclad CSS Charleston,
Brown
which was completed at Charleston, SC, in Sep-
tember. Larger and more powerful than the
other two ironclads available (Palmetto State and
Chicora), though underpowered and with un-
reliable engines, she carried a spar torpedo and
became flagship of the CSN Charleston Squad-
ron. In November, Brown was sent to Savannah,
GA, to participate in its defense; his orders are
unknown but undoubtedly had to do with plant-
ing a torpedo defense of the Savannah River.
After the city fell to the Union on December 20,
Brown returned aboard the Charleston. Unlike
the two other ironclads defending the city, his
never saw any action against Federal forces.
When the decision was taken to evacuate the
city, word came to the Cooper City docks that
all three vessels were to be destroyed. Ten tons
of gunpowder was placed aboard and the fuses
lit on the night of February 17/18, 1865. After
Charleston fell, Brown received orders to as-
sume command of all CSN forces in the Trans-
Mississippi Department. He never got farther
west than Montgomery, AL, where he was pa-
roled on May 22. His parole papers provide his
personal details: 5 feet-10 inches tall, grey eyes,
light hair, and fair complexion.
At the end of hostilities, Brown returned to
his very dilapidated home in Coahoma County,
MS, to farm, taking his mail at Helena, AR. Dur-
ing the summer of 1865, he took the oath of am-
nesty and applied for a presidential pardon, his
plea being supported by several of his former
USN colleagues, including Capt. Napoleon Col-
lins. On September 5 he wrote a personal letter
to President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) re-
questing restoration of his citizenship, following
it up with a renewed but unanswered plea on
September 25, 1866. Brown’s first wife, Eliza, a
refugee at Grenada, MS, from 1862 to 1865, died
in 1872. As he declined to participate in civic or
political affairs after 1875, little was heard of the
famous Confederate sailor in the postwar years.
He did grant a rare interview in Helena on Feb-
ruary 23, 1880, all of which centered upon the
losses suffered by Jonestown and Clarksdale,
MS, residents in current Mississippi River flood-
ing. They were, he asserted, no longer protected
by the Yazoo Pass levee blown by the Federals
in February 1863. Com. Brown, as he was known
to the public, married Jeanie Valliant Autry
Brown (1835–1912) in 1883. The couple finding

it impossible to make a living, in 1883 they
moved to Corsicana, Navarro County, TX, to
join the family of his son Henry, who had ar-
rived earlier and opened a dry goods store, and
to try agriculture once more.
Cmdr. Brown, arguably the most important
CSN figure to serve on the Western waters, was
not restored to full citizenship for almost 20
years after the end of the war. Having main-
tained an extremely low profile, he did, however,
agree, to author a history of the Arkansas and
of his role in the torpedo defense of the Yazoo
River for Century Illustrated magazine in the
1880s. Brown died at his Lone Star home on Sep-
tember 1, 1889, a respected citizen of his com-
munity, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery.
On July 14, 2012, members of the Sons of Con-
federate Veterans, the Order of Confederate
Grays, and United Daughters of the Confed-
eracy marked his grave in commemoration of
the 150th anniversary of his passage through the
Union fleet at Vicksburg.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; Foenander; Beasley, True Tales of Tipton,
County, Tennessee; ORN, 2, 1; Smith, Civil War Biog-
raphies from the Western Waters; Spencer C. Tucker,
“Isaac Newton Brown,” in Tucker, I; CSN Register;
Scharf; Isaac Newton Brown, “Memoranda of the Civil
War, n.d.,” University of Texas at San Antonio Library,
Special Collections, Brown and Lane Family Papers,
(MS 421, Box 10), http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/compound
object/collection/p15 (accessed May 12, 2016); Jay Sla-
gle, Ironclad Captain: Seth Ledyard Phelps and the U.
S. Navy; Maccoun communicated by W. Whalen, “Ac-
count of Yellow Fever, as It Occurred On Board the
U.S. Frigate Susquehanna in March and April 1858,”;
“Championhitz,” pseud., “A Refusal to Serve Against
Liberty: Lt. Isaac N. Brown Quits the Union Navy,”
Mississippians in the Confederate Army, https://mis-
sissippiconfederates. wordpress. com/ 2014/ 07/ 06/ a-
refusal-to-serve-against-liberty-isaac-n-brown-quits-
the-u-s-navy/ (accessed May 12, 2016); Boston Courier,
April 27, 1861; Memphis Daily Appeal, May 5, 1861;
Charleston Courier, May 7, 1861; Macon Daily Tele-
graph, May 11, 1861; Smith, CSS Arkansas; Smith, “Run-
ning the Gauntlet: CSS Arkansas vs. the Federal Com-
bined Fleets, July 15, 1862,” North and South; Chicago
Daily Times, August 14, 1862; Saturday Evening Post,
September 6, 1862; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Getch-
ell, Defender of Inland Waters: The Military Career of
Isaac Newton Brown, Commander, Confederate States
Navy, 1861–1865; Getchell, “Isaac Newton Brown of
Navarro County, Texas.” Texas Geanological Web, http:
// www. txgenweb6. org/ txnavarro/ biographies/ b/
brown_isaac_newton.htm, accessed July 13, 2009;
Isaac Newton Brown, “The Confederate Gun-Boat
Arkansas” and “Confederate Torpedoes in the Yazoo,”
 
B&L, III; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 25, 1880;
“Isaac N. Brown,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GSsr= 1041&GSvcid=
266131&GRid=18082&> (accessed July 13, 2009); Dal-
las Morning News, September 3, 1889; Corsicana Daily
Sun, July 13, 2012.
Bryant, Nathaniel Cushing
(1823–1874, USN)
A native of Noblesborough, ME, where he
was born on March 27, 1823, Bryant was the first
of five children of Maj. Cushing Bryant and his
wife Arlitta. After studying mathematics and
other disciplines at Lincoln Academy in Au-
gusta, ME, which was operated by an uncle, and
naval topics from another uncle, Capt. Joseph
Smith (1790–1877), at Boston, he was appointed
a USN midshipman on December 23, 1837. Join-
ing the West Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Erie,
he cruised along the East Coast and in the
Caribbean until the spring of 1840. After two
years at sea with the Mediterranean Squadron
sloop-of-war Preble, he was enrolled with the
1842 class at the Philadelphia naval school, grad-
uated, and, on June 29, 1843, became a passed
Cmdr. Nathaniel C. Bryant, USN, was captain of the Western Flotilla ironclad Cairo (depicted) from
February to September 862, when he was forced to go on extended sick leave. He was unable to return
to duty (National Archives).
Bryant
midshipman with duty at the Bureau of Con-
struction and Repair. Attached as acting master
to the new Mediterranean Squadron sloop-of-
war Plymouth, he cruised to Europe from April
l, 1843, to October 1846, when he transferred in
the same capacity aboard the Pacific Squadron
sloop-of-war Dale for service off the West Coast
during the Mexican War. From September to
November 1847, the ship participated in the
campaign for Mulege, CA, with Bryant himself
assisting in the landing operations at Cochori
and Bocochivampo.
The Dale continued to patrol off the Califor-
nia coast for a year-and-a-half after the end of
the conflict in February 1848, and in August
1849 he became acting master of the Boston re-
ceiving ship Ohio. Promoted to master in June
1850 and lieutenant on August 7, Bryant served
in South American waters aboard the Brazil
Squadron flagship, the frigate Congress, until
July 1853. Returned to the Ohio, he had the op-
portunity, at some point during the next two
years, to visit Cedar Falls, IA, where he pur-
chased property with the idea of making it his
home. Bryant had a billet aboard the East India
Squadron flagship, the steam frigate San Jacinto,
Bryant
from late summer 1855 to August 1858, during
which deployment he was present in late April
1856 for ceremonies at Bangkok, Siam. These
celebrated the conclusion of a treaty executed
by diplomat Townsend Harris (1804–1878) and
King Mongkut (1894–1868) (who was later cel-
ebrated in the musical The King and I) and Har-
ris’s delivery to Shimoda, Japan, where he estab-
lished the first foreign consulate in that closed
country.
Bryant, suffering an illness upon his return
that necessitated sick leave and shore duty, wed
Mary Eliza Southall (1847–1899), late of Ashton-
under-Lyne, England, at a Cedar Falls ceremony
on September 19, 1860; the couple would have
two sons. Just after Christmas, the lieutenant of
the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Brooklyn—
which was dispatched to Charleston, SC, in Jan-
uary 1861 in an unsuccessful effort to deliver
messages to the steamer Star of the West—was
sent to relieve Fort Sumter. After helping to re-
lieve and secure the Federal post at Pensacola,
FL, and following the April eruption of civil war,
the Brooklyn began an initially unsuccessful
blockade of the Mississippi Passes below New
Orleans, LA. On June 30, the CSS Sumter, the
first of several notorious Confederate ocean
cruisers, raced by Bryant’s warship, which was
too slow to catch her.
Detached in late summer, Bryant was sent to
the Western waters, in January 1862, where he
joined the Western gunboat flotilla at Cairo, IL,
as its senior lieutenant and captain of the Pook
turtle Cairo. Engine problems kept his ironclad
from participating in what was the first success-
ful squadron attack, that of February 6 against
Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. Repaired
and on duty off Fort Holt, the gunboat’s crew
learned that their vessel had also missed the less
successful February 13–14 fight at Fort Donelson
on the Cumberland River above Nashville. Still,
the Cairo was ordered to that post. On February
19, with Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote (1806–
1863) embarked, she made a reconnaissance to
Clarksburg, TN, and was ordered to Fort Donel-
son. On February 19 the Cairo moved down the
Cumberland only to find white flags at her target
community; there was no battle, as the city had
surrendered. Keeping the town under the Cairo’s
guns for several days, Bryant’s command con-
voyed seven steam transports, with troops under
2
Brig. Gen. William Nelson (1824–1862), to
Nashville on February 25. The soldiers were
landed and occupied the Tennessee capital with-
out opposition.
In March plans were made to detail the Cairo,
along with the timberclads Lexington and Tyler,
to Pittsburg Landing. The water level of the Ten-
nessee River would not permit deployment of
Bryant’s vessel and thus she was not able to bring
her cannon to bear during the Battle of Shiloh.
Joining the rest of the Western Flotilla at Island
No. 10 on April 11, several days after its sur-
render, she convoyed downstream a number of
mortar boats to a point above Fort Pillow, TN,
and over the next week alternated guard duty
with other flotilla warships while the mortars
bombarded the Confederate bastion. On May 10
Southern rams attacked the flotilla vessels, badly
damaging two Pook turtles. The Cairo, having
gotten underway without alacrity, moved to
guard one of these, the Mound City, and escorted
her out of action, though she later sank on a
riverbank. Bryant was later criticized by other
“Old Navy” men as having “the slows.” The
bombardment at Fort Pillow continued during
the remainder of the month. On June 3 the re-
paired Mound City, together with the Cairo,
were again on mortar boat guard duty when
CRDF rams approached. This time, Bryant’s
guns spoke early and although their shot was in-
accurate the Confederates retreated. After aban-
doning Fort Pillow, the Dixie gunboats retreated
to Memphis, where they were engaged in a gen-
eral fleet action on June 6. All of the Union iron-
clads played a minor part as AUS rams obtained
a Federal victory.
The Cairo was then assigned to patrol the
Mississippi above and below Fort Pillow. While
on this duty, an ill Bryant was advanced to the
rank of commander on July 16. The Cairo put
into the new advanced base at Helena, AR, on
September 9 in order that Bryant could receive
medical attention. When he failed to quickly re-
spond, a medical survey found him too sick for
duty and recommended an extended period of
leave. On September 12, the thin and pale
captain bade his crew farewell and returned to
his Iowa home. The Cairo was sunk by a Con-
federate torpedo in the Yazoo River in Decem-
ber 1862 and when Bryant returned to duty in
1863 her former captain was ordered to special
 
duty as an assistant to RAdm. Francis H Gregory
(1789–1866), the construction superintendent
over all naval ships abuilding in private ship-
yards. In March 1864, Bryant was ordered to the
Pensacola Navy Yard; however, he became ill
again and officially retired on September 26,
1864, although he continued to serve in an ad-
ministrative capacity at the Mound City, IL, navy
yard’s ordnance depot until April 1865.
Thereafter Bryant lived on half pay at Cedar
Falls, delighting in his children and community.
He died at home on September 17, 1874, and was
buried in the town cemetery. Not long thereafter
a memorial window was dedicated in his mem-
ory at the town’s Episcopal Church, St. Luke’s,
where he had been a member of the congrega-
tion. No USN ships have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Mer-
rick, Genealogy of the Merrick-Merick-Myrick Family
of Massachusetts, 1636–1902; Callahan; Hamersly;
DANFS; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War;
Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters;
Cedar Falls Gazette, September 19, 1874; The National
Cyclopedia of American Biography, III, 166–167;
Bearss, Hardluck Ironclad: The Sinking and Salvage of
the Cairo.
Bryson
terranean. Promoted to master in January 1851,
Bryson joined the storeship Relief, then trans-
porting supplies to warships of the Brazil Squad-
ron. He was advanced to lieutenant on August
30 and the next day was transferred aboard the
squadron’s brig Bainbridge for a two-year anti-
slavery deployment off the west coast of Africa.
He was ordnance officer aboard the receiving
ship Ohio at Boston from August 1853 until he
joined the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Sara-
toga at Norfolk, VA, in December 1856. After
two years back on the Ohio, he became executive
officer of the Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war
Preble in October 1858 and participated in the
Paraguay Expedition that December. After leave
and a period of unemployment, he was given a
New York navy yard billet in January 1861 and
remained on shore duty as the Civil War began.
In October 1861 Bryson became captain of the
Unadilla-class gunboat Chippewa, which joined
the Atlantic blockade between Fort Monroe, VA,
and Cape Hatteras, NC, at Christmas. Under vari-
ous sea conditions, the little gunboat undertook

Bryson, Andrew (1837–1892, USN)

The son of Irish immigrant David Bryson,
Andrew was born in New York City on July 22,
1822. Little is known of him prior to his appoint-
ment as a USN midshipman on December 1,
1837, and his four-year cruise of the Caribbean
(1838–1842), aboard the West Indies Squadron
sloop-of-war Levant. After graduating from the
Philadelphia naval school and his promotion to
passed midshipman in June 1843, he served on
antislavery patrols with the Africa Squadron
frigate Macedonian and the sloop-of-war Deca-
tur until January 1845. Two months after his
February 11 marriage to Charlotte M. Arnold at
Norwalk, CT (the couple would have three chil-
dren), Bryson went aboard the Erie, PA-based
steam gunboat Michigan, the first USN iron-
hulled warship and the only American naval Cmdr. Andrew Bryson was captain of the mon-
vessel on the Great Lakes. Following four years itor Lehigh during the fall 86 fighting at
Charleston, SC. In October 86 he was trans-
of peacekeeping and coast guard work, he went
ferred to command of the Mississippi Squadron
on furlough until January 1850, when he as- ironclad Essex. He later became a rear admiral
sumed duties as executive officer of the armed (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
storeship Erie, which made a cruise to the Medi- mand).
Buchanan
her duty until August 10, 1862, as Bryson, who
was promoted to the rank of commander on July
16, oversaw her participation in bombardments
of sundry Confederate gun emplacements and
the capture of a blockade runner. Assigned to
the USN Special Service Squadron, the Chip-
pewa unsuccessfully pursued the CSS Florida
until the end of May 1863, touching points in
Spain, Africa, the Cape Verde Islands, and var-
ious Caribbean islands. He then took command
of the Passaic-class monitor Lehigh, which
joined the heavy units of the South Atlantic
Blockading squadron (SAB) in their continuing
campaign to subdue Charleston, SC. In Septem-
ber the Lehigh heavily engaged Fort Sumter, Bat-
tery Wagner on Morris Island, and Fort Moul-
trie and thereafter continued to fight the harbor
forts for the next two months, firing on Fort
Sumter almost daily between October 27 and
November 20. Badly damaged, she underwent
repairs that kept her out of action until January
1864. From April to October, Bryson was posted
ashore at the New York navy yard and then, with
no Western waters experience, joined the Mis-
sissippi Squadron at Cairo, IL, as commander
of that flotilla’s Seventh Division and the
ironclad gunboat Essex. Bryson shifted over to
the Eighth District in April and May 1865 and
in May became squadron flag captain, an ad-
ministrative post he held until the squadron was
demobilized in August.
Unemployed until March 1866, Bryson re-
sumed command of the Michigan at Erie, PA, in
April 1866 and not long afterward intercepted
and interned a body of Republican Irishmen,
the Fenian Brotherhood, as they returned near
Buffalo from their so-called invasion of Canada.
On July 25 Bryson was elevated to the rank of
captain. Commander of the receiving ship Ohio
from August 1868 to October 1871, he was then
given the European Station sloop-of-war Brook-
lyn, which spent most of the next three years on
an extended cruise, much of it in the Mediter-
ranean. Bryson was promoted to the rank of
commodore on February 14, 1873, and, from
September 1874 to July 1876 was commandant
of the Portsmouth, NH, navy yard. Board duty
followed until April 1879, when he became com-
mander of the South Atlantic Station, flying his
flag on the sloop-of-war Shenandoah. While pa-
trolling the South Atlantic between Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, on
what proved to be his last sea service, the one-
time ironclad captain became a rear admiral on
March 25, 1880. Recalled in February 1882, he
spent a year on board duty before retiring on
January 30, 1883.
“A man of retiring disposition” who was “ex-
cessively modest,” the admiral lived quietly in
retirement. He became ill in September 1891 and
took to his bed in late January 1892, diagnosed
with “ulceration of the stomach.” Bryson died at
his Washington, D.C., home on February 7, and
his casket was taken by train to New York for
interment in his family’s vault at Greenwood
Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. No USN ships have
been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar,
I; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; DANFS; Smith, Civil War Biog-
raphies from the Western Waters; United States Nauti-
cal Magazine 1 (March 1845), 63; American Ancestry
11 (1898), 123–124; Dan Silva, “Adm. Andrew Bryson,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GSln=Bryson&GSfn=Andrew&GSby=
1822&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1892&GSdyrel=in&GScntr-
y=4&GSob=n&GRid=60434683&df=all& (accessed
May 15, 2016); New York Times, February 10, 1892;
Washington Post, February 8, 11, 1892.
Buchanan, Franklin “Old Buck”
(1800–1874, CSN)
The fifth child (third son) of Baltimore, MD,
physician George Buchanan, one of the founders
of the medical department of what became the
University of Maryland, and his wife Laetitia
McKean, Franklin was born at their home,
“Auchentorle,” on September 13, 1800. Franklin
was appointed a USN midshipman on Janu-
ary 28, 1815, and went aboard the frigate Java for
a two-year Mediterranean cruise before trans-
ferring to the new ship-of-the-line Franklin,
flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron, which
delivered the U.S. ambassador, Richard Rush
(1780–1850), to London. Granted a five-year
leave to serve as a mate aboard a China voyage
of a Baltimore merchant ship, Buchanan re-
turned to the USN as a lieutenant on January 13,
1825. From July through November 1828, he
served aboard the West Indies Squadron sloop-
of-war Natchez on anti-piracy patrols until she
was forced back to New York due to a shipboard
outbreak of yellow fever. From summer 1829 to
 
November 1831, Buchanan participated in the
Mediterranean cruise of the frigate Constella-
tion, protecting American ships and interests
while transporting ministers to their French and
British posts. Unemployed for almost two years,
he became first lieutenant of the ship-of-the-line
Delaware in July 1833 and met his first U.S. pres-
ident on July 29 as he helped welcome aboard
Andrew Jackson for an inspection.
Detached from the 74’s European duties in
late 1834, he tested cannon for two years as head
of the ordnance department of the Philadelphia
navy yard. Also, in a February 19, 1835, Annapo-
lis, MD, ceremony, he married Anne Catherine
Lloyd (1808–1892); the couple would have nine
children. Having commanded the Baltimore re-
ceiving ship from 1837, Buchanan became flag
lieutenant to Com. Alexander Claxton (1792–
1841), commander of the Pacific Squadron, in
April 1839, serving aboard “Old Ironsides,” the
frigate Constitution. Before he could visit all of
the ports on her scheduled cruise of the west
coast of South America, he was transferred to
the sloop-of-war Falmouth, accompanying her
Franklin Buchanan was the Confederacy’s only
full admiral and its most famous seaman, serv-
ing as captain of its two most noted ironclads,
the Virginia (ex–USS Merrimack) and the Ten-
nessee (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
Buchanan
back to the U.S. in June 1840. Promoted to the
rank of commander on September 8, 1841, he
became captain of the paddle-wheel frigate Mis-
sissippi the following year but did not have time
to enjoy his new ship before being ordered to
assume charge of the Home Squadron sloop-of-
war Vincennes. From 1842 to 1844 Vincennes
served on anti-pirate and antislavery patrol in
the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and was also
assigned to help keep Texan forces from invad-
ing any coastal portion of Mexico. In August
1844, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft
(1800–1891) ordered Buchanan, a strong advo-
cate for midshipman education, to submit a plan
for organizing a new naval school at Annapolis,
MD. His ideas were accepted and, on August, 14
1845, he became the first superintendent of what
was eventually the USNA, serving in that post
until March 2, 1847. His standards were high and
won praise as he oversaw curriculum and facil-
ities and appointed instructors, but he also
yearned for a return to sea duty as the Mexican
War erupted.Buchanan’s wish was granted and
on April 1 he arrived off Alvarado as captain of
the new Home Squadron sloop-of-war German-
town, securing the town’s surrender the next day
without a shot being fired. Joining other squad-
ron vessels, the Germantown contributed de-
tachments to the joint landing forces that as-
saulted and captured Tuxpan on April 18–19 and
Tabasco on June 15–17 and patrolled between
Tuxpan and Vera Cruz until early January 1848.
Buchanan then performed Baltimore shore du-
ties until June 1851, when he became captain of
the steam frigate Susquehanna, which departed
New York for the Pacific with Com. John H.
Aulick (1791–1873) embarked as new com-
mander of the East Indies Squadron and orders
to visit Japan to obtain a diplomatic pact. En
route, severe misunderstandings occurred be-
tween Aulick, Buchanan, and a visiting Brazilian
diplomat and when the expedition reached base
at Canton, China, Aulick was required to sur-
render his mission to Com. Matthew C. Perry
(1794–1858). With the Susquehanna as his flag-
ship, Perry entered Edo Bay in July 1853. There
Buchanan became the first U.S. officer to step
ashore in Japan when he gave American de-
mands and a letter from the U.S. president to
representatives of the Japanese government.
Returning to China for six months, Susque-
Bunce
hanna and her consorts went back to Japan in
February 1854, obtaining the desired treaty in
March. After renewed patrols in Chinese waters,
the frigate returned in March 1855 to the U.S.,
where Buchanan was promoted to captain on
September 14 while serving on the Board of Offi-
cers to Promote Efficiency in the Navy. From
1859 to 1861 he served as commandant of the
Washington Navy Yard. When, on April 12, 1861,
the Confederacy opened the Civil War by firing
upon Fort Sumter, Buchanan was under the im-
pression that his native Maryland would join the
Southern union, so he resigned from the USN
on April 22. When Maryland stayed loyal, he re-
quested that his resignation be withdrawn, but
the Navy Department instead formally dis-
missed him on May 14. Buchanan next offered
his services to the CSN and was appointed a cap-
tain on September 5.
A strong advocate for the construction of
ironclads, he was initially ordered to command
the important Bureau of Orders and Detail, a
personnel-assignment post he held until Febru-
ary 24, 1862, when he was named commander
of the Chesapeake Bay Squadron and partici-
pated in the outfitting of his flagship, the revo-
lutionary ironclad CSS Virginia (ex–Merri-
mack). On March 8 the Virginia boldly steamed
against Union vessels in Hampton Roads, de-
stroying the Congress, Cumberland, and three
smaller steamers. Making the mistake in the
heat of battle of going topside, Buchanan’s left
thigh was smashed by a Union rifle shot. He was
consequently unable to exercise command the
next day when his ship fought the Union Moni-
tor to a standstill. During his slow conva-
lescence, Buchanan was advanced to the rank of
admiral by order of the Confederate congress
on August 26, becoming the ranking officer of
the Confederate navy. Continuing to recover, he
was ordered in September to assume command
of the naval defenses of Mobile, AL. There he
oversaw the outfitting of the ocean raider
Florida and assisted the builders of the subma-
rine H.L. Hunley, which was later shipped by
rail to Charleston, SC. He directed the arming
of the flagship of the Mobile Squadron, the pow-
erful ironclad CSS Tennessee (II), which he com-
missioned on February 16, 1864. On August 5
Federal warships under RAdm. David G. Far-
ragut (1801–1870) entered Mobile Bay and en-
6
gaged the Tennessee and three wooden ships.
After a heroic battle against overwhelming odds,
all were captured or driven away. Buchanan suf-
fered a broken leg during the fight and surren-
dered with his vessel when, after an hour-long
combat, further resistance became impossible.
Sent to the Union prison hospital facilities at
Pensacola, FL, and then the POW camp at Fort
Lafayette, NY, he remained a prisoner of war
until exchanged on February 19, 1865. Although
the Civil War still had a few months to run,
Buchanan was reassigned to Mobile and surren-
dered on May 8.
Buchanan retired to his home, “The Rest,”
Miles River, Talbot County, MD. Long devoted
to education, the extremely lame ex-sailor be-
came president of the Maryland Agricultural
College in September 1868. In June 1869 he
agreed to become secretary of the Alabama
branch of the Life Insurance Company of Amer-
ica at Mobile, AL. On June 27, 1871, preparatory
to his return to Maryland, Buchanan was given
a large silver service at a dinner sponsored by
the directors of the Alabama Department of the
Life Insurance Association of America. He then
lived quietly at The Rest, where he died on
May 11, 1874 and was buried in Talbot County’s
Wye House Cemetery. Three 20th century USN
warships were named for Buchanan, none of
which are currently in commission: DD-14, DD-
484, and DDG-14.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Reynolds; DANFS; Symonds, Confederate
Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan;
Lewis, Admiral Franklin Buchanan, Fearless Man of
Action; Doran, “Franklin Buchanan”; Fore-Top-Man,
pseud., Life in “Old Ironsides” During Her Cruise to
the Pacific; Swartz, “Franklin Buchanan: A Study in
Divided Loyalties”; Foenander; Driver, Confederate
Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Atlanta Daily Sun, June 27, 1871; New York
Times, May 14, 1874, April 29, 1894, August 19, 1894;
Baltimore Sun, May 14, 1874, February 6, 1899; Muir,
“Franklin Buchanan,” in Tucker, I; Friend, Jack West
Wind, Flood Tide: The Battle of Mobile Bay; Still, Iron
Afloat: Buchanan and the Mobile Squadron; Thomas,
“Old Buck”: Admiral Franklin Buchanan; Conrad, Cap-
ture of the C.S. Ram Tennessee.
Bunce, Francis Marvin
(1836–1901, USN)
One of ten children born to Phoenix National
Bank clerk-turned-businessman James M.
 
Bunce (1806–1858) and his two wives, Bunce was
born at Hartford, CT, on Christmas Day of 1836.
Having received a good education, he was ap-
pointed an acting USN midshipman on May 28,
1852, was sent to the USNA at Annapolis, MD,
and graduated on June 10, 1857, being simulta-
neously commissioned a midshipman. Bunce
joined the East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war
Germantown for a three-year cruise to the Ori-
ent. Becoming a passed midshipman on June 25,
he was posted to the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, which
arrived off Chiriqui, Panama, on August 24 to
support an expedition seeking a passage across
the Isthmus of Chiriqui. On October 24 Bunce
was promoted to the rank of master and his ship
returned to Hampton Roads, VA, just after the
November election of President Abraham Lin-
coln (1809–1865).
In February 1861 the Brooklyn reinforced Fort
Pickens, at Pensacola, FL, with troops and sup-
plies. When that mission was completed, the
warship proceeded along the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico toward New Orleans. Bunce, having
become a lieutenant on April 11, the day before
the Civil War began, was aboard when she ini-
tiated a blockade of the Mississippi Passes. Off
Pass a l’Outre on June 30, Brooklyn was unable
to prevent the escape of the speedy Confederate
ocean raider CSS Sumter. In January 1862 Bunce
became executive officer of the Unadilla-class
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron steam
gunboat Penobscot, which undertook a support
role during the April-May 1862 Yorktown offen-
sive. He was then seconded to the Army of the
Potomac to supervise the disembarkation from
support vessels of the heavy AUS artillery and
mortars employed during the Peninsula Cam-
paign. At the beginning of June, Bunce rejoined
the Penobscot, which joined the blockade off
Wilmington, NC, where he led several small
boat shore raids. On October 22, the British brig
Robert Bruce was captured off Cape Fear. Named
her prizemaster, Bunce sailed her to New York,
where he became executive officer of the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron sloop-of-war
Pawnee as her executive officer and was ad-
vanced to lieutenant commander on January 10,
1863. Pawnee returned to her old station off the
Stono River, near Charleston, SC, in mid–Feb-
ruary. There her second-in-command was or-
dered to conduct surveys of the interior chan-
Bunce
Lt. Cmdr. Francis M. Bunce, USN, was briefly
captain of the monitor Weehawken in January
86 before he became commander of the mon-
itor Lehigh off Charleston. In spring 866 he
completed the first extended sea voyage by a
monitor when he guided the Monadnock from
Philadelphia to San Francisco (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).
nels between the Stono River and Morris Island,
Charleston Harbor, and to remove obstructions
while also setting buoys. In June he became
naval aide to Federal Maj. Gen Quincy A. Gill-
more (1825–1888) and, as such, directed the
landing of five army regiments through the
channels he had cleared. He commanded the
run to the beach and landing of an amphibious
force onto Morris Island on July 10, taking all of
it save for Fort Wagner.
Bunce became executive officer of the moni-
tor Patapsco shortly thereafter as she continued
to participate in the gunfire assault by SABS
ironclads upon the Charleston fortifications
begun in the spring. On November 2, the 8-inch
Parrott rifle suffered a premature cartridge ex-
plosion that killed two men and wounded four
others in the turret, including the executive offi-
cer. Bunce was evacuated from the monitor to
the sick bay of the steam frigate Wabash, based
in Port Royal, for treatment and recovery. On
December 8 he was sent to the monitor Catskill
for temporary duty but was back aboard the
Caldwell
Wabash by January 7, 1864. Later in the month,
he briefly commanded the monitor Weehawken
before taking an assignment as “Chief of Scouts”
on the staff of SABS commander RAdm. John
A. Dahlgren (1809–1870). As such, he led the
line of small picket boats off Charleston until
April 6, when he became captain of the monitor
Lehigh. Detached from that billet on May 14, he
was assigned to light duty at the New York navy
yard where, in September, he became executive
officer of the new NABS monitor Dictator. He
remained aboard as she cruised the East Coast
from December 11 until September 5, 1865, when
he took over the twin-turret monitor Monad-
nock and with several other ships steamed via
the Strait of Magellan with numerous stops to
San Francisco. Her June 2, 1866, arrival marked
the first extended sea voyage completed by a
monitor and won Bunce considerable praise
from his naval colleagues and the Navy Depart-
ment.
Resuming his command of the Dictator be-
tween April and October 4, 1869, Bunce then
captained the new North Atlantic Squadron
(NAS) screw steamer Nantasket, in which he
served at Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, until
July 20, 1870. After three years ordnance duty at
Pittsburgh, PA, where he became commander
on November 7, 1871, Bunce commanded the
Asiatic double-ender gunboat Ashuelot in Chi-
nese waters from 1873 to 1875. Following four
years of ordnance work at the Washington Navy
Yard, he headed the Newport, RI, torpedo
school until July 29, 1881, when he became cap-
tain of the South Atlantic Squadron sloop-of-
war Marion. He was made captain on Janu-
ary 11, 1883, while in command of the Boston re-
ceiving ship and on June 1, 1886, became the first
captain of the protected cruiser Atlanta, one of
the first steel USN ships. During summer 1887,
the Atlanta undertook cruises off the East Coast,
in the West Indies, and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Detached on December 1, 1889, he commanded
the New London, CT, naval station from Febru-
ary 12 to June 30, 1890, and then took over the
Newport training station and command of its
training ship, the sloop-of-war Richmond. Bunce
became a commodore on March 1, 1895, and on
June 27 assumed command of the NAS, with his
flag in the cruiser New York. His tenure would
be marked by an intensification of training, par-
8
ticularly in squadron evolution and tactical for-
mations, including a “mock” blockade of Charles-
ton, SC. He stood down on May 1, 1897, becom-
ing commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Bunce, the ranking officer in the navy, was pro-
moted to rear admiral on February 19, 1898, and
remained at the yard through the Spanish-
American War, being placed on the retired list
on December 25, 1898, his birthday. After re-
turning from a Maine fishing trip, the admiral
was diagnosed with tongue cancer in May 1901
and despite surgery died at home on October 19.
Bunce was buried in Hartford’s Cedar Hill
Cemetery two days later. No USN warships have
been christened in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
DANFS; Commemorative Biographical Record of Hart-
ford County, Connecticut, Illustrated; Burpee, First
Century of the Phoenix National Bank of Hartford,
1814–1914; Alden, “Monitors ’Round Cape Horn,”;
Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy: Monadnock”;
Heitzmann, “The Ironclad Weehawken in the Civil
War”; Loring, “The Monitor Weehawken in the Civil
War”; Merrill, “USS Weehawken: Gallant Ironship”;
Thompson, The U.S. Monitor Patapsco; Rentfrow,
Home Squadron: The U.S. Navy on the North Atlantic
Station; New York Times, June 18, August 2, 1896, Oc-
tober 20, 1901; Washington Post, December 21, 25,
1898; Milwaukee Journal, December 28, 1898; Spokane
Daily Chronicle, October 19, 1901; Detroit Free Press,
October 20, 1901; Baltimore Sun, October 20, 1901;
Boston Daily Globe, October 20, 1901; Hartford
Courant, October 21, 1901; “Saratoga,” pseud., “Francis
Marvin Bunce,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=71022824 (ac-
cessed May 19, 2016).
Caldwell, Charles Henry
Bromedge (1823–1877, USN)
The son of Charles Head and Susan Blagg
Caldwell was born at Hingham, MA, on June 11,
1823, and appointed a USN midshipman from
Connecticut on February 27, 1838. After serving
in the Mediterranean Squadron until 1840 as
well as a tour ashore, he was promoted to the
rank of passed midshipman on May 20, 1844.
Caldwell joined the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-
war Portsmouth for an 1845 cruise via Cape
Horn to the coast of California and later partic-
ipation in the early months of the Mexican War,
including the capture of San Francisco on July 9,
1846. He then served aboard the Mediterranean
Squadron frigate United States until the spring
  Caldwell

Promoted to the rank of Commander on July 6, Charles H.B. Caldwell, USN, relieved Cmdr. Wil-
liam D. “Dirty Bill” Porter as commander of the large river ironclad Essex in September 86. He
departed the Mississippi River in July 86 after the fall of Port Hudson, LA. His command is shown
moored at Memphis, TN, with her awnings deployed (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).

of 1848, when he moved on to the Africa
Squadron schooner Boxer and the sloop of war
Yorktown. On September 6, 1850, the latter hit
an uncharted reef off the northern coast of Maio
Island, one of the Cape Verde group, and broke
up, without loss of life. Stranded for a month,
Caldwell and the other survivors of their
squadron’s only loss were rescued on October 8.
While serving at the Boston navy yard in 1852,
he became a lieutenant on September 4 and, at
the beginning of 1853, joined the East Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Vandalia and was pres-
ent in Japan a year later when a treaty was signed
opening Rising Sun ports to American shipping.
Returning home, Caldwell served an 1855–1857
tour as a lighthouse inspector before rejoining
the Vandalia in January 1858 for a two-year Pa-
cific deployment. Putting into Oneo Island, one
of the Pitcairn group, on August 3, Caldwell’s
landing party discovered and rescued the sur-
vivors of the American clipper ship Wild Wave,
which had crashed on the outlying reef back in
March. Later in the fall, while cruising in the Fiji
Islands, it was learned that two American citi-
zens had been killed by natives at Waya. On Oc-
tober 11, the lieutenant led a 50-man punitive
expedition ashore at that location, engaging
some 300 “cannibals” and burning their village.
Caldwell was aboard the chartered steamer
Keystone State on special duty in 1861 when the
Civil War began. His ship shared in the capture
of the Confederate Hiawatha at Hampton
Carpenter
Roads, VA, on May 10. When the vessel’s charter
expired at the end of the month, she was pur-
chased into the USN, outfitted for war, and, be-
ginning in late July, detailed to seek Southern
ocean raiders thought to be in the Caribbean.
Caldwell assumed command of the West Gulf
Blockading Squadron Unadilla-class gunboat
Itasca and joined the blockade off Florida in Jan-
uary 1862. On April 19 Caldwell was tasked with
helping to prepare the way for the fleet to thread
its way past the Confederate fortifications
guarding the Mississippi River approaches to
New Orleans, LA, joining other vessels below
Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Leading small boats
from his vessel, Caldwell, under cover of dark-
ness the next day, cut the chains the Southerners
had strung across the river. On the night of April
24 the squadron advanced; the Itasca, steaming
at the rear of the armada, was hit 14 times and,
with her boiler disabled, had to drift out of ac-
tion. Repaired, she traveled up the Mississippi
River with other elements of the squadron in
May and participated in the capture of Grand
Gulf, MS, on June 10.
Having become a commander on July 16,
Caldwell relieved Cmdr. William D. “Dirty Bill”
Porter (1813–1864) as commander of the large
river ironclad Essex in September. Between
March and July 9, 1863, Caldwell, from aboard
the gunboat, commanded the WGBS mortar
boats deployed against the Confederate citadel
at Port Hudson, LA, maintaining a heavy bom-
bardment until the fortress surrendered. Cald-
well was transferred before the end of that
month to the North Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron and command of the steamer Glaucus,
which joined the NABS blockade off Beaufort,
NC, on May 3. While chasing a runner off Cape
Fear River, the Glaucus caught fire and, as she
needed extensive repair, Caldwell took over the
steamer R.R. Cuyler. His ship formed part of its
reserve force during the December 24–25 first
Battle of Fort Fisher, NC. During January 13–15,
1865, Caldwell’s craft was part of the third divi-
sion in the second Battle of Fort Fisher and he
witnessed the surrender of the city of Wilming-
ton, NC.
From July 1865 until 1869, Caldwell served at
the Boston naval rendezvous (recruiting sta-
tion), becoming a captain on December 12, 1867.
In 1870, he was North Atlantic Station chief of

staff and became a commodore in June 1874. A
year later he assumed command of the South
Atlantic Station. The bachelor Caldwell died at
his wooded Waltham, MA, residence on No-
vember 30, 1877. No USN warships have been
christened in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, I; Callahan; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; DANFS; Can-
ney, Africa Squadron; New York Times, December 2,
1877; Jerry Gagnon, “More Information on the Cald-
wells,” Caldwell Genealogy Discussion Forum <http://
caldwellgenealogy. com/ forum/ config. pl/ noframes/
read/1900> (accessed May 29, 2012); New York Times,
December 2, 1877; “Former Home of Commodore
Caldwell,” Boston Daily Globe, December 8, 1912.
Carpenter, Charles Carroll
(1834–1899, USN)
The brother of two daughters of David N. and
Phebe Maria Newcastle Carpenter was born in
Greenfield, MA, on February 27, 1834. He at-
tended Norwich University from 1858 to June
1850 before winning appointment as an acting
USNA midshipman on October 1 of the latter
year. From November 1851 until April 1855, he
was assigned to the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-
war Portsmouth, and on June 20, 1856, he grad-
uated from the USNA, being simultaneously
warranted a passed midshipman. From August
through April 1857, Carpenter visited Europe
with the Home Squadron steam frigate Merri-
mack, after which he joined the squadron flag-
ship, the steam frigate Roanoke, just before her
departure for Aspinwall, Colombia (present day
Colon, Panama), where, on August 4, she em-
barked for the return of the American filibuster
and former Nicaraguan president William
Walker. After duty aboard the Boston-based re-
ceiving ship Ohio, the officer, promoted to the
rank of master on January 22, 1858, and to lieu-
tenant the next day, joined the crew of the new
steam frigate Colorado during her January–April
cruise in Cuban waters. From June until Sep-
tember, Carpenter joined the antislavery cruise
of the West Indies Squadron brig Dolphin and
following six additional months on the Ohio was
posted to the Home Squadron steamer Mohawk
in June 1859, which remained off Key West, FL,
until the end of January 1861 guarding the local
forts from “bands of lawless men” in the months
prior to the Civil War.
  Carpenter
Following the outbreak of the Great Rebellion
in April 1861, the Mohawk joined the East Gulf
Blockading Squadron and patrolled off St.
Marks, FL. In April 1862 Carpenter was trans-
ferred aboard the South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron screw steamer Flag off the Carolina
coast. During his time aboard, Carpenter, who
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, 1862, participated in the cap-
ture of the two blockade runners. Rotated to
Portsmouth navy yard in November, he became
executive officer of the Passaic-class SABS mon-
itor Catskill, but before joining his new ship he
married Anna Brown on December 15 (the cou-
ple would have seven children). The Catskill was
one of several ironclads assigned to neutralize
the Confederate forts in the harbor of Charles-
ton, SC. In the largest deployment of monitors
to that time, the SABS vessels unsuccessfully as-
saulted Fort Sumter on April 7, 1863; most, in-
cluding Catskill, were damaged. The Federal
ironclads maintained a constant bombardment
of the harbor defenses through the rest of the
summer, including a heavy shelling on July 16.
Three days afterwards, when the Catskill’s cap-
tain was temporarily attached to the staff of the
SABS commander, Carpenter was elevated to
temporary command of the ship. The AUS siege Lt. Commander Charles C. Carpenter, USN,
machinery approached Fort Sumter in mid–Au- served as acting captain of the monitor Catskill
gust causing the monitors to intensify their ef- off Charleston, SC, twice in July–September
forts. The Catskill was damaged by 13 hits during 86. He retired a rear admiral (courtesy Naval
the bombardment of August 17 and her captain, History and Heritage Command).
who had returned aboard for the attack, was
killed, requiring Carpenter to once more assume Atlantic Squadron steam gunboat Nantasket,
command. He was detached on September 13 which was stationed at Samana Bay, Santo Do-
and from October through June 1865 was a mingo, transporting dispatches and passengers
USNA instructor. to other Caribbean islands during the ensuing
From July 1865 through February 1868, Car- 18 months. Reemployed at the Portsmouth yard,
penter served aboard the Pacific Squadron he took over the iron-hulled NAS steam gunboat
sloops-of-war Hartford and Wyoming on anti- Huron for a year’s Caribbean cruise in Novem-
piracy patrol along the China coast. When the ber 1875. Unemployed until May 1878, he served
captain of the Wyoming became ill and was de- as instructor of torpedo warfare at Newport, RI,
tached in April 1867, Carpenter became his re- until September and then returned home, being
placement. Following a native massacre of promoted to the rank of captain on March 25,
American survivors from the bark Rover on 1880. At the Portsmouth navy yard from April
southern Formosa in March, the two warships until June 1882, he became captain of the NAS
Hartford and Wyoming undertook an unsuccess- flagship Hartford, which during her two-year
ful June punitive expedition. Serving at the cruise carried a team of U.S. and British scien-
Portsmouth, NH, navy yard until February 1871, tists from Callao, Peru, to the Caroline Islands
Carpenter became a commander on Febru- in the Pacific to observe the May 6, 1883, total
ary 10, 1869, and in March captain of the North eclipse of the sun. Back at Portsmouth until July
Carter
1894, Carpenter undertook various duties, in-
cluding captain of the receiving ship Wabash,
captain of the yard, and, finally, yard com-
mandant. Having been promoted to the ranks
of commodore (May 15, 1893), acting RAdm.
(July 12, 1894), and RAdm. (November 11, 1894),
he became commander of the Asiatic Squadron,
wearing his flag in the double-ender gunboat
Monocacy and then the protected cruiser Balti-
more. In early November 1895, Carpenter, whose
wife was ill, requested relief and was placed on
the USN Retired List on February 27, 1896.
Although briefly called back to duty to com-
mand the Portsmouth yard from April to August
1898 during the Spanish-American War, he paid
special attention to the facility’s brig, where
Spanish POWs were kept, including Adm. Pas-
cual Cervera y Topete (1839–1909). Carpenter,
suffering mental problems, spent most of his re-
tirement confined to the Adams Nervine Asy-
lum at Jamaica Plain, MA. There, on April 1,
1899, he committed suicide. Largely unknown
and unremembered, he was buried at Proprie-
tors Burying Ground, Portsmouth, NH. No
USN ships have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
DANFS; Cogar; Hamersly, 3rded; ORN, I, 13; ORN, I,
14; “Bev,” pseud., “Charles Carroll Carpenter,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GScid=641070&GRid=11717688& (accessed
July 1, 2016); Kramer, Portsmouth Naval Prison; Cool-
ing, USS Olympia: Herald of Empire; New York Times,
November 11, 1895, April 3, 1899; New York Tribune,
April 3, 1899; Washington Post, April 3, 1899; Morning
Oregonian, April 3, 1899; Milwaukee Sentinel, April 3,
1899; Baltimore Sun, April 3, 1899; Nashville American,
April 3, 1899; Hartford Courant, April 3, 1899.
Carter, Jonathan Hanby
(1822–1884, CSN)
The eldest of five brothers and a sister in the
family of William Carter, Jr. (1796–1870), and
his wife Elizabeth Moore Carter, Jonathan
Hanby Carter was born on January 1, 1822, in
Stokes County, NC. Appointed a USN midship-
man in March 1840, he numbered among the
first class of graduates from the USNA in 1846
and was immediately advanced to the rank of
passed midshipman. He then undertook the
usual ship and shore duties of naval officers in
the antebellum period. Among the vessels in
2
which he served were the USS Powhatan, John
Adams, Perry, St. Lawrence, and Savannah. A
highlight of those years was his participation in
the North Sea Exploring Expedition of 1853–
1856, during which (1855) he was promoted to
the ranks of master and lieutenant.
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Carter
chose to side with the South and resigned on
April 25, 1861. Two days later he entered the
Confederate navy as a lieutenant and shortly
thereafter was assigned to serve at the Savannah
and New Orleans naval stations. In September
he was sent as a naval assistant to Columbus,
KY, and shortly thereafter was dispatched to
New Orleans to command and convert the side-
wheel steamer Ed Howard into a gunboat, which
was duly christened CSS General Polk. After the
craft participated in the March–May evacuation
of New Madrid, MO, the actions at Tiptonville,
TN, and the loss of Fort Pillow, Carter took her
up the Yazoo River, where, in accordance with
orders from a superior, she was scuttled on
June 26. Afterwards, Carpenter was dispatched
to Shreveport, LA, to command and outfit the
paddle wheel ironclad CSS Missouri. The final
Confederate ironclad finished in the Western
Hemisphere, she was launched on April 14, 1863.
That fall, Carter, with his flag on the Missouri,
was placed in charge of the naval defenses of
western Louisiana, but low water prevented him
from engaging the U.S. Mississippi Squadron
when it ascended the Red River in April 1864.
During late summer, Carter became involved in
a plot under which the captain of the Federal
light-draught Rattler (Tinclad No.1), which was
then patrolling the Mississippi River near Rod-
ney, MS, would be sold to the CSN. Following a
September 4 altercation onshore between men
from the tinclad and a party of CSN sailors
under Lt. Carter, the gambit failed. By March
1865 the Red River had risen sufficiently for the
Missouri to move down to Alexandria, in the
central part of the state. There she was surren-
dered to Federal forces along with her crew on
May 26, 1865; the vessel was the last coastal or
inland Confederate ironclad acquired by the
Union.
Carter was paroled at Shreveport on June 7
and ran a cotton plantation in Bossier Parish,
across the Red River from Shreveport, which fi-
nancial trouble forced him to abandon in 1870.
  Chandler

While in command of the paddle-wheel ironclad Missouri, based at Shreveport, LA, Lt. Jonathan
Handby Carter, CSN, in late summer 86 became involved in a plot under which the captain of the
depicted Federal light draught Rattler (Tinclad No. ), then patrolling the Mississippi River near Rod-
ney, MS, would be sold to the CSN. Following a September  altercation on shore between men from
the USN light draught and a party of CSN sailors under Lt. Carter, the gambit failed (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).

On November 22 of the same year, he married Chandler, Ralph (1829–1889, USN)

Henrietta Giroud Tompkins from South Car-
olina and moved to her hometown of Edgefield,
where he died on March 7, 1884. Carter was
buried in the First Baptist Church cemetery at
Edgefield.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Jeter, A Man and His Boat: The Civil War
Career and Correspondence of Lieutenant Jonathan H.
Carter, CSN; Jeter, “Against All Odds: Lt. Jonathan H.
Carter, CSN, and His Ironclad”; Still, “The Confeder-
ate Ironclad Missouri”; Tucker, “Jonathan H. Carter,”
in Tucker, I; Callahan; ORN, 2, 1; Smith, CSS Arkan
sas; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western
Waters; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight
for the Yazoo; “Jonathan Hanby Carter, Surry County’s
Civil War Sailor,” Free State of Patrick: Surry County
North Carolina History, http://www.freestateofpatrick.
com/sccwr.htm (accessed October 4, 2009); Meg
Carter, “Re: Jonathan H. Carter 1822 NC,” GenForum,
http://genforum.genealogy.com/carter/messages/14618.
html (accessed November 12, 2012).
Oldest of the two sons and one daughter of
lawyer Daniel Hicks (1792–1864) and Mary W.
Stark Chandler (1791–1873), Ralph was born at
Batavia, NY, on August 3, 1829. He was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on September 27,
1845, and was immediately sent to the naval
school at Annapolis, where he studied until July
1846. He was then ordered aboard the Pacific
Squadron flagship, the razee Independence, for
an almost-three year cruise during the Mexican
War. Blockading the West Coast as far south as
lower Mexico, his cut-down ship-of-the-line
supported the capture of Guaymas on Octo-
ber 19, 1847, and Mazatlan on November 11.
After an 1848 visit to Hawaii, Chandler trans-
ferred to the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war Vin-
cennes in December 1849. On July 2, 1850, while
lying off Guayaquil, Ecuador, the ship briefly
Chandler 

After the capture of Fort Fisher in January 86, Lt. Cmdr. Ralph Chandler, USN, assumed com-
mand of the monitor Sangamon, then in the James River. This photograph of his ship depicts her
officers and numerous other highlights including an anchor chain on deck, ventilators erected over
deck fittings, a thin white band painted around the turret top, uneven height of the turret gunports,
and a Dahlgren howitzer on a field carriage (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

hosted the Ecuadorian revolutionary Gen. Jorge
A. Elizalde (1795–1862) during a period of civil
unrest. When the ship reached San Francisco,
three dozen of her crew deserted to the gold
fields. Becoming a passed midshipman on Oc-
tober 6, 1851, Chandler returned to the USNA
in November, graduating the following June. Or-
dered aboard the Mediterranean Squadron
sloop-of-war St. Louis, he cruised in European
waters until May 1855. Granted leave, Chandler
married Cornelia Refield (1829–1889); the
couple would have two sons and three daugh-
ters. On September 15, he became a master and
the next day a lieutenant. From July to August
1860 Chandler was seconded to the USCS and
participated in surveys of the South American
coast. In November 1860 he departed for the
Orient aboard the East Indies Squadron sloop-
of-war Vandalia.
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War in April
1861, the Vandalia joined the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) off such high-
traffic areas as Charleston and Bull’s Bay, SC,
and was present during the Union’s capture of
Roanoke Island, NC, on November 7–8. Sent to
the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(NABS) steam frigate San Jacinto in January
1862, he participated in the May 8 bombardment
of Sewell’s Point and the May 11 capture of Nor-
folk, VA, before his ship became flagship of the
East Gulf Blockading Squadron (EGBS), based
at Key West, FL, on June 4. Chandler was pro-
moted to the rank of lieutenant commander on
July 16 as his ship, seconded to the NAS, de-
parted for an unsuccessful five-month chase of
the Confederate ocean raider Alabama. The San
Jacinto returned to Key West and the EGBS in
late January 1863, and during the spring he
helped to outfit the monitor Roanoke at New
York.
Chandler obtained his first command in May
when he took over the EGBS steam gunboat
Huntsville, and, during the remainder of the
year, captured five runners on his own and aided
in the seizure of several others. Between January
and mid–May 1864, the Huntsville operated off
 
the coast of Florida but was out of service due
to Yellow Fever thereafter until September.
Given command of the newly-converted NABS
steam gunboat Maumee, he unsuccessfully, in
October-November, pursued the Confederate
ocean raider CSS Tallahassee, then attacking
Northern ships off the coast of Massachusetts.
Detailed south, Chandler participated in the
failed Christmas Eve attack on Fort Fisher, near
Wilmington, NC. Regrouped, the Maumee and
other NABS ships returned to the attack on Jan-
uary 13, 1865, and, at the end of a two-day cam-
paign, the citadel was taken. Detached, Chand-
ler next took command of the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) Passaic-class
monitor Sangamon, then in the James River.
While supporting the Army of the Potomac’s
drive on Richmond, the ironclad spent the next
several months on patrol duty, providing pro-
tection against the CSN James River Squadron
and clearing underwater mines, known as tor-
pedoes.
His monitor was decommissioned at Phila-
delphia in summer 1865, leaving Chandler un-
employed until January 1866 when he assumed
command of the supply ship Don in January
1866, taking her on a 29-month deployment on
the East Coast and in the Caribbean. The Cul-
tivator Shoal, some 50 miles east of Cape Cod,
was discovered during this cruise and exten-
sively reviewed. Six months into the Don’s de-
ployment, her captain was notified on July 25
that he had become a commander. From August
until February 1869, Chandler was the New York
navy yard ordnance officer, after which he be-
came captain of the double-ender dispatch gun-
boat Tallapoosa, which operated up and down
the East Coast. In January 1870 Chandler wel-
comed VAdm. David G. Farragut (1801–1870)
aboard and transported him to Portland, ME,
to meet HMS Monarch, a British battleship ar-
riving from England with the remains of the late
philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869)
aboard. Chandler was at the New York navy yard
from May until April 1874, sailed in command
of the rebuilt sloop-of-war Swatara during May,
and became a captain on June 4. His year-long
mission was the transport of five groups of sci-
entists to different points in the South Pacific
for observations of the transit of Venus. After
commanding the Boston-area receiving ships
Cilley
Ohio and Wabash, he was given the North At-
lantic Station (NAS) sloop-of-war Lackawanna
in September 1878 and, following her 18-month
deployment to European waters, served on a
Philadelphia board and at the Boston navy yard
until June 1884, being advanced to the rank of
commodore during March 1884. Prior to his el-
evation to rear admiral on October 1, 1886,
Chandler was commandant of the New York
navy yard. That November he became com-
mander of the Asiatic Squadron, wearing his flag
in the sloop-of-war Marion. While paying a
courtesy call upon the governor of Hong Kong
on the morning of February 11, 1889, the admiral
suffered a stroke. He was returned to a rented
room at the Hong Kong Hotel, lost conscious-
ness, and died. His body was held at the British
Naval Hospital for two days until burial at the
Hong Kong Cemetery. Chandler was remem-
bered as a tall and gracious gentleman and de-
cidedly literary in his tastes. No USN ships have
been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly; The National Cyclopedia of American Biography,
IV; Cogar; DANFS; Chris Nelson, “Ralph Chandler,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=152557427 (accessed July 12,
2016); Chandler, “Rigging and Equipment of Vessels
of War”; Baltimore Sun, February 12, 1889; New Or-
leans Daily Picayune, February 14, 1889; Boston Daily
Advertiser, February 13, 1889; Milwaukee Daily Jour-
nal, February 21, 1889; New York Times, March 17,
1889.
Cilley, Greenleaf (1829–1899,
USN)
The eldest of two surviving sons and a daugh-
ter of U.S. Congressman Jonathan Longfellow
Cilley (1802–1838) and his wife Deborah (1808–
1844), Greenleaf was born at Thomaston, ME,
on October 27, 1829. Following the February 28,
1838, death of his father in a duel with a Ken-
tucky congressman, Greenleaf was sent to
boarding school at Standish, ME. On February
26, 1841, he was warranted a USN midshipman
from Maine and sent aboard the frigate Constel-
lation, then at Annapolis, MD. From 1843 to
1845, Cilley served aboard the Mediterranean
Squadron flagship, the frigate Cumberland,
where he learned of the death of his mother in
September 1844. Shifted to the sloop-of-war
Cilley
Plymouth in late 1845, he participated in her
continuing European cruise until he returned
to the USNA in November 1846. Having re-
quested sea duty for the Mexican War, Cilley
joined the ship-of-the line Ohio and arrived off
Vera Cruz on March 22, 1847. Found to be too
large to engage in coastal operations, the Ohio
sent ten of her cannon, together with a number
of seamen including Cilley, ashore and partici-
pated in the bombardment of the city, which
surrendered soon thereafter. Cilley assisted the
AUS to cross the Medlin River during its march
to Alvarado and was closely engaged with its
batteries during the attacks upon the town.
In April a fleet amphibious force that included
Cilley captured the Tuxpan forts, and the mid-
shipman was slightly wounded while storming
a battery near the town. Becoming a passed
midshipman on August 10, Cilley returned to
the USNA in January 1848 and graduated in
June 1849, at which time he received three
months’ leave. Appointed into the Home
Squadron frigate Raritan, Cilley served in the
From October to December 86 the moni-
tor Catskill was commanded off Charleston, SC,
by Lt. Cmdr. Greenleaf Cilley, USN. Later,
on April , 86, he was at Ford’s Theater,
Washington, D.C., when President Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated (courtesy Eve Ander-
son).
6
Caribbean until April 1850, when he was sec-
onded to the USCS for a year. Joining the store-
ship Fredonia as acting master in the fall of 1851,
Cilley arrived at Benica, CA, on June 19, 1852,
from whence his ship sailed south to Valparaiso,
Chile. Transferred to the Pacific Squadron
frigate St. Lawrence, he returned to Norfolk, VA,
in late April 1853 and joined the storeship Lex-
ington on a run to La Spezia, Italy. After being
seconded to the USCS steamer Jefferson and sail-
ing for California in February 1854, the ship ran
into a severe storm off Penguin Island, Pata-
gonia, on May 25 and was fatally damaged. Able
to reach land at Patagonia, the ship was con-
demned and Cilley and the crew sailed to Mon-
tevideo, Uruguay, where he met Malvina Vermet
(1830–1924), daughter of a governor of the Falk-
land Islands. The two would correspond for a
decade before they were wed. The stranded navy
men were sent to New York aboard the return-
ing storeship Relief, and Cilley served off Florida
aboard the USCS steamer Legare.
Having been ordered into the Home Squad-
ron sloop-of-war Saratoga in August, he became
a master on September 14 and lieutenant next
day. His vessel spent her entire deployment in
the Caribbean and participated in the capture
of filibusterer William Walker at Greytown (now
San Juan de Nicaragua) in November 1857. In
early 1858 Cilley was seconded to the USCS
steamer Hetzel, then engaged in surveys in the
North Carolina sounds and Chesapeake Bay. In
the spring of 1859 he became executive officer
of the Brazil Squadron brig Dolphin, serving in
the same billet aboard the squadron’s brig Bain-
bridge in 1860 and 1861. At Montevideo, Cilley
married Malvina Vermet on May 16, 1861, a
month after the outbreak of the Civil War (the
couple would have five children) and became a
lieutenant commander on July 16, 1862. His
ship’s South American deployment having
ended in December, the Cilleys returned to New
York in June and took leave, visiting Niagara
Falls. From there, Cilley took command of the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
steam gunboat Unadilla and joined the blockade
line off Tybee Island, GA. From there, she con-
ducted numerous reconnaissance surveys and
monitored construction of the Confederate ram
CSS Savannah.
In October Cilley received command of the
 
monitor Catskill, which, with other SABS iron-
clads, regularly undertook picket duty and bom-
bardments of Fort Sumter and other Charleston,
SC, targets through December. His daughter
having died just before Christmas, Cilley was
allowed to return to New York. In March 1864
he joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron steamer Fort Jackson, then blockading
Wilmington, DE. In August he became execu-
tive officer of the NABS steam frigate Colorado,
which cruised off the North Carolina coast and
participated in the December 1 Battle of Fort
Fisher and the victorious campaign against that
citadel (January 13–15, 1865). With the Civil War
nearing an end and wishing to spend time with
his family, Cilley was placed on the USN Retired
List on March 18, 1865. In Washington, D.C., on
April 15, he was at Ford’s Theater when President
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was assassinated.
Cilley and his family returned to Montevideo,
Uruguay, in May 1866, where he raised sheep on
the Estancia Esmeralda, near Mercedes. Pro-
moted to the rank of USN commander on
May 12, 1867, he spent most of the next decade
exploring and surveying the remote areas of
Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia, includ-
ing determining a possible railroad route in the
latter nation. With his eldest son, he returned
to the U.S. in March 1876. Cilley traveled back
and forth between the homes of his North
American and South American relatives and
arranged to visit the Columbian World’s Fair Ex-
position at Chicago, IL, in 1893. He died at San
Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 5,
1899. His remains are buried at Elm Grove
Cemetery, Thomaston, ME. No USN warships
have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
DANFS; Hamersly; Thomaston Public Library,
“Greenleaf Cilley,” in Thomaston: The Town That
Went to Sea,” http://thomaston.mainememory.net/
page/878/display.html (accessed April 3, 2016); “Com-
mander Greenleaf Ciley,” Thomaston Historical Soci-
ety, http://www.thomastonhistoricalsociety.com/Green.
html (accessed April 3, 2016); Hawthorne, Biographi-
cal Sketch of Jonathan Cilley; Mark Cilley, “Comman-
der Greenleaf Cilley,” The Cilley Pages, http://cilley.
net/thecilleypages/cilley-en-o/e90.htm (accessed
April 3, 2016); ORN, I, 15; “Marge,” pseud., “Greenleaf
Cilley,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25415604 (accessed April 3,
2016).
Clark
Clark, Charles Peter (1836–1901,
USN)
Clark was born in Nashua, NH, August 11,
1836, the scion of two prominent New England
families, the Clarks, and the Lords of Kenneb-
unkport, Maine. As a result of a lengthy ocean
voyage from 1852 to 1853, undertaken to im-
prove his health, he acquired a liking for the sea
and soon thereafter purchased a small vessel and
embarked in the West African trade from Bos-
ton, employing a captain while accompanying
the vessel as its supercargo. In 1857 Charles P.
Clark & Co., a shipping enterprise that operated
vessels in the West African trade, was formed
but was dissolved in January 1860. For the next
2½ years Clark, evidently in partnership with
Theodore E. Goodhue, operated three sailing
ships on the Boston-West Africa route to Li-
beria. In February 1862 he sold his brig to Wil-
liam Ropes & Co. but acted as their agent for the
vessel until he entered the Union navy as an act-
ing ensign on October 3.
In June 1863 he was made captain of the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) sloop
Rosalie, armed with a single 12-pounder boat
howitzer, on the Union blockade off Florida. On
July 8 the vessel participated in her first capture
and, not wholly as a result of this, Clark was pro-
moted to the rank of acting master 10 days later.
In early August he was transferred to command
of the howitzer-equipped schooner USS Sea
Bird, under jurisdiction of the West Gulf Block-
ading Squadron (WGBS) on the western coast
of Florida. In July 1864, Sea Bird and three other
small sailing ships carried Union troops and
landed them for a raid on Brookville, FL. After
disembarking the soldiers, Sea Bird and a con-
sort proceeded to Bayport, FL, where a landing
party captured a quantity of cotton and burned
the customs house before returning to Anclote
Keys. For the highly meritorious services he
demonstrated, Clark was advanced to the rank
of acting volunteer lieutenant on August 9. On
October 21, Sea Bird captured the British schooner
Lucy off Anclote Keys with an assorted cargo in
Clark’s last ocean action of the war. In November
1864, the New Englander received orders to re-
port to Cairo, IL. There, three days before
Christmas, he became captain of the Pook turtle
Carondelet, one of the most famous of all Civil
Coleman 8

Acting Volunteer Lt. Charles P. Clark, USN, took over command of the Pook turtle Carondelet, one
of the most famous of all Civil War river ironclads, in late December 86. He remained in command
only a short time, although he was able to participate in the riverine pursuit of Confederate forces
evacuating the area south of Nashville in January 86. The drawings are by Samuel Ward Stanton
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

War river ironclads. He remained in command
only a short time, although he was able to par-
ticipate in the riverine pursuit of Confederate
forces evacuating the area south of Nashville in
January 1865. On February 1 Clark joined the
ironclad Benton, which he captained for the re-
mainder of the war. He was honorably dis-
charged from the USN on November 20, 1865.
After the war, Clark remained in St. Louis for
a brief period as a merchant before returning to
Boston to become a partner in a shipping firm.
He was then employed as a clerk on the Boston,
Hartford & Erie Railroad, beginning a career
that would, by March 1887, bring him to the
presidency of the New York, New Haven &
Hartford Railroad Company. He retired in 1899
and died on March 20, 1901, while vacationing
in Nice, France. No USN warships have been
named in his honor.
Sources: Callahan; DANFS; Neeser, “Historic
Ships of the Navy: Benton”; “Register of the Charles
Peter Clark Papers,” Mystic Seaport G.W. Blunt White
Library, http://library.mysticseaport.org/manuscripts/
coll/coll135.cfm (accessed November 18, 2011); New
York Times, March 22, 1901; Smith, USS Carondelet.
Coleman, Silas Bunker
(1843–1908, USN)
The son of a wealthy family and brother of
Ferdinand Timothy Coleman, Coleman was
 
born in NYC on July 29, 1843, and spent his pre-
war years studying finance at leading eastern in-
stitutions. Following the outbreak of the Civil
War, he enlisted in the AUS with his brother in
July 1861 and was initially assigned to quarter-
master duties. The Colemans were among a
group of soldiers transferred to the Western
Flotilla during the summer, being assigned to
the timberclad Tyler, where he was also known
as William. Rated as a master’s mate, he partic-
ipated in the November Battle of Belmont, as
well as in numerous forays in the Mississippi
River between Cairo, IL, and Columbus, KY.
Coleman was also on board the Tyler during the
Fort Henry campaign, the dash up the Tennes-
see River, the Battle of Shiloh, and, in July, the
famous encounter with the Confederate ram
Arkansas. Following that encounter, the timber-
clad’s crew was transferred to the ironclad
Mound City, herself only just completing repair
from her June White River disaster.
Coleman was appointed an acting ensign on
October 1 and was present during the December
Coleman
combined arms operation in the Yazoo River de-
signed to reach Vicksburg, MS, via Chickasaw
Bayou. During March 1863 his ship participated
in the Steele’s Bayou Expedition and was among
the ironclads that ran down the Mississippi
River past the Vicksburg batteries on April 16
and fought the Battle of Grand Gulf on April 29.
Thereafter, from time to time, the Mound City
participated in the bombardment of the citadel,
which finally surrendered on July 4. Miscella-
neous patrol and partisan suppression missions
occupied the vessel during the remainder of the
year. At one point the Coleman brothers were
simultaneously brought up on charges of dere-
liction of duty for turning their gunboat into an
“ instrument of tyranny” they employed to loot
private homes visited on shore. Both men were
ordered to stand court-martial in late January
1864; however, there is no evidence that a court
was held or, if it were, that they were found
guilty. Both men were on board the Mound City
as she participated in the March–May Red River
Expedition. Coleman was promoted to the rank

Aboard the Mound City as she participated in the March–May 86 Red River Expedition. Silas B.
Coleman, USN, was promoted to the rank of acting master on June , and from December through
January 86 he was acting commander of the ironclad (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Colhoun
of acting master on June 15. From December
through January 1865, he was acting com-
mander of the Mound City. Thereafter he was
sent aboard the Pittsburg as her executive officer
for a short period, followed by a tour as the last
commander of the light-draught Naumkeag
(Tinclad No. 37).
Discharged on December 15, 1865, Coleman
engaged in NYC banking business from 1866 to
1869 but moved to Detroit in 1870 to become
cashier of the People’s Savings Bank, a post he
held for 20 years. In the years after 1890 he was
treasurer then president of the National Loan &
Investment Company. Still active in his profes-
sion and in veteran’s affairs, he died at home on
January 10, 1908. No USN warships have been
named in his honor.
Sources: Callahan; ORN, I, 25; ORN, I, 27; Com-
pendium of History and Biography of the City of Detroit
and Wayne County, Michigan; Smith, The Timberclads
in the Civil War; Coleman, A July Morning with the
Rebel Ram Arkansas; Coleman and Stevens. “A July
Morning with the Rebel Ram Arkansas”; Coleman,
The Coleman Family; Smith, CSS Arkansas.
Colhoun, Edmund Ross
(1821–1897, USN)
Edmund Colhoun was born in Chambers-
burg, PA, on May 6, 1821, the son of Alexander
and Margaretta A. Colhoun. Appointed a USN
midshipman on April 1, 1839, he joined the
Brazil Squadron sloop of war Marion for a two-
year cruise of South American waters and in
1842–1844 served in the frigate Congress during
her service with the Mediterranean and Brazil
squadrons. During January–June 1845, Colhoun
attended the Philadelphia Naval School and
upon his July 2 graduation became a passed
midshipman. After leave, during which he mar-
ried Mary Ann Reed on July 31 (the couple
would have six children), he went on board the
Home Squadron flagship, the frigate Cumber-
land, which oversaw the blockade of the Mexi-
can east coast early in the Mexican War. During
this deployment, Colhoun participated in the
March 1 attack on Alvarado, near Vera Cruz, and
then saw action at Tabasco in October. Having
transferred to the Home Squadron frigate Rar-
itan, he was present during the capture of Ta-
basco in June 1847, having been seconded to the
armed schooner Nonata. Colhoun was aboard
6
the Philadelphia receiving ship Experiment from
January 1848 through June 1849 and served until
September 1850 as acting master in the Carib-
bean of the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Al-
bany. He was then on the receiving ship Union
at Philadelphia from November until October
1851, followed by the Pacific Squadron frigate St.
Lawrence during a lengthy cruise up the Pacific
coast of South America from Cape Horn to
Puget Sound. Advanced to master on January 26,
1853, he resigned from the service on June 27
when a business opportunity presented itself.
When the Civil War began, Colhoun was
commissioned an acting volunteer lieutenant on
September 24, 1861, and became captain of the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron gunboat
Hunchback, a former NYC ferryboat aboard
which he participated in the February 7–8, 1862,
Battle of Roanoke Island, the March 14 capture
of Newbern, NC, and the October engagements
on Virginia’s Blackwater River. On Novem-
ber 17, he was advanced to the rank of com-
mander and early in January 1863 was trans-
ferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
monitor Weehawken, being aboard when she led
the way during the first USN attack on Charles-
ton Harbor on April 7. Later, on June 17, Wee-
hawken engaged the Confederate ironclad At-
lanta in Wassaw Sound, GA, capturing her in
Cmdr. Edmund Ross Colhoun, USN, was captain
of the monitor Weehawken off Charleston, SC,
from June to September 86 and the monitor
Saugus in the James River from April 86 into
the fall. He died a rear admiral (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).
 6
just 15 minutes. When the monitor’s commander
was relieved to a hero’s refrain, Colhoun suc-
ceeded him as captain.
On July 10, Colhoun’s Weekhawken resumed
operations against Charleston-area targets with
a bombardment of Fort Wagner on Morris Is-
land. This shoot was followed by others, equally
ineffective, on July 18 and 24. Wagner was finally
reduced during a massive squadron attack on
August 17, which also punished Forts Gregg,
Sumter, and Moultrie. Fort Sumter was the prin-
cipal target during attacks on August 23, Sep-
tember 1, and September 7. During a Decem-
ber 6 storm, the anchored ironclad sank off
Morris Island, losing four officers and 27 ratings.
Colhoun was on sick leave until February 1864.
Given command of the new monitor Saugus,
which was towed to the James River in April,
Colhoun supported Federal operations designed
to capture Richmond. While helping to guard
against a sortee by rams of the Confederate
James River Squadron, the ironclad also engaged
the Southerners’ Howlett’s Farm battery on
June 21. Colhoun went back on sick leave in late
fall and thereafter awaited orders until March
1865, when he was sent to New York to assist
gunboat construction czar RAdm. Francis H.
Gregory (1789–1866).
Colhoun became South Pacific Station (SAS)
fleet captain in December 1866, serving aboard
the steam frigate Powhatan until August 1867.
Unemployed for two years, he became a captain
on March 2, 1869, and in April took over the
North Atlantic Station monitor Dictator until
July 1870. After 1871 service as Philadelphia navy
yard ordnance officer, Colhoun was the Boston
navy yard executive officer until June 1873. From
July to April 1874, he commanded the Asiatic
Squadron flagship Hartford and served as acting
squadron commander from April to August. He
became captain of the new flagship, Richmond,
holding that post until April 1875, when he com-
pleted his final sea duty. Becoming a commo-
dore on April 26, 1876, Colhoun represented the
USN at the Philadelphia centennial celebrations
from July to October. On board duty until
March 1877, he commanded the Mare Island
Navy Yard from April to January 1881 and was
inspector of naval vessels thereafter. Advanced
to rear admiral on December 3, he was placed
on the retired list on May 6, 1883.
Cooke
At the time of his death from a heart attack
at his Washington, D.C., home on February 17,
1897, Colhoun was an elder in the Church of the
Covenant. He was buried at Arlington National
Cemetery, and two 20th century USN destroyers
were named in his honor: DD-85 and DD-801.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
DANFS; Cogar; The National Cyclopedia of American
Biography, X; Butler and Brooks, Edmund Ross Col-
houn Papers: A Finding Aid to the Papers in the Naval
Historical Foundation Collection in the Library of Con-
gress; Heitzmann, “The Ironclad Weehawken in the
Civil War”; Merrill, “USS Weehawken: Gallant Iron-
ship”; Loretta Castaldi, “Edmund Ross Colhoun,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=73292475 (accessed May 3, 2016);
Washington Post, February 18, 1897; New York Times,
February 18–19, 1897.
Cooke, James Wallace
(1812–1869, CSN)
Cooke was born to merchant Thomas Cooke
(1787–1815) and his wife Esther (1795–1816) in
Beaufort, NC, on August 23, 1812. Following the
loss of his father in an 1815 Atlantic hurricane
and his mother to consumption, Cooke, to-
gether with his sister, moved in with their uncle,
Beaufort customs collector Henry Marchant
Cooke (1778–1835). After private schooling,
James became a USN midshipman on April 1,
1828, and immediately joined the frigate Guer-
riere, later being transferred to the Natchez and
John Adams. He was aboard the frigate Consti-
tution on June 14, 1834, when he was advanced
to the rank of passed midshipman. Cooke’s an-
tebellum naval service was similar to that of
other officers, and during those years he also
held billets aboard the USS Macedonian, On-
tario, Germantown, and Decatur. He saw shore
duty at the Pensacola navy yard, on the Norfolk
navy yard receiving ship, and at the USNO. Pro-
moted to lieutenant on February 25, 1841, Cooke
contracted yellow fever while on an 1848 second
cruise aboard the John Adams. He was sent to
the Norfolk Naval Hospital to recover and, on
July 5, married Mary E.A. Watts (1825–1889);
the couple would have three sons. In 1856 Cooke
became captain of the storeship Relief, which
made several trips to South American waters to
resupply ships of the Brazil Squadron. The
navy’s senior lieutenant was detached from his
Cooper
first command in late 1860 and returned home
to await orders.
When North Carolina seceded from the
Union in May 1861, Cooke resigned to become
a Virginia navy lieutenant the same month. On
June 11, he was commissioned a CSN lieutenant
and was transferred from duty on the James
River to the Potomac River in Virginia, there to
help erect batteries at Aquia Creek. On July 18
he became captain of the Confederate “mosquito
fleet” steamer Weldon N. Edwards on the North
Carolina coast. Later, in October, he assumed
command of the steamer Ellis at New Bern, NC;
she was lost and he was wounded in the right
arm and captured during an engagement with
USN forces near Cobb’s Point Battery, Roanoke
Island, on February 10, 1862. Paroled two days
later and promoted to the rank of commander
on August 25, to date from May 17, he was ex-
changed in September and ordered to assist
Gilbert Elliott with building an ironclad ram at
Edward’s Ferry on the Roanoke River. The ship
was named the Albemarle, and construction
continued through 1863 and into 1864. Nearly
First captain of the famous Confederate ironclad
Albemarle, Cmdr. James W. Cooke, CSN, partic-
ipated in the May , 86, Battle of Albemarle
Sound, NC, before becoming commander of CSN
forces in North Carolina waters in June (Scharf,
History of the Confederate States Navy).
62
complete, she participated in an April 19 joint
arms attack on Plymouth, NC. Two Federal gun-
boats attempted to intercept her, but one was
sunk and the other forced to flee. As she sor-
tied with two consorts into Albemarle Sound on
May 5 to assist with the Southern attack on New
Bern, NC, the Albemarle was attacked by seven
Federal gunboats; the engagement between the
two sides continued for several hours until the
Confederate ram withdrew. Becoming a captain
on June 10, the ill Cooke was a week later de-
tached from the Albemarle. But some weeks later
Cooke assumed command of all CSN forces in
North Carolina waters, a post he held until the
end of the war when he evacuated the Hali-
fax, NC, navy yard. Paroled at Raleigh, NC, on
May 12, 1865, Cooke lived quietly in Portsmouth,
VA, until he died of “softening of the brain” on
June 21, 1869. He was buried at Cedar Grove
Cemetery in Portsmouth.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Dup-
pstadt, “James Wallace Cooke,” in Tucker, I; Driver,
Confederate Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Vir-
ginia and Maryland; CSN Register; Foenander; John
D. Davis, “James Wallace Cooke Biographical Sketch,
1898 (collection no. 00176-z),” The Southern Histori-
cal Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collec-
tions Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/c/Cooke,
James_Wallace.html#folder_1#1 (accessed May 3,
2016); Elliott, Ironclad of the Roanoke; Diane, pseud.,
“Capt. James Wallace Cooke,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=
cooke&GSfn=james&GSmn=w&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=
1869&GSdyrel= in&GSob= n&GRid= 35207060&df=
all& (accessed May 3, 2016); Bennett, “The Albemarle
in Albemarle Sound”; Butler, Pirates, Privateers, and
Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast; Lindley S. Butler,
“James W. Cooke,” NCpedia http://ncpedia.org/
biography/cooke-james-wallace (accessed May 3,
2016).
Cooper, George Henry
(1822–1891, USN)
Cooper was born at Fort Diamond, in New
York Harbor, on July 27, 1822. He was appointed
an acting USN midshipman in January 1836 and
immediately joined the West Indies Squadron
sloop-of-war Concord. Thrust into the Second
Seminole War on August 4, 1837, he regularly
participated in small joint arms boat expeditions
against the Seminoles, becoming a regular mid-
shipman on August 14, 1837. From November
 6 Cooper

From February to June 86 Cmdr. George H. Cooper, USN, was captain of the monitor Sanga-
mon on the Charleston, SC, blockade. As captain of the Asiatic Squadron flagship Colorado in 8
off Korea, he is shown here seated third from the right (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).

1838 to September 1842, he served successively
in the Pacific Squadron’s frigate Constitution, the
schooner Shark, and the sloop-of-war St. Louis.
Graduating from the Philadelphia Naval School
on June 29, 1843, and becoming a passed mid-
shipman, Cooper was acting master aboard the
Africa Squadron flagship, the frigate Macedon-
ian, and also the same unit’s sloop-of-war Sara-
toga until December 1844. After duty at the New
York and Norfolk, VA, navy yards, Cooper
served two tours aboard the Home Squadron
dispatch schooner Flirt (June 1845–February
1846 and March 1846–January 1847), carrying
messages for the Pacific Squadron to Panama
for transshipment overland and participation in
the Mexican War. During the conflict, Cooper
commanded a detachment ashore during the
May 1846 Siege of Fort Texas, and was aboard
as his ship participated in the capture of Mon-
terrey, Mexico, in September and the First Battle
of Tabasco in October. On the frigate Raritan
during the landings at Tabasco in June 1847, he
spent 1848 training recruits at Norfolk.
From that December through early Septem-
ber 1849, he was acting master during the Medi-
terranean cruise of the storeship Supply, before
returning to a Norfolk billet, during which he
became a master on October 11. Joining the East
Indies Squadron flagship, the steam frigate
Susquehanna, in December 1850 and advanced
to lieutenant on May 8, 1851, Cooper was aboard
when in 1853 and 1854 Com. Matthew C. Perry
(1794–1858) “opened” Japan. He served at the
Norfolk navy yard from March 1855 until May
1857 and was aboard the USNA practice ship
Preble until February 1858 and the Home
Squadron flagship Roanoke from August 1858
though May 1860, before returning to shore duty
at the Portsmouth navy yard until September
1861.
Promoted to commander on July 16, 1862,
Cooper was captain of the Atlantic coastal
Cornwell
supply ship Massachusetts, from March until
December, after which he served as temporary
commander of the converted steamer Connecti-
cut, a convoy and tow ship off Aspinwall, Pan-
ama. In July 1863, he took over the South Atlan-
tic Blockading Squadron (SABS) double-ender
gunboat Sonoma, which patrolled off the South
Carolina and Georgia coasts. In January 1864 he
became captain of the Passaic-class monitor
Sangamon, which joined the blockade line off
Charleston, SC, in March. When the ironclad
was transferred to the James River in June,
Cooper became captain of the North Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (NABS) converted gun-
boat Glaucus, which broke down on August 22
and was under repair when the conflict finally
ended April-May 1865.
After Atlantic coastal and Caribbean service
as captain of the double-ender gunboat Winoo-
ski until June 1867, Cooper became a captain on
December 12 and thereafter was on Norfolk
navy yard ordnance duty until December 1869.
Commander of the Asiatic Station flagship, the
frigate Colorado, which transported the U.S.
minister to China and Korea on a diploma-
tic mission in April 1871, he participated in the
June 10–11, Korean Punitive Expedition, which
captured several forts in response to attacks on
American shipping. At Norfolk duty until No-
vember 1873, he commanded the ironclad Roa-
noke until December 1874, becoming a commo-
dore that June 5. Commandant of the Pensacola
navy yard from January 1875 until April 1876,
Cooper was president of several naval boards
between October 1876 and April 1880, interrupt-
ing that service to be 13th Lighthouse District
commander at Portland, OR, from January to
March 1877. Commandant of the New York
navy yard for two years after May 1880, he be-
came a rear admiral on November 15, 1881, and
from May 1882 to June 1884 undertook his final
sea duty in command of the North Atlantic Sta-
tion (NAS), wearing his flag in the frigate Ten-
nessee. Cooper was placed on the retired list on
July 27, 1884. He died of heart failure at his
Brooklyn, NY, home on November 17, 1891, and
was buried at that city’s Green-Wood Cemetery.
He left a wife, a daughter, and three sons. No
USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rded; Cogar; Alden, “Born 40 Years Too Soon
6
(Ironclad Roanoke)”; Russ Dodge, “Adm. George H.
Cooper,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=95596476 (accessed June
22, 2016); DANFS; New York Tribune, November 18,
1891; Washington Post, November 18, 1891.
Cornwell, John Jacob
(1834–1867, USN)
The son, with three daughters, of Peter (1805–
1852) and Mary Hayes Hillis (1798–1879) Corn-
well, John was born at New Lisbon, OH, on
June 6, 1834. He was appointed a USN midship-
man on February 1, 1847, and was at the USNA,
from which he graduated on June 10, 1853, be-
coming a passed midshipman. During the time
of his studies, he spent from February 13, 1848,
to January 29, 1851, aboard the East Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Plymouth. That Septem-
ber he returned to the Pacific Squadron for a
six-year cruise of the southern and eastern
ocean aboard the sloop-of-war St. Mary’s. Dur-
ing that deployment, Cornwell became a lieu-
tenant on September 16, 1855, participated in the
February 6, 1857, negotiations that ended a con-
flict between Nicaragua and American filibus-
terers led by William Walker (1824–1860), and
collected geologic and hydrographic data before
being stranded at San Francisco from March to
August 1858, when many from her crew deserted
to the gold fields. Relieved in February 1859,
Cornwell transferred aboard the brig Perry and
was a participant in the Paraguayan punitive ex-
pedition, remaining aboard off the South Amer-
ican east coast until June 1860.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War in
April 1861, the Perry joined the Atlantic blockade
off the east coast of Florida until July, when she
was reassigned to the Potomac Flotilla just after
the Battle of Bull Run. She served on both in-
terdiction and Washington, D.C., defense duty
for the remainder of the year and into 1862. Pro-
moted a lieutenant commander on July 16, 1862,
Cornwell was assigned to the new South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron steam sloop-of-war Ca-
nandaigua off Charleston, SC, working on the
interdiction service and providing support to
AUS forces raiding Confederate positions
around the harbor. When the previous com-
mander of the SABS monitor Nahant was forced
onto medical leave, Cornwell became her cap-
 6 Couthouy

Cmdr. John J. Cornwell, USN, commanded the monitor Nahant off Charleston, SC, from August 86
until April 86. Thereafter, he was captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad Choctaw (depicted)
and commander of that fleet’s 2nd Division through May 86. He died of a heart attack while serving
as executive officer of the monitor Miantonomoh on her European visit in 86 (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).

tain on August 29. For the next eight months,
the Nahant joined several other monitors in
combined attacks on the Charleston Harbor de-
fenses, including Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie,
and Fort Wagner, with particularly hard fighting
during September–November. In April 1864
Cornwell was transferred to the Mississippi
Squadron, where, through May 1865, he com-
manded the giant river ironclad Choctaw, over-
seeing her deployment as a station-keeping ves-
sel, largely between Bayou Sara and Morganza,
LA, as commander of the 2nd Division.
In April 1866 Cornwell became executive offi-
cer of the giant double-turreted North Atlantic
Station monitor Miantonomoh, which, when it
transported navy assistant secretary Gustavus
Vasa Fox (1821–1883) and his party to Russia and
Europe on a special mission for President An-
drew Johnson (1808–1875), was the first monitor
to cross the Atlantic Ocean. While anchored at
Toulon, France, on February 12, 1867, Cornwell
suffered a stroke and died. He was buried at
Toulon. A monument was raised in his memory
at the Lisbon Cemetery at New Lisbon, OH. No
USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Benjamin, The United States Naval Academy:
Being the Yarn of the American Midshipman; DANFS;
Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters;
DeVries, “The Union Ironclad Ram Choctaw”; Brooks,
“Saltwater Buckeye: Lt. Cmdr. John J. Cornwell, USN”;
ORN, I, 15; ORN, I, 27; Dave and Joyce Humphrey,
“Cdr. John Jacob Cornwell,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid=
70304508 (accessed May 4, 2016).
Couthouy, Joseph Pitty
(1808–1864, USN)
As famous a scientist as he was a naval officer,
Couthouy was born in Boston, MA, on Janu-
ary 6, 1808, and studied at the Boston Latin
School beginning in 1820. In the years thereafter,
Couthouy 66

First captain of the depicted river monitor Osage, Acting Volunteer Lt. Joseph P. Couthouy, USN,
joined in the pursuit of Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan in July86 and thereafter participated in
the Federal armed reconnaissance of the Red River and patrols in the Mississippi River off Adams
County, MS. He was transferred to command of the ironclad Chillicothe in early 86, aboard which
he was killed during the Red River Expedition in April (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).

he became a master mariner and amateur ex-
plorer and an expert in conchology and inver-
tebrate paleontology. With intercession from
President Andrew Jackson, this member of the
Boston Society of Natural History joined the sci-
entists assigned to the 1838 Exploring Expedi-
tion, under the command of Lt. Charles Wilkes.
After gathering a large collection of shells, he
became ill (goes one account) or mishandled
specimens and was fired (goes another). In any
event, he was forced to return to the U.S. from
Hawaii in November 1840. He thereafter worked
on a part of the collection and published in the
professional literature over the next five years.
He then returned to nautical commerce, com-
manding sailing ships on the routes to South
American and the Pacific and, between 1854 and
1857, leading an unsuccessful expedition to
Ecuador’s Bay of Cumana seeking the wreck of
the Spanish treasure ship San Pedro.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War in
1861, Couthouy became a USN acting volunteer
lieutenant on August 26 and took command of
the four-gun Kingfisher, joining the Atlantic
blockade off Pensacola, FL. In January and Feb-
ruary 1862, he captured four runners in just over
a month. Courtney was detached from the bark
in November and became captain of the newly
converted South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(SABS) steamer Columbia, which was wrecked
in a severe gale off Masonboro Inlet, NC, on Jan-
uary 14, 1863, and the crew captured. Couthouy
was exchanged in May and posted to the Mis-
sissippi Squadron base at Cairo, IL, where he be-
came the first captain of the new river monitor
Osage. During July she was dispatched to the
Ohio River to support several tinclads blocking
a recrossing by Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan,
who was then raiding in Indiana and Ohio. In
August, Osage participated in the Federal armed
reconnaissance of the Red River and thereafter
patrolled in the Mississippi River off Adams
County, MS. During the first month of 1864,
Couthouy took command of the ironclad Chill-
icothe, then on patrol of Mississippi below
Vicksburg. In March his craft joined the large
 6 Craven
joint army-navy expedition up the Red River
into Louisiana, proceeding with the squadron
to Alexandria and then farther on. By the eve-
ning of April 3 the Chillicothe was about 100
miles above that town near Grand Ecore, LA,
when Couthouy was mortally wounded by a
Confederate sniper. He died the next morning.
Sources: Callahan; Joiner and Sandefur, eds.,
“Joseph Pitty Couthouy: The Death of a Sailor-
Scientist,” in Joiner, ed., Little to Eat and Thin Mud to
Drink: Letters, Diaries, and Memoirs from the Red
River Campaigns, 1863–1864; DANFS; Dall, “Some
American Conchologists”; Smith, Civil War Biogra-
phies from the Western Waters.

Craven, Tunis Augustus

Macdonough “Tam,” “Mac”
(1813–1864, USN)
The brother of RAdm. Thomas Tingey Craven
(1808–1887) was born to Portsmouth navy yard
storekeeper Tunis Quick Craven (1781–1866)
and his wife Hannah Tingey (1783–1835) at Kit-
tery, York, ME, on January 11, 1813. Having at-
tended the Columbia Grammar School, as well
as Norwich Academy (1827–1829) and already
nicknamed “Mac,” Craven became an acting
USN midshipman on February 2, 1829. Eventu-
ally assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron
sloop-of-war Boston, in 1831, his warrant as mid-
shipman was granted on November 11, 1831, and
in October 1832 he joined the West Indies
Squadron flagship, sloop-of-war St. Louis. Ad-
vanced to passed midshipman on July 3, 1835,
Craven, after a two-year leave, was at his request
seconded to the USCS until 1840, becoming ex-
pert in surveying and hydrography. In 1838 he
married Mary Carter (1816–1843); the couple
would have three children before her untimely
death. Becoming a lieutenant in September 1841
and sent to the Home Squadron sloop-of-war
Falmouth, Craven carried dispatches and pa-
trolled from Newfoundland to the Caribbean.
While aboard the New York receiving ship in
1843–1846, he married Marie L. Stevenson
(?–1905) of Baltimore and changed his address
from Brooklyn to Bound Brook, NJ; the couple
would have three children.
Craven served aboard the Pacific Squadron
sloop-of-war Dale, which cruised off the West
Coast until August 1849, capturing a number of
Cmdr. Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven,
USN, commissioned the monitor Tecumseh in
April 86 and initially served with her in the
James River. While participating in the August
 Battle of Mobile Bay, the ironclad struck a “tor-
pedo” and capsized. As the monitor rolled,
Craven and the crew attempted to escape. Arriv-
ing at a ladder at the same time as John Collins,
Craven stepped back and said, “After you, pilot.”
The subordinate escaped; the captain and 2 oth-
ers perished (courtesy Naval History and Her-
itage Command).
Mexican vessels during the Mexican War and
raising the flag over the mainland town of Guay-
mas, Mexico, and Mulege on the Baja California
peninsula. He was employed on the USCS for a
decade, save for 1850, which he spent at the
USNO, and commanded the survey vessel Cor-
win until October 1857, when he was given com-
mand of the Varina and undertook the Atrato
Expedition, a survey across the Isthmus of
Darien via the Atrato and Turando rivers. In late
1859, Craven’s first USN command, the steam
gunboat Mohawk, began a two-year patrol
Crosby
against pirates and slavers off the East Coast and
in the Caribbean. During the summer of 1860,
the Mohawk saved the foundering Spanish mer-
chantman Bella; the captain later received a gold
medal from Queen Isabella II. At home, Mrs.
Craven received on behalf of her husband a
silver service from the grateful New York Board
of Underwriters. Beginning on November 15,
the Mohawk and another warship defended
Forts Jefferson and Taylor at Key West from ac-
tions of “bands of lawless men,” helping to keep
the forts out of rebellious hands.
Craven assumed command of the steam gun-
boat Crusader, which patrolled in the Gulf of
Mexico from March 16 to August 28, 1861. Dur-
ing this deployment, war erupted and his ship
captured two vessels slated for sale as Confed-
erate privateers. Craven became captain of the
sloop-of-war Tuscarora, which departed at year’s
end in pursuit of Southern ocean raiders, spe-
cifically the CSS Nashville, then in English wa-
ters. Unable due to neutrality rules to pursue her
when she departed Southampton, Craven steamed
instead to Gibraltar, in mid–February 1862,
where he found the CSS Sumter in port. When
the Confederate crew abandoned their ship in
April, the Tuscarora moved to Cadiz, Spain,
where in late June she received orders to steam
back to British waters to intercept CSS Alabama.
Remaining in European waters for the rest of
the year and beyond, Craven protected Federal
merchantmen and vainly sought the enemy. Fol-
lowing a spring 1863 refit, the Tuscarora re-
turned to sea again in June to search off Ber-
muda and north as far as Nova Scotia for the
CSS Tacony. In September, Craven was detached
and ordered to Jersey City, NJ, to complete the
outfitting of, and assume command of, the
Canonicus-class monitor Tecumseh, which
joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(NABS) in April 1864. At the beginning of the
Bermuda Hundred Campaign in May, the mon-
itor steamed into the James River to support the
Federal army. On June 21 Tecumseh expended
46 of her 15-inch shells on the Confederate four-
gun battery at Howlett’s Farm, claiming one em-
placement destroyed. Towed to Pensacola,
Craven’s ironclad joined the West Gulf Blockad-
ing Squadron (WGBS) in late July. When the
Battle of Mobile Bay began on August 5, the
Tecumseh began to lead three other monitors
68
past Fort Morgan, with the mission of fending
off the ram CSS Tennessee and protecting an out-
board line of wooden warships also skirting the
citadel. Choosing to proceed through an unpro-
tected channel to safeguard the rapidly closing
flagship Hartford from the Tennessee, Craven
ran into a minefield. One hundred yards from
the Southern ironclad, the Tecumseh struck a
“torpedo” and capsized. As the monitor rolled,
Craven and the crew attempted to escape. Ar-
riving at a ladder at the same time as John
Collins, Craven stepped back and said “After
you, pilot.” The subordinate escaped; the captain
and 92 others perished during those terrible
thirty seconds.
Craven’s body remains in Mobile Bay with the
wreck of his ship, which is recognized as a war
grave and may not be disturbed. The English
poet Henry John Newbolt memorialized him in
his poem “Craven,” comparing him to the
British naval hero Sir Philip Sydney. Three 20th
century USN ships were named in his honor:
TB-10, DD-70, and DD-382.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; Tucker, “Tunis Augustus Macdonough
Craven,” in Tucker, I; Wright; Ellis, ed., “Commander
Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven,” in Norwich
University, 1819–1911: Her History, Her Graduates, Her
Roll of Honor; DANFS; Star, pseud., “Tunis Augustus
Macdonough ‘TAM’ Craven,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
77749957 (accessed April 12, 2016); “Notes from the
Journal of Lieutenant T.A.M. Craven, USN: U.S.S.
Dale, Pacific Squadron, 1846–1849”; Kembel, ed., A
Naval Campaign in the Californias, 1846–1849: The
Journal of Lieutenant Tunis Augustus Macdonough
Craven, USN, United States Sloop-of-War Dale; New
York Herald, June 21, 1858; Gatwick, Mainers in the
Civil War; Kirk, “T.A.M. Craven at Mobile Bay”; New-
bolt, Collected Poems, 1897–1907; Browning, “‘Damn
the Torpedoes’”; New York Daily Tribune, August 18,
1864; Richard Spillane, “Tunis Mcdonough Craven:
The ‘Sydney’ of the Navy,” Detroit Free Press (Septem-
ber 11, 1910).
Crosby, Peirce (1824–1899, USN)
The son of English immigrant quarry oper-
ator John Peirce (1789–1832) and Catharine
Beale Crosby, Peirce was born January 16, 1824,
in Delaware County, PA. Appointed a USN mid-
shipman on June 5, 1838, he served aboard the
Mediterranean Squadron ship-of-the-line Ohio
from September through July 1841, after which
 6
he was on the Philadelphia receiving ship until
February 1842. After service aboard the Home
Squadron steam frigate Mississippi in the spring,
he was posted aboard first the Mediterranean
Squadron frigate Congress and then the sloop-
of-war Preble. Crosby graduated from the Phila-
delphia naval school in July 1844, three months
after his promotion to passed midshipman on
May 20, and was seconded to the USCS. Posted
to the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Decatur in
February 1847 for service in the Mexican War,
he participated with 13 officers and 118 men
from the ship in the capture of Tuxpan. Crosby
and another landing party were engaged in the
June 14–16 attack upon and capture of Tabasco.
From November to August 1848, he served on
the dispatch schooner Petrel and thereafter in
various capacities at the Philadelphia navy yard
until March 1853, during which time he became
a master, on November 4, 1852. Promoted to
lieutenant on September 3, 1853, he joined the
Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war Germantown and
Newly appointed a commander in September
862, Peirce Crosby, USN, served as captain of
the monitor Sangamon in the James River until
January 86. He later became a rear admiral
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Crosby
cruised off the east coast of South America from
1854 to 1857. Stationed aboard the Philadelphia
receiving ship until June 1858, he sailed aboard
the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga on
a two-year deployment to the Caribbean and
Gulf of Mexico. The high point of the cruise was
her invited participation in the naval battle of
Anton Lizardo, Vera Cruz, Mexico, on March 6,
1860. During the engagement, two rebel Mexi-
can ships were defeated helping to close the so-
called Reform War. Crosby was at the Philadel-
phia navy yard when the Civil War erupted in
April 1861.
Aboard the Congress from April to August
1861, Crosby became ill. Just after New Year’s
1862, he became captain of the Unadilla-class
vessel steam gunboat Pinola, which departed for
the Gulf of Mexico and duty with the West Gulf
Blockading Squadron (WGBS). Crosby’s gun-
boat, assisted by Itaska, broke the chain barrier
across the Mississippi to make possible the late
April WGBS passage upriver past Forts Jackson
and St. Philip and the capture of New Orleans.
Advanced to the rank of lieutenant commander
on July 16, Crosby was subsequently with ele-
ments of the squadron at Vicksburg, where his
gunboat was the first to be attacked by the CSS
Arkansas as she passed the Federal fleet on the
morning of July 15 and, having steamed down
that night, among the vessels sent to attack the
Confederate ram on July 22. At month’s end, his
vessel joined the blockade off Mobile, AL. Pro-
moted to commander on September 22, he was
sent to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(NABS) and became commander of the ironclad
Sangamon. This Passaic-class monitor was on
patrol in the James River when, in January 1863,
he was tapped to become NABS Flag Captain.
From November to January 1864, he was captain
of the side-wheel gunboat Florida off North Car-
olina, and in February 1864 he took over the
side-wheel gunboat Keystone State, keeping her
on the blockade off St. Simons Sound, GA, as
well as the NC coast until October. Becoming
captain of the WGBS side-wheel gunboat Meta-
comet, he was on the Texas blockade until early
1865 when she was summoned to Mobile Bay.
There her captain took charge of torpedo re-
moval in the channels of the bay and in the
Blakely River, allowing WGBS units to move up-
stream in April.
Cushman
From September 1865 to June 3, 1868, Crosby
was captain of the South Atlantic Station (SAS)
double-ender gunboat Shamokin off the coast
of Brazil. Becoming a captain on May 27, he was
ordnance officer at the Norfolk (1870) and Phila-
delphia (1870–1872) navy yards. He was captain
of the North Atlantic Station (NAS) steam
frigate Powhatan from February 1872 until Au-
gust 1873 when he became executive officer of
the Washington navy yard and in October 187r
a commodore. Unemployed until October 1877,
Crosby was commandant of the League Island,
PA, navy yard from November until January
1882. A rear admiral beginning March 10, he was
SAS commander from June until February 1883,
wearing his flag in the steam sloop-of-war
Brooklyn. In April 1883 he moved to the sloop-
of-war Richmond, where he was commander of
the Asiatic Squadron until placed on the retired
list by his own request on October 29.
Crosby was married four times: Matilda Bow-
yer (1829–1853), Julia Wells (1838–1866), Miriam
Gratz (1844–1878), Louise A. Audenreid (1848–
1918) and had three daughters and two sons. In
March 1899 he became ill with what was called
an acute form of diabetes. Failing to respond to
treatment, he died at home in Washington, D.C.,
on June 15, 1899, and was buried at Arlington
National Cemetery. One USN destroyer, DD-
164, was named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; Callahan; Cogar, I; DANFS; Hamersly, 3rd
ed.; Stewart; Powell and Shippen; Ashmead, History
of the Delaware County National Bank: With Biogra-
phical Notes; New York Times, June 16, 1899; Smith,
CSS Arkansas; Douglas King, “Adm. Peirce Crosby,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=35833817 (accessed July 1, 2016);
Washington Post, June 16–17, 1899; New York Times,
June 16, 18, 1899; Denver Evening Post, June 16, 1899.
Cushman, Charles Haddock
(1832–1883)
The son of Gustavus Grout and Mary Eliza-
beth Haddock Cushman was born at Dexter,
ME, on December 6, 1832. He was appointed a
USN midshipman on March 24, 1849, and was
attached to the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war
Vandalia, making two trips to Hawaii in 1851.
He was transferred to the Africa Squadron
frigate Constitution off Liberia (1853–1854),

studied at the USNA, graduating second in his
class in June 1855, and became a passed mid-
shipman then a master on September 16. Be-
coming a lieutenant on February 8, 1856, he was
seconded to the USCS for a year and served at
a USNA instructor in 1857 and 1858. Ordered to
the Brazil Squadron converted steam gunboat
Western Port in late fall, he participated in the
December-January 1859 Paraguay Expedition, a
punitive mission sent to the waters of Asunción
to obtain redress for an attack upon American
interests. Cushman transferred to the Home
Squadron gunboat Water Witch in 1860.
In May 1861, following the onset of the Civil
War, Cushman joined the Gulf Blockading
Squadron screw gunboat Massachusetts off Pen-
sacola, FL, remaining aboard until September
when he transferred to the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) Unadilla-class
gunboat Pembina and served with her in the
campaign that resulted in capture of Port Royal,
SC, in November. Thereafter the Pembina pa-
trolled off the coast of Georgia and northern
Florida and, when the new Passaic-class monitor
Montauk arrived at Port Royal on January 19,
1863, Cushman was transferred to her. On two
occasions through February 1, the Montauk
bombarded Fort McAllister, GA, and in an un-
usual feat, destroyed the blockade runner Rat-
tlesnake in the Ogeechee River on February 28.
On April 7, in company with other SABS, the
Montauk launched a furious but unsuccessful
attack on the fortifications in Charleston Har-
bor. From July 10 to its evacuation on September
6, Fort Wagner on Morris Island felt the wrath
of the SABS ironclads, including Montauk.
Thereafter, the defiant Charleston citadels were
frequently struck and were reduced largely to
rubble. On July 16 Cushman became a lieutenant
commander and, in late winter 1863–1864, be-
came executive officer of the double-turreted
monitor Onondaga, which was assigned to the
James River to support of the Federal army drive
on Richmond. Less than a month later, he as-
sumed command of the giant vessel, which at-
tacked suspected Confederate positions near
Trent’s Reach. Responding to Southern artillery
from Howlett’s Farm on June 21, Cushman bom-
barded the enemy there and near Cox’s Landing.
On picket duty in the James through the sum-
mer and into the fall, the Onondaga returned to
  Cushman

Lt. Cmdr. Charles H. Cushman, USN, was elevated to the captaincy of the monitor Onondaga in April
86 and while in command in the James River supported Union army troops ashore and thrice
engaged Confederate artillery at Howlett’s Farm, VA. This Brady photograph shows members of the
crew going ashore (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

action against the Howlett Farm batteries on
November 24 and December 5–6. Cushman be-
came executive officer to the North Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (NABS) screw frigate
Wabash in time to participate in the unsuccess-
ful December 24 attack on Fort Fisher, NC. The
fleet, together with AUS elements, returned to
that objective in January and, while leading the
1st Division of the Naval Landing Party in the
successful combined arms assault of January 15,
Cushman was wounded in his left thigh and his
wartime service was over.
Cushman became a commander on July 25,
1866, and captain of the double-ender gunboat
Mahaska, which patrolled the Gulf of Mexico
until relieved in 1867. At the New York navy yard
until 1869, Cushman followed with a two-year
tour at the Navy Department’s Bureau of Equip-
ment. From late 1871 to December 1874, he
served was captain of the sloop-of-war Wachu-
sett, cruising to the Mediterranean and along
the East Coast of the United States. After com-
manding the Norfolk receiving ship, he under-
took his last deployment, as commander of the
Great Lakes gunboat Michigan. An ill Cushman
retired at his own request to his Buffalo, NY,
home in December 1876 and died of consump-
tion caused by diabetes on November 11, 1883.
He was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buf-
falo. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
Hamersly, 3rd ed.; DANF; “Charles Haddock Cush-
man,” Cushmansite, http://cushmansite.com/Cush
man_Gen_site/Descendants/fh01/fh01_072.htm (ac-
cessed April 8, 2015); Jay Boone, “Cdr. Charles H.
Cushman,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
Davis
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=78172295 (accessed
April 8, 2015); New York Times, November 12, 1883;
Trudeau, “Life on an Ironclad (Onondaga)”; Browne,
The First Cruise of the Montauk; T. J. Clemente, “The
Story of the Ironclad USS Montauk in the Civil War,”
Southampton (NY) Star Patcher, July 17, 2012; Neeser,
“Historic Ships of the Navy: Montauk”; ORN, I, 10;
ORN, I, 11; New York Times, November 12, 1883; Galve-
ston Daily News, November 16, 1883; U.S. Congress,
Senate, Committee on Pensions, Petition of Mrs. Nan-
nie Cushman: Report.
Davis, John Lee (1825–1889, USN)
One of seven children, Davis was born to
Hoosier physician/politician John Wesley Davis
(1799–1859) and his wife Ann Hoover Davis
(1801–1859) at Carlisle, IN, on September 3, 1825.
Appointed an acting midshipman on January 9,
1841, Davis joined the Mediterranean Squadron
flagship, the sloop-of-war Fairfield, for a three-
year cruise, after which he served successively
on the Home Squadron vessels Lexington, Po-
tomac, and Porpoise. From October 1846 through
August 1847, he studied at the USNA, became a
passed midshipman on August 10, and was
posted aboard the Home Squadron frigate Cum-
Appointed captain of the monitor Montauk in
March 86, Lt. Cmdr. John Lee Davis, USN, par-
ticipated in the battles at and blockade of
Charleston, SC, until relieved in May 86. He
retired a rear admiral in 88 (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).
2
berland in September, toward the end of the
Mexican War, remaining with her until February
1848. From March until February 1851, Davis
was aboard successively the East Indies Squad-
ron sloops-of-war Plymouth and Preble, and the
brig Porpoise. As acting lieutenant aboard the
latter, he commanded one of several boats from
the ship that boarded and captured a piratical
Chinese junk off Macao in November 1849. Sec-
onded to the USCS until March 1842, he joined
the Africa Squadron brig Perry and served until
July 1854, when he returned to the USCS. He
was promoted to master on September 14, 1855,
and lieutenant a day later. On December 2 he
married Frances Latta Robinson (1836–1920) at
Carlisle, IN; the couple would have one daugh-
ter. In November 1857, the lieutenant was as-
signed to the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war
Vandalia. Putting into Oneo Island, one of the
Pitcairn group, on August 3, 1859, the ship’s
landing party discovered and rescued the sur-
vivors of the American clipper ship Wild Wave,
which had wrecked on the outlying reef back in
March. While cruising in the Fiji Islands, it was
learned that two American citizens had been
killed by natives at Waya, and on October 11 a
50-man punitive expedition from the ship went
ashore at that location, engaging some 300 of
the “cannibals” and burning their village.
Davis was on leave or waiting orders from
January 1860 until April 10, 1861, when he be-
came executive officer of the Gulf Squadron
side-wheel steam gunboat Water Witch. Until
November, when he was detached, the lieuten-
ant was part of her blockade and dispatch ser-
vice based at Pensacola, FL. On October 12 the
ship participated in the Battle of Head of Passes,
during which the Federals were attacked by the
Confederate gunboat Ivy and the ram Manassas.
Davis’s ship engaged the former while the steam
sloop-of-war Richmond battled the latter. Fol-
lowing a short tour as executive officer aboard
the squadron storeship Potomac, on Decem-
ber 25 he took the same billet aboard the steam
frigate Colorado, which lay outside the bars at
the mouth of the Mississippi River until June
1862. Davis was promoted to the rank of lieu-
tenant commander on July 16 and given com-
mand of the Unadilla-class South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SAS) gunboat Wissa-
hickon, which in October joined the blockade
 
of the South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida
coasts, being particularly active through Febru-
ary 1863 in missions against Fort McAllister, GA.
At the end of March, Davis became captain of
the SABS Passaic-class monitor Montauk and
on April 7, in company with other SABS iron-
clads, he participated in a furious but unsuccess-
ful attack on the fortifications in Charleston
Harbor. Davis’s monitor engaged the Charleston
sentinels often during the remainder of the year,
including furious shoots in August, September,
and November. Detached in May 1864, he took
over the repairing North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) gunboat Sassacus in July
1864, which, during November–January 1865,
participated in preparations for and engagement
during the campaign to capture Fort Fisher, near
Wilmington, NC. In February 1865 Sassacus was
transferred to the James River to assist in the
final Union push towards Richmond.
Davis was at the Philadelphia navy yard from
May 1865 to August 1866, advanced to com-
mander in July, on undisclosed special duty until
July 1868, and at the Washington navy yard until
July 1871, when he took command of the North
Atlantic Station (NAS) screw sloop-of-war
Wyoming until October 1872. After brief duty at
the USNA duty and on the Light House Board
until January 1877, becoming a captain on Feb-
ruary 14, 1873, Davis was captain of the Euro-
pean Squadron flagship Trenton for a year. In
1878 he commanded the historic corvette Con-
stellation, which transported exhibits to the Paris
Exposition Universelle and relief stores to Ire-
land during the 1879 famine. Unemployed in
1880, he had board duty until December 19, 1883,
becoming a commodore on February 4, 1882.
Advanced to acting rear admiral, he returned to
command of the Trenton at Hong Kong in May
1884, this time as commander of the Asiatic
Squadron, and cruised the waters of the Orient
for 28 months. His rank as a permanent rear ad-
miral having been confirmed on October 30,
1885, he served as president of the Naval Retiring
Board from December 1886 until he himself was
placed on the retired list on September 3, 1887.
After contracting pneumonia just after Christ-
mas 1888, Davis died at home on March 12, 1889,
and was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery, Wash-
ington, D.C. No USN ships have been named in
his honor.
Dove
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; DANFS; Cogar; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; Neeser,
“Historic Ships of the Navy: Montauk”; Jay Kelly,
“RAdm. John Lee Davis,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38919
597 (accessed July 1, 2016); Washington Post, January
20, March 13, 15, 1899.
Donaldson, Oliver (?–1866, USN)
A native of Iowa, NH, Donaldson moved to
Wisconsin sometime late in the antebellum pe-
riod and was recruited there for the U.S.
Western Flotilla. Appointed ships carpenter for
the new Pook turtle Carondelet on November 7,
1861, he spent the entire war on the ironclad,
proudly participating in her early successes from
Fort Henry in February 1862 to Memphis in
June. Following his vessel’s pounding by the CSS
Arkansas on the Yazoo River on July 15, Don-
aldson dived in to retrieve her colors, shot away
by the Confederate ironclad. Advanced to acting
ensign on October 1, he became the boat’s exec-
utive officer during February 1863, a post he
would hold off and on during the remainder of
the conflict. On June 16, 1865, Donaldson, the
last man aboard from the Carondelet’s original
crew, was named captain. His tenure lasted four
days. He was honorably discharged on Janu-
ary 1, 1866, but, suffering the effects of a disease
with which he was stricken during his time in
the service, Donaldson died at Brookfield Bluffs,
TX, on December 15.
Sources: Callahan; Michael, “Iowa and the Navy
During the War of the Rebellion”; Smith, USS Caron-
delet; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, CSS Arkansas;
Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western Wa-
ters.
Dove, Benjamin M. (?–1868, USN)
Born in Virginia just after the War of 1812,
Dove became a USN midshipman on Decem-
ber 1, 1826, and a lieutenant in 1839. He enjoyed
the dubious prewar record of having been twice
court-martialed, being dismissed in 1841 only
to be returned to duty by direct order of Presi-
dent John Tyler and then later being subjected
to a court of inquiry. He was first lieutenant
aboard the famous U.S. frigate Constitution in
1853 and was promoted to the rank of com-
mander in September 1855.
Downes 

In January 862, Cmdr. Benjamin M. Dove, USN, assumed command of the new Western Flotilla iron-
clad USS Louisville (depicted), remaining in charge of the fleet base at Cairo, IL, during the Fort
Henry advance in February. Upon the formation of the Mississippi Squadron in October, he was
relieved and rotated to shore duty. His vessel is depicted in this wash drawing by F. Muller, circa 
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

In the months following the outbreak of the
Civil War in April 1861, Dove commanded the
Potomac Flotilla sloop Pocahontas and, frus-
trated in waterborne reconnaissance scouts,
commended the balloons of Prof. Thaddeus
Lowe to his superiors as a way to find Confed-
erate batteries. That fall Dove was sent to St.
Louis, MO, to command the receiving ship
Maria Deming and in January 1862 assumed
command of the new Pook ironclad USS
Louisville. But during the advance by other
units of the Western Flotilla against Fort Henry
in February, he remained in command of the
naval base at Cairo, IL. Sent to Dover, TN, to se-
cure the surrender of Fort Donelson after the
mid–February battle, Dove was prevented from
doing so when he was outmaneuvered by AUS
officers, enraging his superiors and colleagues.
He was assigned to shore duty in October and
from November 1863 to December 1864 com-
manded the naval station at Beaufort, NC. Al-
though passed over for promotion and retired
in October 1864, he became a captain—on the
retired list—in April 1867. Dove was then per-
mitted to serve as an inspector for the Sev-
enth District of the U.S. Lighthouse Board and
died at his post of yellow fever on November 19,
1868.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War;
Thomas G. Hilts, “Notes for Naval Aeronautics in the
Civil War”; United States, Light House Board, Annual
Report to the Secretary of the Treasury, 1883.
Downes, John Albert, Jr.
(1822–1865, USN)
The son of Com. John Downes (1784–1854)
was born in Cambridge, MA, on August 25,
1822. After attending Boston’s Chauncy-Hall
School, he was appointed a USN midshipman
on September 4, 1837. Attached to the Mediter-
ranean Squadron sloop-of-war Cyane, he de-
ployed with her from mid–1838 through mid–
May 1841. Downes attended the Philadelphia
Naval School in 1842 and 1843, became a passed
midshipman, and in 1844 joined the iron-hulled
Great Lakes gunboat Michigan at her Erie, PA,
base. Promoted to lieutenant on August 30, 1851,
he was often on shore duty or unemployed dur-
ing the last decade of the antebellum period.
Late in 1860 he became executive officer of the
Gulf Squadron storeship Supply off Pensacola,
FL. With secession brewing, the vessel, without
orders, took off the officers, men, and families
stationed at the Pensacola navy yard and deliv-
ered them to New York on February 4, 1861. She
then reinforced Fort Pickens with troops, who
 
were put ashore on April 11/12, the night before
the Civil War erupted.
Following his Pensacola deployment, Downes
served on the frigate St. Lawrence and joined the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) in
February 1862 off the coasts of South Carolina
and Georgia as captain of the Unadilla-class
gunboat Huron, leading his men on numerous
penetrations ashore, beginning on March 15. Be-
coming a commander on July 16, Downes, from
September to December, became captain of, and
outfitted, the Passaic-class monitor Nahant. His
first ironclad action occurred on March 3 when
his craft joined two others in an eight-hour
bombardment of Fort McAllister, GA. Moving
back up the coast to Charleston, SC, the SABS
ironclads unsuccessfully attacked the harbor for-
tifications of that city on April 7. During the
shoot, Downes was hit in the foot. Nahant sup-
ported the monitor Weehawken in taking the
Cmdr. John A. Downes, Jr. , USN, placed the
monitor Nahant into commission in February
86 and fought her during the April campaign
against the fortifications in Charleston Harbor,
SC. In June she joined the monitor Weehawken
in securing the surrender of the Confederate
ironclad Atlanta in Warsaw Sound, GA. Downes
died of yellow fever at New Orleans in September
86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Dozier
Confederate ironclad ram Atlanta at Warsaw
Sound, GA, on June 20. Detached to leave and
shore duty, Downes became captain of the con-
verted North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(NABS) steam gunboat R.R. Cuyler on April 26,
1864. Posted to the waters off Wilmington, NC,
he served as acting senior officer of the Federal
blockade in that quarter. At the end of the year,
the R.R. Cuyler participated in the NABS cam-
paign to capture Fort Fisher and was engaged in
the bombardment of the fortress on Decem-
ber 24–25 and January 15–16, 1865. The gunboat
remained on the blockade until July 1865, when
her captain became the senior USN officer at
New Orleans. Hardly had he arrived at his new
post than he contracted yellow fever and died
on September 21, leaving a widow and six chil-
dren. Downes was buried in Mount Auburn
Cemetery. No USN ships have been named in
his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; DANFS; Kristen Jones, “John A. Downes,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=83501922 (April 3, 2016); Hunter,
edited by Symonds, A Year on a Monitor and the De-
struction of Fort Sumter; Cushing, Historical Sketch of
Chauncy-Hall School; San Francisco Bulletin, October
24, 1865; New Orleans Times, October 31, 1865.
Dozier, William Gaillard, Sr.
(1833–1908, CSN)
Second oldest of the 13 children of Anthony
White Dozier (1801–1870) and Mary Catherine
Cuttino (1811–1873), William was born at
Georgetown, SC, on May 5, 1833. He was ap-
pointed an acting USN midshipman on April 1,
1850, being assigned to the USNA, from which
he graduated in 1856. After serving in sundry
billets afloat and ashore, he became a lieutenant
on July 19, 1859, and joined the sloop-of-war
Richmond. Upon the secession of South Car-
olina, he resigned his Federal commission, on
December 21, 1860, and joined the SC coast
guard. His letter to the U.S. Navy Department
was stamped one day before he married Mary
Blake Atkinson (1835–1868) of Georgetown, VA;
the couple would have three children.
Becoming a CSN lieutenant on March 26,
1861, he took command of the gunboat Pamlico
at New Orleans on September 2. Unhappy in his
billet, his December transfer request was denied
Drayton 6

In January 86 st Lt. William G. Dozier, Sr., CSN, became acting commander of the Confederate
ironclad Chicora at Charleston, SC. He was relieved in August after eight months of harbor defense
work to become executive officer of the ocean raider Chickamauga. The Chicora is depicted in the
center in this contemporary sketch (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

and in January 1862 he moved up to the Jackson,
MS, naval station, from which he sent in a letter
of resignation in March, which was also rejected.
Instead, in May he was placed in charge of a
Charleston, SC, naval station torpedo boat unit
known as a “special boat expedition” and also,
in June, the gunboat CSS Huntress, then being
employed as a harbor transport. He was captain
of the receiving ship Indian Chief from October
to April 1863, when he was ordered to command
of the gunboat Stono, which while under Federal
pursuit ran aground near Fort Moultrie on June
5. Becoming a 1st lieutenant, Provisional Navy,
in July, Dozier took temporary command of the
steamer Juno before returning to the Indian
Chief in August. On January 27, 1864, he became
acting captain of the ironclad ram Chicora and,
after returning the Indian Chief, led a naval bat-
talion that was seconded to the James River in
August. Thereafter he was posted to Wilming-
ton, NC, where he became executive officer of
the ocean raider Chickamauga. She cruised off
the East Coast to Long Island and south to
Bermuda before returning to port in November.
During the Federal campaign against Fort
Fisher, Dozier and a number of his crewmen
helped serve the citadel’s guns during the attacks
on December 24–25 and January 15, 1865. Later
serving at Drewry’s Bluff, VA, he surrendered
in April 1865 and was paroled at Appomattox
Court House.
After the death of his wife in 1868, Dozier
continued to live at Charleston with his children.
On June 10, 1875, he married Louise Williams
and then moved his new family to Rio Vista, CA,
where he became a merchant and the post-
master before removing, as a bookkeeper, to
Redding, CA, late in the century. He died at
home on November 9, 1908, and was buried at
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, CA.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Mac-
Dowell, comp., Gaillard Genealogy: Descendants of
Joachim Gaillard and Ester Paperel; CSN Register;
Larry White, “William Gaillard Dozier,” FindaGrave,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/www.linked
in. com/ in/ johnmacomber/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid=
70726728 (accessed July 1, 2016); Foenander.
Drayton, Percival (1812–1866,
USN)
Born in Charleston, SC, on August 25, 1812,
Percival was the second of four children of U.S.
congressman William Drayton (1776–1846) and
his wife Anna Gadsden (1780–1814). Having re-
ceived an excellent education with emphasis on
language skills, he was appointed a USN mid-
shipman on December 1, 1827, and was aboard
  Drayton
the Brazil Squadron frigate Hudson from Sep-
tember 1828 to August 1831. After studying at
the Philadelphia naval school, he served aboard
the Mediterranean Squadron flagship, the fa-
mous frigate Constitution, from March 1835 to
July 1838, exercising his language skills during
her frequent port calls. Becoming a lieutenant
on February 28, 1838, he was captain of the West
Indies Squadron schooner Enterprise on a two-
year cruise and served on the sloop-of-war York-
town in 1843 and 1844 and then the East Indies
Squadron flagship, the ship-of-the-line Colum-
bus, which was recalled to the West Coast in
March 1847 to participate in the Mexican War.
When the Columbus departed the theater, Dray-
ton was transferred to the razee Independence,
then blockading the Pacific coast, and partici-
pated in the October capture of Guaymas, Mex-
ico, as well as the occupation of Mazatlan in No-
vember. Following a voyage to Hawaii, he
cruised the Mediterranean in 1849 and 1850
aboard the steam frigate Mississippi, before an
1851 USNO assignment. In 1852, Drayton was Capt. Percival Drayton, USN, commanded the
sent to Fort Monroe, VA, to assist Cmdr. David monitor Passaic in the March 86 Federal attack
G. Farragut (1809–1870) with a year of ordnance on Fort McAllister, GA, and against the
Charleston, SC, defenses in April, where she was
experiments designed to test the strength of badly damaged. Drayton later became West Gulf
naval cannon. While so engaged the two men Blockading Squadron fleet captain under RAdm.
became close friends. While on New York navy David G. Farragut (courtesy Naval History and
yard ordnance duty, Drayton became a com- Heritage Command).
mander on September 14, 1855, later serving as
a staff officer during the 1858–1859 Paraguay Ex- olina until September, when he outfitted the
pedition and as Philadelphia navy yard ordnance North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
officer in 1860. When the Civil War erupted in monitor Passaic, which was visited at the Wash-
April 1861, he resisted inquiries from Charleston ington navy yard by President Abraham Lincoln
friends (his family had relocated to Philadelphia (1809–1865) and his cabinet on December 6. On
in 1833) to “go South” and remained loyal. March 3, 1863, Drayton led three monitors in an
In late summer 1861 Drayton became captain assault on Fort McAllister, GA, designed to test
of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron their fighting abilities, and on April 7 the Passaic
(SABS) screw gunboat Pocahontas and partici- was badly damaged when she joined the other
pated in the October capture of Port Royal, SC, SABS ironclads in an intense, if unsuccessful,
on November 7, an engagement during which attack on the fortifications in Charleston Har-
Drayton’s brother Thomas (1809–1891), later a bor. The battering Drayton’s ship took caused
Confederate general, commanded the Southern him to develop strong opinions concerning the
artillery at Hilton Head. Once that prime base limitations of the monitor type when fighting
was secured, Pocahontas served on the coastal against well-defended fortifications. Detached
blockade of South Carolina, Georgia, and Flor- at his own request, Drayton was chosen by
ida, helping to tow the “Stone Fleet” to a point RAdm. David G. Farragut, commander of the
off Charleston, SC, where it was sunk in late Jan- West Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS), in
uary 1862. Promoted to captain on July 16, he December to become his fleet captain, a position
took over the SABS sloop-of-war Pawnee, re- that also entailed the duties of commander, USS
maining on the SABS blockade of South Car- Hartford. While in command of that sloop-of-
Duble
war, he participated in the August 5, 1864, Battle
of Mobile Bay. When Farragut climbed into the
Harford’s rigging to better observe the fight, it
was Drayton who personally made certain his
friend was properly secured. Drayton was re-
lieved of his duties with the WGBS in December
1864 and was appointed chief of the Bureau of
Detail and later the Ordnance Bureau.
In April 1866 Drayton became chief of the Bu-
reau of Navigation but became ill and died on
August 4. He was buried in Laurel Hill Ceme-
tery, Philadelphia, next to his father. A marble
tablet was placed in his honor inside toward the
back of Trinity Church, Manhattan, New York.
Two 20th century USN destroyers were named
in his honor: DD-23 and DD-366
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; Callahan; ANB, VI; DANFS; Drayton, Naval
Letters from Percival Drayton, 1861–1865: Printed From
the Original Manuscripts; Drayton, edited by Halsey,
“What Its Captain Thought of the Monitor Passaic: ‘I
Rue the Day I Got into the Ironclad Business’”;
Holden, “The First Cruise of the Monitor Passaic”;
Heim, “Percival Drayton,” in Tucker, I; Miller, “The
Monitor’s Lucky Sister (Passaic)”; Russ Dodge, “Per-
cival Drayton,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21785 (accessed
July 12, 2016); Sarah Heim, Drayton Family Papers,
Collection 1584: Calendar, The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, http://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_
files/migrated/findingaid1584drayton.pdf (accessed
July 12, 2016); U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ordnance and Hy-
drography, Experiments to Ascertain the Strength and
Endurance of Navy Guns; New York Times, May 17,
1863, August 7, 1865, July 9, 1893; North American and
United States Gazette, August 7, 1865; Daily National
Intelligencer, August 11, 1865.
Duble, John A. (?–1901, USN)
A well-known steamboat captain, Duble had
commanded the steamer Nick Thomas for the
Cincinnati-New Orleans Express Line begin-
ning in 1858 and resided on Sycamore Street in
Cincinnati when the Civil War erupted. By late
May 1861 the riverman was assisting Daniel
Morton and Cmdr. John Rodgers (1812–1882)
with their project to convert three commercial
steamers into Civil War gunboats, serving as
construction superintendent and acting captain
of the Conestoga. Named her first master (at a
salary of $100 per month), Duble helped guide
her to the advanced naval base at Cairo, IL, ar-
riving in early August and remaining aboard the
8
timberclad to participate in her reconnaissance
missions up the Tennessee River toward the new
Fort Henry. After that citadel was captured in
early February 1862, the Western Flotilla tim-
berclads raided up the Tennessee, seeking to
capture or destroy escaping Southern steam-
boats. During this voyage, the vessels occasion-
ally halted to reconnoiter and destroy easily
accessible supplies onshore above Pittsburg
Landing. From March to early June, the Con-
estoga participated in the Mississippi River cam-
paign from Island No. 10 down to Memphis.
During the White River expedition of June to
St. Charles, LA, Duble became acting com-
mander of the badly damaged ironclad Mound
City and guided the stricken steamer back to
Memphis for repair. At this point, Duble left the
gunboat service to resume his civilian career as
a steamboat captain. In September, he honored
a department to lead the USQM riverboat de-
fense service then being organized at Cincinnati
in anticipation of a Confederate assault on the
Queen City at the time of the Perryville cam-
paign. The former gunboatman, from the steamer
Emma Duncan, commanded 16 steamers, all
armed with field pieces as ersatz warships. Also,
during the first week of September, Lt. Cmdr.
Oscar C. Badger (1823–1899) requested that
Duble assist him in identifying officers and re-
cruiting a pickup crew for the ironclad India-
nola, then under construction. Though none of
his flotilla ever saw any action, they did serve as
convoy escorts when Federal troops were sent
from Cincinnati to Louisville later in the month.
Duble received an official letter of thanks from
the Ohio Department commander on Decem-
ber 24.
Duble continued in his command of com-
mercial steamboats during and after the war,
later recalling that he had captained some of the
largest vessels on the Mississippi, including the
Ruth, Mollie Able, W.R. Arthur, Constitution, and
City of Memphis. When, in the company of Pres-
ident Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant visited
west in 1866, the Ruth was chosen by the city of
St. Louis to convey the VIP party to the Gateway
city from Alton, IL. Duble, a resident of New
Orleans after 1870, travelled to Washington,
D.C., to testify before the Commerce Committee
of the U.S. Senate in 1882 looking at waterway
improvements.
  Dunnington

A veteran riverboatman and gunboat officer, Acting Master John A. Duble, USN, found himself in
command of the ironclad Mound City when she was badly damaged by Confederate gunfire at St.
Charles, AR, in June 862, as depicted in this Harper’s Weekly sketch by Alexander Simplot. After
guiding his stricken vessel back to Memphis for repair, he left the Western Flotilla but later commanded
an ersatz gunboat flotilla during the Confederate demonstration against Cincinnati, OH, in September
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

Sources: Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil
War; Smith; Smith, Joseph Brown and His Civil War
Ironclads; OR, I, 16; OR, I, 52; Cincinnati Daily Com-
mercial, February 18, 1862; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
October 17, 1912; U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee
on Commerce, Subcommittee on Levees and Im-
provements of the Mississippi River, Report; “The
Kissance Romance: Capt. John A. Duble, an Old Ohio
River Man, Tells His Story,” Columbus Daily Enquirer
(April 12, 1887).
Dunnington, John William
(1833–1882, CSN/ACS)
Born in Christian County, KY, on May 18,
1833, Dunnington was the son of Francis (1798–
1835) and Elizabeth Cobey (1799–1848) Dun-
nington. He was appointed an acting USN mid-
shipman on April 10, 1849, and was briefly
assigned to the USNA before his transfer to the
Pacific Squadron flagship, the frigate St. Law-
rence. A June 1855 USNA graduate, he was si-
multaneously promoted to passed midshipman;
that September, he became master and the fol-
lowing October lieutenant. Dunnington served
in a number of billets afloat and ashore during
the remainder of the antebellum period, includ-
ing service aboard the USS Mohican, which cap-
tured the notorious slave ship Erie off the Congo
River on August 8, 1860, carrying 897 Africans.
Following the attack upon Fort Sumter on
April 12, 1861, Dunnington resigned from the
USN on April 25 and became a CSN lieutenant
on May 2. At New Orleans in August, he as-
sumed command of the side-wheel gunboat CSS
Tuscarora, which saw service on the Mississippi
River until accidentally lost by fire on Novem-
ber 23. Afterwards, attached to the CSS McRae
on the New Orleans station, in March 1862 Dun-
nington became captain of the converted gun-
boat CSS Pontchartrain, which formed a part of
the Confederate fleet sent upstream to join the
battle for New Madrid, MO, and Island No. 10.
After New Madrid was evacuated on April 7,
Pontchartrain steamed up the Arkansas River to
Little Rock after assisting with the evacuation
of Fort Randolph, TN. Two of her 32-pounders
were sent to St. Charles in June and employed
to resist the Federal White River Expedition on
June 17, during which the USS Mound City was
Erben
badly damaged. That fall, many of the Pontchar-
train’s other cannon and the vessel’s gunners
were sent to arm Fort Hindman at Arkansas
Post, with Dunnington appointed a provisional
army colonel with orders to cooperate in the de-
fense of the post. Captured when Fort Hindman
fell to the Union on January 12, 1863, he was sent
to the POW facility at Camp Johnson until ex-
changed on May 5. It has been reported that
after his release he undertook a confidential mis-
sion to Canada, Nassau, and France on behalf
of the Confederate government attempting to
obtain military supplies. Appointed a CSN 1st
lieutenant on January 6, 1864, Dunnington op-
erated the blockade runner Owl before he was
given command of the ironclad Virginia II on
the James River. Her most significant combat
occurred on January 23–25, 1865, when she
joined three other Southern ironclads in the Bat-
Following numerous adventures on the West-
ern waters, including engagements on the White
River in June 862 and at Arkansas Post in Jan-
uary 86, st Lt. John W. Dunnington, CSN,
assumed command of the Confederate iron-
clad Virginia II on the James River, VA, in late
86. Her most significant combat occurred
during January 2-2, 86, when she joined
in the Battle of Trent’s Reach, an unsuccessful
effort to attack the Union base at City Point, VA
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
8
tle of Trent’s Reach, an unsuccessful effort to at-
tack the Union base at City Point, VA. In April
1865 Dunnington was attached as a colonel to
the James River Naval Brigade of Adm. Rafael
Semmes (1809–1877) and surrendered at
Greensboro, NC, on April 26.
Following his parole, Dunnington moved to
Columbia, TN, to farm. There he married Susan
Gray Booker on June 8, 1869; the couple had no
children. He died at home on March 10, 1882,
and was buried in Columbia’s Rose Hill Ceme-
tery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Smith,
Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters; CSN
Register; JCC, IV; Coski, Capital Navy; Callahan;
“Capt. John W. Dunnington,” Confederate Veteran 4;
Spear, Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans; Smith, Le
Roy Fitch; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War;
CSS Pontchartrain; Colin Edward Woodward, “John
W. Dunnington (1833–1882),” Encyclopedia of Arkan-
sas http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclo
pe dia/ entr y- detail. aspx?entr yID= 8555&type=
Race+&item=White&parent=&grandparent= (ac-
cessed July 12, 2016).
Erben, Henry “Bully,” Jr.
(1832–1909, USN)
Son of Henry Erben, Sr., Erben Jr., nicknamed
“Bully” for a lifelong abrupt manner, was born
at NYC on September 6, 1832. He was appointed
a USN midshipman on June 17, 1848, and be-
tween August and 1851 was aboard the new
frigate St. Lawrence, in European waters and
thereafter with the Pacific Squadron until late
1853, when ordered to the USNA. He was dis-
missed in October for misconduct and was sec-
onded to the USCS schooner Crawford for a
year. Allowed to return to Annapolis, he grad-
uated in June 1855 as a passed midshipman,
being advanced to the rank of master on Sep-
tember 16. During 1856 and 1857, Erben served
aboard the storeship Supply as she participated
in the AUS experiment to introduce Egyptian
camels into Texas. Having become a lieutenant
on December 27, 1856, he joined the paddle-
wheel East Indies Squadron frigate Mississippi
at New York in July 1857, serving in the Orient
until late 1859. Upon his return to the East
Coast, Erben was transferred once more to the
storeship Supply.
From March to September 1861, Erben was
 8 Erben
aboard the storeship Release, which provided
supplies for the Gulf and Atlantic blockading
squadrons, and in October he was detailed to
the Gulf Blockading Squadron screw gunboat
Huntsville, which fought a running gun duel
with the blockade runner Florida (not to be con-
fused with the ocean raider of the same name)
off Mobile Bay, AL, on December 24. Following
the hour-long combat, the Southern ship put
back into Mobile. In April 1862 Erben assumed
command of the Pook turtle St. Louis (later
Baron de Kalb) during the bombardment of Fort
Pillow, TN, and following the Battle of Memphis
in June he took over the captured Confederate
gunboat Sumter. In early July Erben’s vessel, with
other units of the Upper Mississippi fleet, hove
to above Vicksburg and on July 15 participated
with units of the West Gulf Blockading Squad-
ron (WGBS) anchored nearby in passing below
Vicksburg, in the process attacking the Confed-
erate ironclad Arkansas. Once below, she could
not return; next day Erben became lieutenant
commander and on July 22 participated in an-
other unsuccessful attack on the Rebel ram. He Although executive officer of the monitor
participated in the Battle of Baton Rouge and Patapsco during the intense April 86 assault
on the defenses of Charleston, SC, the only
was present on August 6 when the Arkansas was
attempt by Lt. Cmdr. Henry Erben, USN, to
scuttled. Posted to the East, Erben, in Septem- command an ironclad failed in September when
ber, reportedly commanded a naval howitzer his newly commissioned Tunix was unable to
battery at Indian River, MD, during the Battle enter service due to severe leaking. A postwar
of Antietam. In October he became executive founding father of the New York Nautical School
officer of the South Atlantic Blockading Squad- (now the SUNY Maritime College), he com-
manded, as a rear admiral, the U.S. Patrol Fleet,
ron (SABS) Passaic-class monitor Patapsco and,
comprising eight upgraded Civil War monitors
with two other monitors, participated in the based in East Coast ports, during the 88 Span-
March 3, 1863, bombardment of Fort McAllister, ish American War (courtesy Naval History and
GA, followed by the unsuccessful April 7 assault Heritage Command).
on Fort Sumter. Afterwards detached and await-
ing orders, Erben married Caroline Augusta (SAS), commanding consecutively the Huron
Vulte (1840-?) at New York on July 23; the couple (1867–1868) and Kansas (1868–1869) until De-
would have two children. He served on the cember 1869 and becoming a commander on
steam frigate Niagara from November to May May 6, 1868. After serving on ordnance, navi-
1864, hunting Confederate ocean raiders off the gation, and recruiting duty at New York until
Atlantic coast. In June, Erben became captain September 1874, he took over the North Pacific
of the new Casco-class monitor Tunix. However, Station (NPS) screw sloop-of-war Tuscarora,
due to severe leaking she was unable to com- continuing previously begun hydrographic sur-
mence her maiden voyage on September 21 and veys until August 1875. After three years at the
was decommissioned at month’s end. Erben Portsmouth navy yard, he became captain of the
commanded the WGBS Unadilla-class gunboat nautical schoolship St. Mary’s, the former sailing
Pinola on the Gulf blockade from October until sloop-of-war transferred in 1875 to the New
July 1865, when he was transferred to the New York Nautical School (now the SUNY Maritime
York navy yard. College) until December 1882, becoming a cap-
Erben sailed on the South Atlantic Station tain on November 1, 1879. Captain of the sloop-
Eytinge
of-war Pensacola until May 4, 1884, he was
Portsmouth navy yard captain-of-the-yard until
September 1886 and then served on several
boards until March 1891, when he became gov-
ernor of the Philadelphia Naval Home. During
his two-year tour as commander of the New
York navy yard (May 1891–May 1893), Erben was
promoted to commodore, on April 3, 1892. His
last regular service was at sea as commander
of the European Squadron from June 1893 to
August 1894, wearing his flag in the Chicago
(CA-14). Elevated to rear admiral on July 31,
1894, he was placed on the retired list on Sep-
tember 6.
During the Spanish-American War of 1898,
Erben was called back into service to command
the U.S. Patrol Fleet, charged with guarding the
country’s coastline from Bar Harbor, ME, to
Galveston, TX, from April to July. From a base
at New York, he commanded eight upgraded
Civil War monitors based in East Coast ports.
Erben died at home in New York City on Octo-
ber 23, 1909, and was buried in Philadelphia’s
Laurel Hill Cemetery. One USN destroyer (DD-
631) was later named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
mersly, 3rd. ed.; Cogar, I; DANFS; Smith, Civil War
Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, Le Roy
Fitch; Smith, CSS Arkansas; Saratoga, pseud., “Adm.
Henry Erben,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GSsr= 2001&GSvcid=
266131&GRid=86495796& (accessed October 3, 2011);
Elicott, “With Erben and Mahan on the Chicago”;
Thompson, “The U.S. Monitor Patapsco”; New York
Tribune, August 19, 1886, April 28, 1889, September 7,
1894, October 24, 1909; New York Times, October 25–
26, 1909; London Times, October 25, 1909.
Eytinge, Henry St. Clair (In USN
Service, 1861–1863)
Eytinge, about whom we know little, was ap-
parently a former merchant seaman approved
for duty by the New York Naval Examining
Board. Not without his critics for his sometime
work as a theater stage manager, he became a
USN acting volunteer lieutenant on August 26,
1861, and in November sailed in command of
the four-gun, ship-rigged sailing vessel Shepherd
Knapp to the West Indies to seek out and destroy
the CSS Sumter, commanded by Rafael Semmes
(1809–1877). Joining the South Atlantic Blockad-
82
ing Squadron (SABS) off South Carolina in
April 1862, the Shepherd Knapp returned to the
West Indies Squadron in January 1863, once
more on anti-commerce raider patrol, but she
was wrecked on a coral reef off Haiti on May 23
and lost. In August, Eytinge was posted to the
Mississippi Squadron and placed in command
of the ironclad Chillicothe, then under repairs
at Cairo, IL, after being damaged during the
Yazoo Pass Expedition in March and April. Al-
though ordered to the mouth of the Red River
to become station vessel of the fleet’s Third Dis-
trict, low water forced the Chillicothe to ground
twice before she could reach Memphis in mid–
September. Still, by October 26 she had reached
her position off Ellis Cliffs. There Eytinge was
ordered to turn his craft over to her executive
officer and return north. Eytinge, having grounded
two vessels, was dismissed from the service and
his appointment was revoked on December 1,
1863.
Sources: Callahan, p. 187; Smith, Civil War Bi-
ographies from the Western Waters; DANFS; ORN, I,
2; ORN, I, 25; Gerelman, “Acting Masters of Disaster.”
Fairfax, Donald MacNeill
(1821–1894, USN)
The only member of his well-known family
to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil
War, Fairfax was born to George William and
Isabella MacNeill Fairfax at Mt. Eagle, VA, on
March 10, 1821. Appointed a USN midshipman
on August 12, 1837, he joined the East Indies
Squadron frigate John Adams, which made a
two-year world cruise that included 1839 attacks
on Sumatra pirate bases. After a year’s deploy-
ment aboard the Mediterranean Squadron
sloops-of-war Fairfield and Brandywine, he
graduated from the Philadelphia naval school
in July 1843, became a passed midshipman, and
was sent to the new Mediterranean Squadron
paddle-wheel frigate Missouri. After she was lost
to fire at Gibraltar on August 27, he was reas-
signed to the USNO and on February 28, 1844,
was aboard the corvette Princeton when it suf-
fered a noteworthy ordnance failure that killed
several VIPs. Seconded to the USCS in June,
Fairfax transferred to the Pacific Squadron in
April 1845 and during the next several two years
made a second circumnavigation, touching at
 8
many of the ports visited during 1838–1840,
adding Japan. During the 1846–1847 Mexican
War, Fairfax participated in the capture of
Mazatlan and Lower California. After duty at
the New York naval rendezvous (recruiting sta-
tion) from October 1848 to April 1850, he served
on the Brazil Squadron frigate Congress during
her three-year cruise off the east coast of South
America, during which time he became a master
(August 4, 1850) and a lieutenant (February 26,
1851). Unemployed from February 1854 to Jan-
uary 1855, he married Virginia Cary Ragland
(1822–1878) in Prince George’s County, MD, on
June 5, 1854. Deployed aboard the Home Squad-
ron flagships Potomac (1855–1856) and Wabash
(1856–February 1858), Fairfax, while off Grey-
town, Nicaragua, in 1858, personally went ashore
and obtained the surrender of American filibus-
terer William Walker. Following brief New York
navy yard ordnance duty, he joined the Africa
Squadron as an executive officer, first on the
corvette Constellation and then the screw frigate
San Jacinto.
In January 86, Lt. Cmdr. Donald M. Fairfax,
USN, became captain of the monitor Nantucket
and commanded her though April, participating
in the attacks on the defenses of Charleston. His
work against the South Carolina fortifications
continued after May when he commanded the
monitor Montauk. Detached to the U.S. Naval
Academy in August, he retired as a rear admiral
in 88 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
Fairfax
Fairfax remained on the San Jacinto when
Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798–1877) assumed com-
mand in August 1861. While on West Indies anti-
raider patrol on November 8 San Jacinto halted
the British mail packet Trent, en route to En-
gland with two Confederate diplomats, and Fair-
fax led the boarding party sent over to remove
the pair. The incident nearly brought war be-
tween the U.S. and the UK, but Fairfax was not
found culpable for this performance of duty, ex-
ecuted in accordance with written orders. In
May 1862 he assumed command of the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS) Unadilla-
class gunboat Cayuga, which was active on the
Gulf Coast blockade and in the Lower Missis-
sippi River, where she participated in the August
8 bombardment of Donaldsonville, LA, half a
month after her captain became a lieutenant
commander. Detached in December, Fairfax be-
came captain of the South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (SABS) Passaic-class monitor Nan-
tucket, which participated in the unsuccessful
April 7, 1863, ironclad attack on the harbor for-
tifications of Charleston, SC. Afterwards, he
took over was the monitor Montauk, which
joined in the continued SABS assault on the
Charleston defenses, including gunfire support
for AUS operations on Morris Island on July 16–
18 and 24. Detached in August, Fairfax was
USNA commandant of midshipmen until De-
cember 1865, commanding the practice squad-
ron during the summers of 1864 and 1865.
Advanced to captain on July 25, 1866, Fairfax
commanded the North Atlantic Station (NAS)
flagships Rhode Island and Susquehanna until
April 1868. On ordnance duty in New England
until the fall of 1874, he became commodore on
August 24, 1873, and was commander of the
New London, CT, naval station from that De-
cember through October 1878. Upon the death
of his wife Virginia during the latter year, he
married Josephine Foote (1837–1918), daughter
of RAdm. Andrew Hull Foote (1806–1863); the
couple had one daughter. He became governor
of the Philadelphia Naval Asylum in October
1879, was advanced to rear admiral on July 11,
1880, and was placed on the retired list on Sep-
tember 30, 1881.
Fairfax retired to his Hagerstown, MD, home,
where he died from pneumonia on January 10,
1894, and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery,
Febiger 8

Hagerstown. One USN destroyer, DD-93, was
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar;
Hammersly, 3rd ed.; DANFS; The National Cyclopedia
of American Biography, IV; Murrell, Cruise of the
Frigate Columbia Around the World Under the Com-
mand of Commodore George C. Read; Fairfax, “ Cap-
tain Wilkes’ Seizure of Mason and Slidell,” B&L, II;
Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy: Montauk”; U.S.
Congress, House, Committee on Invalid Pensions,
Josephine Foote Fairfax: Report; B.J. Shields, “Joseph-
ine Foote Fairfax,” FindaGrave, http://www.finda
grave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=106256416
(accessed August 1, 2016); Saratoga, pseud., “Adm.
Donald MacNeil Fairfax,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid=
82374838 (accessed August 1, 2016); New York Times,
January 11, 1894; Washington Post, January 11, 1894.
hanna northwest of Madagascar. Attached to the
USCS from 1852 to 1857 and advanced to lieu-
tenant on April 30, 1853, Febiger joined the East
Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Germantown for
an 1858–1860 Oriental cruise, including visits to
ports in China and Japan. Once more seconded
to the USCS, in May 1861 following the outbreak
of the Civil War, he was ordered aboard the At-
lantic Blockading Squadron frigate Savannah,
which blockaded off the Georgia coast until No-
vember.
Febiger’s first command was the Unadilla-
class gunboat Kanawha, which joined the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS), taking

Febiger, John Carson (1821–1898,

USN)
The son of Christian Febiger Carson (1787–
1829) was born at Pittsburgh, PA, on February
14, 1821, his father having been adopted by Rev-
olutionary War hero Col. Christian Febiger
(1749–1796). John Febiger was appointed a USN
midshipman on September 14, 1838. After a two-
year initial tour aboard the West Indies Squad-
ron frigate Macedonian, he joined the Brazil
Squadron Concord and was aboard when she
was wrecked on a sandbar at the mouth of the
Ligonha River in Mozambique on November 2,
1842. Becoming a passed midshipman on May
20, 1844, he served on two-year deployments
with the frigate Potomac of the Home Squadron
(1844–1845) and the sloop-of-war Dale of the
Pacific Squadron (1846–1847). Febiger partici-
pated in the Mexican War off the coast of Cali-
fornia and Baja California, including the occu-
pation of the towns of Guaymas and Mulege and
in 1848 transferred aboard the ship-of-the-line Cmdr. John C. Febiger, USN, joined the Mis-
Columbus at Norfolk, VA. After marrying Anna sissippi Squadron in April 86 as commander
of the paddle-wheel monitor Neosho. Assigned
“Annie” Catherine Ryan (1824–1881) on May 3,
to command the squadron’s 2nd Division below
1849 (the couple would have two children), he Port Hudson, LA, following the capture of Vicks-
returned to the Dale in August 1850. In October, burg, he protected Union shipping on the Mis-
while assigned to antislavery patrol off the west sissippi from Confederate flying batteries and
coast of Africa, Columbus rescued the survivors also briefly captained the ironclad Osage in
of the Africa Squadron sloop-of-war Yorktown, August. In October and November 86 he
served as captain of the former Confeder-
wrecked on Maio Island in the Cape Verde Is-
ate ocean ironclad Stonewall during her trans-
lands, and took them to Porto Praya before as- fer from Havana, Cuba, to Washington, D.C.
suming her duty station and, in August 1851, (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
shelling the Comoro Islands kingdom of Jo- mand).
 8
station off Mobile, AL, in February 1862. On
April 10, the ship captured four Confederate
schooners in one day, taking two more before
the month was finished. Commissioned a com-
mander on August 11, Febiger was detached in
February 1863 and in April was detailed to the
Mississippi Squadron, where he assumed com-
mand, and completed the outfitting, of the
paddle-wheel monitor Neosho, which arrived
off Vicksburg, MS, on August 6, a month after
its surrender. Assigned to command the
squadron’s 2nd Division below Port Hudson,
LA, Febiger protected Union shipping on the
Mississippi from Confederate flying batteries
and also briefly captained the ironclad Osage in
August. Detached in early September, he
became captain, and completed the outfitting,
of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(NABS) double-ender gunboat Mattabesett,
which participated with others in the May 5,
1864, engagement with the CSS Albemarle in
Albemarle Sound, NC. Febiger’s vessel remained
in North Carolina waters until May 1865. That
October, Febiger was sent to Havana, Cuba, to
take command of the former Confederate iron-
clad Stonewall, sailing her to the Washington
Navy Yard in November.
Febiger placed the double-ender gunboat
Ashelout into commission on April 4, 1866, be-
coming a captain on May 6, five days before she
embarked navy Assistant Secretary Gustavus
Vasa Fox (1821–1883) at Boston for a voyage to
Halifax, NS. There the official went aboard the
double-turreted monitor Miantonomoh, which
Ashelout escorted to Queensland, Ireland, before
detaching and continuing on to the Asiatic
Squadron. Transferred to command of the screw
sloop-of-war Shenandoah on February 22, 1868,
Febiger was detached in April 1869, became in-
spector of Naval Reserve Lands, and in late fall
1872 became captain of the South Atlantic
Station screw sloop-of-war Omaha for a two-
year cruise. Commissioned a commodore on
August 9, 1874, he had board duty until October
1876, when he became commandant of the local
navy yard until 1880. Again on board duty, he
became a rear admiral on February 4, 1882. Fol-
lowing the death of his first wife, he married
Ellen T. Roche (1834–1889) on June 2, happily
going ashore for the last time of his own volition
and being placed on the retired list on July 1.
Fillebrown
Having moved from Washington, D.C., to an
estate in Londonderry, MD, he suffered a stroke
on October 1, 1898, while in a carriage en route
to nearby Easton. He died at home eight days
later and was buried in Arlington National
Cemetery on October 11. No USN ships have
been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; Cogar; Callahan; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; Her-
ringshaw; Hartford Courant, October 11, 1898; ORN,
I, 25: 143, 185; SLGMSD, pseud., “Adm. John Carson
Febriger,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=2041&GSvcid=266131
&GRid=42172965& (accessed October 17, 2012); “John
Carson Febiger, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy,” Arlington
National Cemetery, http://www.arlingtoncemetery.
net/jcfebiger.htm (accessed August 13, 2016); Balti-
more Sun, February 16, 1897; October 4, 1898; New
York Tribune, October 11, 1898; Washington Post, Oc-
tober 11, 1898; Boston Daily Globe, October 11, 1898;
Chicago Daily Tribune, October 11, 1898.
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
(1824–1884, USN)
The son of Thomas Fillebrown, chief clerk of
the USN Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, and
his wife Mary Sumner Fillebrown, Thomas, Jr.,
was born at Georgetown, Washington, District
of Columbia, on August 13, 1824. Appointed an
acting midshipman on October 19, 1841, He
joined the Mediterranean Squadron frigate Con-
gress for a two-year European cruise, then spent
time with the ship until March 14, 1845—the day
he was warranted midshipman—off the east
coast of South America as part of the Brazil
Squadron. On May 22 he joined the Home
Squadron paddle-wheel frigate Mississippi as
aide to Com. Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858) and
during the Mexican War was present at numer-
ous actions, including the Vera Cruz landings
and the captures of Tuxpan and Tabasco, before
transfer to the sloop-of-war Germantown and
the steamship Fredonia. Fillebrown studied at
the USNA from November 13, 1847, until his
July 27, 1848, graduation and posting to the
Mediterranean Squadron frigate St. Lawrence,
aboard which he became a passed midshipman
on August 10 and participated in her 28-month
cruise. Assigned to the USNO in November
1850, he became an acting master on Decem-
ber 18, 1852, and joined the sloop-of-war Vin-
cennes, which soon thereafter participated in the
Fillebrown 86

North Pacific and Bering Sea Exploring Expe-

dition. Detached on July 14, 1856, Fillebrown re-
turned to the USNO, where he was promoted to
the ranks of master and lieutenant on Octo-
ber 23 and October 25 respectively. On Novem-
ber 5, he married Mary Eliza Potts (1826–1887);
the couple would have two children. On Janu-
ary 11, 1858, Fillebrown joined the storeship Re-
lease, which took supplies to the squadrons op-
erating in the Mediterranean, off the west coast
of Africa, and as part of the Paraguay Expedi-
tion. He was given his first command on June
22, 1859: the tugboat Anacostia, stationed at the
Washington Navy Yard. In response to potential
mob violence surrounding the inauguration of
President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) in
March 1861, Fillebrown’s craft, now armed and
her crew augmented by the addition of 20 U.S.
Marines, was given responsibility for the defense
of the lower part of the yard.
Following the attack on Fort Sumter on April
12, 1861, the Anacostia patrolled the Potomac
River. On May 20 Fillebrown was transferred During 1864 Lt. Cmdr. Thomas S. Fillebrown,
aboard the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron Jr., USN, was captain of three monitors off the
coast of South Carolina: the Passaic from April
(NABS) screw frigate Roanoke, sent to blockade to July; the Montauk in August; and the Sanga-
the coast of North Carolina. Although present, mon in the fall. Promoted to commodore in 1883,
the Roanoke did not participate in the defense he died of a heart attack a year later (courtesy
of Hampton Roads, VA, when it was attacked by Naval History and Heritage Command).
the CSS Virginia on March 8, 1862. Given shore
duty at the New York navy yard at month’s end, on Togodo Creek, near South Carolina’s North
Fillebrown was promoted to the rank of lieuten- Edisto River.
ant commander on July 16. On November 13, Fillebrown was at the USNO from June 22,
1863, he became captain and completed outfit- 1865, until July 25, 1866, when he became a com-
ting of the paddle-wheel gunboat Chenango. mander and was put in charge of the Hydro-
While exiting New York Harbor to the open graphic Office. He cruised off Florida and Cuba
sea on April 15 to join the blockade, the vessel’s as captain of the North Atlantic Squadron (NAS)
port boiler exploded, killing 34 men and set- screw sloop-of-war Narragansett, from Decem-
ting the ship ablaze. After she was towed back ber 19, 1868, until spring 1869 when yellow fever
to New York for repair, Fillebrown took over broke out aboard and she was sent into quaran-
the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) tine. From September 8, 1870, to September 5,
Passaic-class monitor Passaic on the block- 1872, Fillebrown was acting head of the Bureau
ade off Charleston, undertaking uneventful of Equipment, thereafter spending a year in Eu-
routine work that included periodic bombard- rope as captain of the Mediterranean Squadron
ments of Fort Sumter. In July, he assumed tem- screw sloop-of-war Wachusett. Elevated to cap-
porary command of the monitor Montauk, tain on January 1, 1874, he was executive officer
which shot it out with Battery Pringle on the of the Norfolk navy yard from April 28 until
Stone River, SC, as well as the fall command of March 1, 1876, after which, for three months, he
the monitor Sangamon. In December he trans- commanded the steam frigate Powhatan on a
ferred to the double-ender gunboat Sonoma and Cuban cruise before returning to his previous
on February 5, 1865, joined with two other Norfolk assignment. He took another cruise to
Union vessels in battling a Confederate battery Cuba aboard the Powhatan between Septem-
 87
ber 10, 1879, and January 5, 1880, when he was
ordered to the Navy Department to assist with
assembling and compiling the records necessary
to produce The Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.
Becoming a commodore on May 11, 1883, Fille-
brown quit board duty in March 1884 to become
commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Having suffered from heart disease for some
time, he suffered two heart attacks on September
26/27 and died at his navy yard residence. His
body was transported on September 29 by
steamer to Georgetown, where he was buried in
Oak Hill Cemetery. No USN ships have been
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; Hammersly, 3rd ed.; Charles Jerry Fillebrown,
“Commodore Thomas Scott Fillebrown, Jr.,” Fille-
brown, http://www.fillebrown.com/d1/i0000864.htm
(accessed August 5, 2016); Fillebrown, Genealogy of
the Fillebrown Family, with Biographical Sketches;
SLGMSD, pseud., “Com. Thomas Scott Fillebrown,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page= gr&GRid=37259880 (accessed August 5,
2016); Miller, “The Monitor’s Lucky Sister (Passaic)”;
Robert W. Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy: Mon-
tauk”; DANFS; New York Times, September 28, 30,
1884; Boston Daily Advertiser, September 29, 1884;
Washington Post, September 30, 1884.
Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick, James W. (1832–1893,
USN)
Born in Nova Scotia in 1832, merchant mari-
ner Fitzpatrick was, as of February 1862, the
third master of the U.S. timberclad Lexington.
In June 1862 following the Battle of Memphis,
he was made acting captain of the supply
steamer Clara Dolson. Elevated to the rank of
acting master, he became the executive officer
of the Lexington in April 1863, during which
month he led the shore party that burned the
Cumberland River community of Palmyra in re-
taliation for a particularly grievous attack by
Rebels on Union shipping. Following a short
tour aboard the Mississippi Squadron flagboat
Black Hawk, he became acting captain of the
new Milwaukee-class monitor Chickasaw at
Mound City, where he helped to finish her
outfitting and placed her into commission on
May 14, 1864. Ordered to test her by patrolling
the Mississippi River, Fitzpatrick steadily moved
her farther downstream while guarding river
steamers from attack by Confederate “flying
artillery.” Upon her arrival at New Orleans on
July 9, the monitor was turned over to the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS) and Fitz-
patrick was detached. Going on to command
the light draughts Signal (Tinclad No. 8), and
Siren (Tinclad No. 56), Fitzpatrick, valued by his

Ordered to Mound City, IL, in fall 1863, Acting Master James W. Fitzpatrick, USN, helped to finish
the Milwaukee-class monitor Chickasaw (depicted) and became her acting captain. Ordered to New
Orleans in May 1864, the monitor-depicted in this half-tone drawing-was broken in by guarding river
steamers from attack by Confederate “flying artillery.” Upon her arrival, Fitzpatrick was detached
and became captain of a tinclad (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Foster 88

superiors as a “hard worker,” was honorably dis-

charged on December 30, 1865. Nothing further
is known of his life or civilian career thereafter,
save that he died at Pomeroy, OH, in 1893. No
USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: Callahan; DANFS; John Fitzpatrick,
“Re: James Fitzpatrick, Civil War Officer” Fitzpatrick
Family Genealogy Forum, http://genforum.genealogy.
com/fitzpatrick/messages/1254.html (accessed De-
cember 3, 2011); Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; Smith, Le Roy Fitch; ORN, I, 27;
Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Tin-
clads in the Civil War.

Foster, James Peter (1827–1869,

USN)
Foster, born in Bullitt County, KY, on June 8,
1827, was appointed a USN Midshipman in May
1846, and was aboard the ship-of-the-line Ohio
during the Mexican War, participating in the
1847 Vera Cruz and Tuxpan River expeditions
before transferring to the Pacific, where the Ohio
remained off the California coast until 1850. Late
that year, Foster attended the USNA, graduating
in June 1853; promoted to passed midshipman,
he sailed for three years aboard the Brazil
Squadron sloop-of-war Germantown. Because
of the political and revolutionary difficulties in
Uruguay in 1855, the warship spent much of the
year off Montevideo, and in August a landing
party was sent ashore to protect American in-
terests during disturbances. Advanced to the
ranks of master and lieutenant in September,
Foster participated in another Montevideo land-
ing in November to protect foreign consulates
and the customs house from insurgents. After a
year of shore duty, he joined the Africa Squad-
ron sloop-of-war Constellation in December
1858 and on August 13, 1860 transferred to the
steam frigate San Jacinto, a week after her
capture of the brig Storm King, with 616 slaves,
off the mouth of the Congo River. The prize had
been sent to Monrovia (where the slaves were
freed) and he was needed to replace the prize
captain. Ill much of 1861 and 1862, Foster recov-
ered and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant
commander on July 16, 1862.
In October 1862 Foster was ordered to Jeffer-
sonville, IN, where on November 14 he became
captain of the ironclad Chillicothe, then being
completed. Shallow Ohio River conditions pre-
Lt. Cmdr. James P. Foster, USN, assumed com-
mand of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad
Chillicothe in November 862, guiding her dur-
ing the unsuccessful Yazoo Pass Expedition of
March-April 86. That September he became
captain of the river ironclad Lafayvette, a billet
he would fill for the remainder of the war. He
died of a fever in June 86 (courtesy Naval His-
tory and Heritage Command).
vented her reaching the Mississippi Squadron
base at Cairo, IL, before January 7, 1863, just
missing participation in the Arkansas Post ex-
pedition. She was as the principal, if unsuccess-
ful, big gun vessel in the Federal Yazoo Pass
expedition of February-March 1863. The Chilli-
cothe being badly damaged and unable to sub-
due the Confederate defense at Fort Pemberton,
Foster was forced to take over naval command
of the expedition when its previous commander
became ill and it fell to him, working in coordi-
nation with army commanders, to order the
mission withdrawn. While the Chillicothe was
being repaired, Foster, in September, became
 8
captain of the giant river ironclad Lafayette,
which he commanded through May 1865. Al-
most immediately, on September 29, the Lafay-
ette, together with a tinclad, arrived at Mor-
ganza, LA, in time to deter a second Confederate
attack on a much smaller Union outpost. In
March 1864 Foster’s vessel was one of several
Mississippi Squadron heavy units to ascend the
Red River in support of an overland attack by
AUS troops. After securing Alexandria, LA, the
naval units pushed upstream; however, Lafay-
ette, left at Grand Encore, received orders to re-
turn to the Mississippi River. Accompanied by
tinclads and the ram Avenger, she took station
at the mouth of the Black River on April 4 and
three days later steamed up the Ouachita River
to Ouachita City, confiscating some 3,000 bales
of cotton and liberating 800 African-Americans,
and then assaulted Monroe, LA, burning its the
courthouse, the railroad depot, and a bridge
over the river. On 16 May the Lafayette, with the
side-wheeler gunboat General Sterling Price,
neutralized a Confederate battery firing on a
transport steamer near Ratliff ’s Landing, MS.
Gamble
In October 1865 Foster took charge of the
USNA flotilla of training ships and became a
commander on July 22, 1866. Given command
of the Osceola, he joined the Brazil Squadron,
where he contracted the disease from which he
died at Indianapolis on June 2, 1869. No USN
vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, II; Callahan; “James P. Foster,” in American An-
nual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events, IX
(1869); DANFS; Gilliland, comp., USS Constellation
on the Dismal Coast: Willie Leonard’s Journal, 1859–
1861; New York Times, December 15, 1865; Smith, Civil
War Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, Fight
for the Yazoo; Smith, Joseph Brown and His Civil War
Ironclads; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; New York
Herald, June 3, 1869.
Gamble, William Marshall
(1826–1896, USN)
The son of USMC colonel John Marshall
Gamble was born in Philadelphia, PA, on March
22, 1826, the seventh of ten siblings. He was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on March 1, 1841,

A successful blockader, Lt. Cmdr. William M. Gamble, USN, joined the Mississippi Squadron in late
86 as captain of the river monitor Osage (depicted), part of an ironclad squadron sent to the waters
off Mobile, AL. On March 2, 86, the vessel, shown in this contemporary sketch, struck a torpedo
in the Blakely River and sank, with her captain among the wounded. Unable to return to duty, he
retired in 866 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Gansevoort
was attached to the Home Squadron frigate Mis-
souri for the next four years. This was followed
by two years aboard the Pacific Squadron frigate
Savannah, which captured the California town
of Monterey on July 7, 1846, during the early
stages of the Mexican War. Gamble was sent to
the Philadelphia naval school in September,
graduated in July 1848, and became a passed
midshipman on August 10. He deployed to Eu-
ropean waters for an 18-month cruise on the
frigate St. Lawrence, visiting ports in England,
Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, and the
Mediterranean before taking a USNO tour in
1851. Returning to the St. Lawrence late in the
year, he sailed for the West Coast, remaining
aboard until transferred to the Pacific Squadron
sloop-of-war Portsmouth in 1853 and continuing
his cruise for two more years. Gamble became
a lieutenant on September 15, 1855, was sec-
onded to the USCS in 1856–1857, and sailed the
Caribbean and off the Mexican Coast aboard
the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga in
1858. While on leave on June 8, 1859, he married
Eliza Wood Canfield (1829–?) in a Morristown,
NJ, ceremony; the couple would have four chil-
dren. Returning to the Saratoga prior to the June
1860 completion of her deployment, Gamble
was aboard when she was invited to participate
in the March 6 naval battle of Anton Lizardo,
Vera Cruz, Mexico, during which two rebel
Mexican ships were defeated helping to close the
so-called Reform War. At year’s end, he was
transferred to the paddle-wheel frigate Powha-
tan.
Gamble’s vessel was involved in the unsuc-
cessful April 1861 Federal effort, engineered by
Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801–
1872), to relieve Fort Pickens, FL, and, on May 26
was assigned to the Gulf blockade, being sta-
tioned off the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi
River below New Orleans in July and August. In
September Powhatan was sent to the West Indies
in an unsuccessful mission to run down the
Confederate ocean cruiser CSS Sumter. Refitted
in October, the warship joined the South At-
lantic Blockading Squadron’s (SABS) embargo
off Charleston, SC, early in 1862. Gamble be-
came lieutenant commander on July 16 and took
command of the steam gunboat Pocahontas off
the city, which was transferred to the West Gulf
Blockading Squadron (WGBS) in October and

assigned to the blockade of Mobile, AL. On Jan-
uary 6, 1863, Gamble captured the richly laden
Confederate British runner Antona off Cape San
Blas, FL; he would employ his share of the prize
money to purchase a fine Morristown, NJ, home.
Late in the year, he assumed command of the
veteran Unadilla-class gunboat Wissahicken, re-
turning with her to the Charleston blockade. On
April 26, 1864, he took over the paddle-wheel
SABS gunboat Sonoma and patrolled off the
Georgia coast. On July 8 he took his second
major prize, the side-wheel steamer Ida, bound
from Sapelo Sound, GA, for the Bahamas with
a cargo of cotton. Gamble was subsequently
transferred to the Mississippi Squadron as cap-
tain of the river monitor Osage, which was as-
signed to participate as part of the ironclad
squadron investing the city of Mobile, AL. On
March 29, 1865, the Osage struck a torpedo in
the Blakely River and sank, with her captain
among the wounded. Later in the year, Gamble
was assigned to the Pacific Squadron but was in-
capacitated by sunstroke on April 26, 1866. Un-
able to return to duty, Gamble was placed on the
retired list as a commander on April 4, 1867.
Splitting his time between Morristown, NJ, and
Saratoga, NY, thereafter, he died at the former
on October 19, 1896. No USN vessels were
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Callahan; DANFS; Smith, Tinclads
in the Civil War; Radford de Meissne, Old Naval Days:
Sketches from the Life of Rear Admiral William Rad-
ford, U.S.N.; Canfield, comp., A History of Thomas
Canfield and of Matthew Camfield, with a Genealogy
of Their Descendents in New Jersey; Pat Wardell, “John
Marshall Gamble,” in Early Bergen County Families
http://njgsbc.org/files/BCFamilies/BCFam-Gamble.
pdf (accessed August 2, 2016); New York Tribune, Oc-
tober 20, 1896.
Gansevoort, Guert (1812–1868,
USN)
A cousin of Herman Melville and the son of
Leonard H. (1749–1812) and Mary Ann (1752–
1830) Gansevoort, Guert was born at Ganse-
voort, NY, on June 7, 1812, and was warranted a
USN midshipman on March 4, 1823. Sent to sea
in 1824, he served with the Mediterranean
Squadron aboard the frigate Constitution and
the ship-of-the-line North Carolina. Following
 
A cousin of Herman Melville and a lieutenant aboard the Somers during the infamous 82 mutiny,
Capt. Guert Gansevoort was captain of the depicted revolutionary three-turret monitor Roanoke, a
harbor-defense ship at Hampton Roads, VA, in 86 and 86. He retired as a commodore in 86
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
duty at the New York navy yard, he returned to
sea in 1829 for a three-year cruise aboard the Pa-
cific Squadron sloop-of-war St. Louis. Becoming
a passed midshipman on April 28, 1832, Gan-
sevoort was sailing master of the West Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Boston during 1835 and
1836 and a lieutenant on March 8, 1837. He was
aboard the Mediterranean Squadron ship-of-
the-line Ohio until 1840. He found himself 1st
lieutenant of the brig Somers, under Cmdr.
Alexander Slidell McKenzie in 1842 and, the ves-
sel’s commander having determined that a
mutiny had occurred, was ordered to preside
over a court-martial, which found the accused
guilty and resulted in execution. The lieutenant
would remain remorseful over his participation
in the affair for the rest of his life and Melville’s
Billy Bud was based on the incident. Gansevoort
participated in the Mexican War in 1846 and
1847, especially the fighting at Vera Cruz, Tux-
pan, and Tabasco. Becoming a commander on
September 14, 1855, Gansevoort led seamen and
marines ashore from the sloop-of-war Decatur
in January 1856 to augment the defenses of Seat-
tle, Washington Territory, against attacks by Na-
tive Americans during the Puget Sound War. At
San Francisco in August, he was found drunk
on duty and relieved of his post.
Gansevoort was on ordnance duty at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard upon the outbreak of the
Gipson
Civil War in April 1861 and, after outfitting the
sloop-of-war Adirondack, which was commis-
sioned on June 30, 1862, served as her captain
during Caribbean patrol duty. She ran aground
at Little Bahamas in August, a month after Gan-
sevoort was promoted to the rank of captain.
Gansevoort was acquitted by court-martial that
took place in October and November. Late in
1863 he became captain of the ironclad Roanoke,
the harbor defense monitor at Hampton Roads,
VA. In the spring of 1864 he was reassigned to
ordnance duties at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Gansevoort retired on January 28, 1867, hav-
ing been commissioned a commodore on the re-
tired list. He died at Schenectady, NY, on July 15,
1868, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery,
Brooklyn, NY. One 20th century USN destroyer
(DD-608) was named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; New
York Times, November 16, 1862; Gale, A Herman
Melville Encyclopedia; Heflin, Herman Melville’s Whal-
ing Years; DANFS; Athanatos, “Guert Gansevoort,”
FindaGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=102623181 (accessed May 3, 2017).
Gipson, James C. (1838–1920,
USN)
Second of six offspring of butcher James Her-
rick (1812–1894) and Theodotia Little Gipson
Gipson
Having joined the crew of the famous river ironclad Carondelet as a seaman in January 862, James
C. Gipson, USN, promoted to the rank of acting master, served as her captain from November 86
to February 86. His ship is presented here in a pen-and-ink drawing by Samuel War Stanton (cour-
tesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
(1820–1876), James was born on January 27,
1838, in Salisbury, VT, just before his family
moved to Rochester, WI. He went to sea at an
early age as a commercial seamen.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gipson
found himself in New Orleans and, making his
way up the Mississippi River to escape joining
the CSN, he was able to find refuge in Union ter-
ritory where he joined the AUS. On October 24,
1861, he enlisted in the Western Flotilla as an or-
dinary seaman and joined the timberclad Tyler.
In January 1862 he transferred to the Pook turtle
Carondelet, where he was an acting master’s
mate during the famed ironclad’s momentous
participation in the actions at Forts Henry,
Donelson, and Pillow, the passage by Island No.
10, and the July battle with the CSS Arkansas.
Gipson was appointed an acting ensign in Oc-
tober 1862 and in March 1863 transferred to the
new ironclad Lafayette, aboard which he served
during the passage past Vicksburg’s batteries and
the battle of Grand Gulf in April. He became an
acting master on October 24, 1863, and was in
November sent back to the Carondelet, his for-
mer ship, as her temporary captain. Gipson was
very popular with the ironclad’s officers, often
spending social time with them in the ward-
room. In February 1864 he was appointed exec-
utive officer of the new light draught Exchange
(Tinclad No. 38), becoming captain on April 13
2
following the resignation of her original com-
mander. On 1 June, during a 45-minute engage-
ment with a masked battery under CSA Col.
Colton Greene at Columbia, AK, the gunboat
was struck 35 times, 8 shot piercing her hull be-
fore she could escape. One man was killed and
Gipson was wounded by a shell fragment that
impacted the left side of his head. The Missis-
sippi Squadron commander, impressed with the
defense led by the vessel’s captain, arranged his
promotion to acting volunteer lieutenant on
July 9, 1864.
Gipson was honorably discharged on Novem-
ber 14, 1865. It was later claimed that, during the
conflict, he was wounded 17 times. On the other
hand, an August 1865 report found him to have
“no force, not intelligent, and not overfond of
work.” He returned to Rochester, WI, where he
worked until 1866 when he moved to Racine.
On February 25, 1868, he married Emily A.
Godfrey (1846–1918) of Rochester, WI; the cou-
ple would have four children. In 1882 the Gip-
sons relocated to Pierre, SD, and between 1904
and 1907 they resided at Caldwell, ID, before
moving to Roseburg, near Portland, OR.
When Gipson died at the Oregon Old
Soldier’s Home on July 31, 1920, he was buried
next to his wife in Roseburg National Cemetery.
No USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: ORN, I, 27: 320; Commemorative Biog-
  Glassell
raphical Record of Prominent and Representative Men tifications. Thereafter named acting executive
of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin; Callahan; officer of the CSS North Carolina at Wilmington,
Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters; NC, Glassell returned to Charleston in Septem-
Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, USS Caron-
delet; “Vermonters Who Served as Officers of the U.S. ber and took command of the torpedo boat CSS
Navy,” Vermont in the Civil War, http://vermontcivil David. When that experimental craft attacked
war.org/units/navy/officers.php (accessed Novem- and damaged the Northern ironclad New Iron-
ber 21, 2011); Phyllis (Porter) Zegers, “James C. Gip- sides on October 5, he was captured and held
son,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
until exchanged on October 1, 1864. During his
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3886326 (accessed Au-
gust 1, 2016). imprisonment, he was advanced for meritorious
service to the rank of commander, effective Oc-
tober 5, 1863. Briefly returned to the CSS North
Glassell, William Thornton Carolina, he went back to Charleston in Novem-
(1831–1879, CSN) ber for special torpedo boat service. When the
city fell in late February 1865, Glassell was trans-
Glassell, the great grandfather of Lt. Gen. ferred to command of the James River ironclad
George S. Patton (1885–1945), was born to An- CSS Fredericksburg, part of a small fleet at-
drew Glassell (1793–1873) and Susan Thornton tempting to defend the Confederate capital. Fol-
at Richland Plantation, Culpepper County, VA, lowing Richmond’s evacuation on April 3,
on January 15, 1831. Well educated, he was ap- orders were given to destroy the warship. Her
pointed a USN midshipman on March 15, 1848,
became a passed midshipman in 1850, and was
aboard the frigate St. Lawrence when she deliv-
ered U.S. exhibits for the Great Exhibition at
London in March 1851. There the frigate was vis-
ited by Baroness Byron, widow of the poet, who
invited the midshipman to dine with her. Or-
dered to the USNA in 1852, he graduated in June
1855, was seconded to the USCS, and became a
lieutenant on September 16. In July 1857 Glassell
joined the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war Van-
dalia for a two-year cruise. In January 1860 he
was transferred to the squadron’s sloop-of-war
John Adams, which continued to protect Amer-
ica’s interests in the Far East. A year later he
joined the screw sloop of war Hartford, return-
ing to Civil War–torn American in November
1861.
Refusing to swear allegiance to the Federal
government, Glassell was dismissed from the
USN on December 6, 1861, and imprisoned at
Boston’s Fort Warren until exchanged in July
1862. Appointed a CSN lieutenant on August 5,
1862, he joined the ironclad Chicora, which, to-
gether with CSS Palmetto State, was assigned to After the fall of Charleston, SC, in February
the defense of Charleston Harbor. On Janu- 86, Cmdr. William T. Glassell, CSN, was given
ary 31, 1863, the two ironclads attacked the un- command of the ironclad Fredericksburg, part of
armored vessels of the offshore Union blockade, a small Confederate fleet defending the James
River. The vessel was destroyed in April a day
capturing one and disabling another, and on after the evacuation of Richmond. Glassell
April 7 participated in the defense of the harbor became a California land agent after the war
when a number of Union ironclads made a con- (Horace Edwin Hayden, Genealogy of the Glassell
centrated but unsuccessful assault upon its for- Family of Scotland and Virginia, 8).
Goudy 

captain then became a lieutenant colonel at-
tached to the 2nd Regiment of the CSN Naval
Brigade organized by RAdm. Rafael Semmes
(1809–1877) and surrendered to the Union
Army at Greensboro, NC, on April 26.
Bachelor Glassell traveled west to Los Ang-
eles, CA, to work in his brother’s law firm. In
1869 a large parcel of land was turned over to
him by the lawyer allowing him to lay out a town
initially known as Richland. When that name
was found to be owned by another Golden State
town, an 1873 poker game organized by tract
agent Glassell determined the winning name to
be Orange. On January 28, 1879, the tuberculosis
he had contracted in Union prisons took his life
and he was buried in Angeles-Rosedale Memo-
rial Park, Los Angeles.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
DANFS; Foenander; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;
CSN Register; Hayden, Genealogy of the Glassell Fam-
ily of Scotland and Virginia; “William T. Glassell,” The
City of Orange, CA, http://www.cityoforange.org/
localhistory/plaza/people.htm#wtg (accessed Au-
gust 3, 2016); Paul S., pseud., “William Thornton Glas-
sell,” FindaGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3704 (accessed August 3,
2016); Richmond Daily Dispatch, October 20, 1864;
Westfall, Prisoners of the Civil War: The Story of Two
Americans; Brigandi, A Brief History of Orange, Cali-
fornia, the Plaza City; Robert M. Gettemys, “A Town
Named in Poker Game,” Los Angeles Times, July 17,
1972.
Goudy, Jason (1824–1865, USN)
Goudy was born at Price Hill, Cincinnati,
OH, in 1824 and began to follow the river within
two decades. In February 1862 he was second
master of the U.S. timberclad gunboat Tyler and
participated with his vessel in the Battle of Fort
Henry and the great raid down the Tennessee
River. In April he fought at the Battle of Shiloh.
He was chosen as prize master (May 1862) and
later in June as the inaugural captain of the first
Union light-draught gunboat, the Alfred Robb
(Tinclad No. 21). Named an acting volunteer
lieutenant on October 1, 1862, Goudy partici-
pated in the defense of Fort Donelson on Feb-
ruary 3, 1863. Becoming the first captain of the
Tennessee River light draught Queen City (Tin-
clad No. 26) on April 1, 1863, Goudy assumed
command of the Tawah (Tinclad No. 29) on
June 30. In October Tawah supported the AUS
campaign at Chattanooga, TN, and, in April
1864, she became part of a three-ship task group

Beginning in the spring of 862 Acting Volunteer Lt. Jason Goudy made his mark as a tinclad com-
mander on the Western waters. In November 86, after escaping from the Federal disaster at John-
sonville, TN, he became captain of the ironclad Cincinnati, which was transferred under his command
to New Orleans for service in the Gulf of Mexico. This contemporary sketch was made late in the war
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
 
employed to protect transports using the new
depot at Johnsonville, TN. On November 2
Tawah and a consort encountered a Southern
transport and a captured U.S. tinclad taken three
days earlier. After a running battle, the transport
was retaken, though the warship escaped and
was later scuttled. On November 4 the task
group was caught at Johnsonville when the
depot was bombarded; following several hours
of fierce fighting, the Federal trio were damaged,
requiring that they be abandoned to prevent
them from falling into Confederate hands. In
November, after escaping the Tennessee River,
Goudy took command of the ironclad U.S.S.
Cincinnati, which after upgrading was trans-
ferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron
(WGBS) in February 1865.
Upon his return to Cairo, IL, from New Or-
leans on March 17, Goudy took leave to visit his
Paducah, KY, home, where he became ill from
acute diarrhea. He died on March 28 and was
buried with full honors at Cincinnati several
Grafton
days later. He left a wife, Sarah, and several chil-
dren. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: Callahan; DANFS; Smith, Civil War Bi-
ographies from the Western Waters; Smith, Le Roy
Fitch; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, The
Timberclads in the Civil War.
Grafton, Edward Charles
(1826–1876, USN)
Born in Boston in 1826, Grafton was ap-
pointed a USN Midshipman on October 5, 1841,
and joined the Mediterranean Squadron flag-
ship, the ship-of-the-line Columbus, on her
1842–1844 cruise. After two years at the An-
napolis naval school, he was aboard the Pacific
Squadron sloop-of-war Levant off California as
relations with Mexico worsened. Grafton’s war-
ship arrived off Monterey on July 1, 1846, and a
week later he was part of a landing party that se-
cured possession of the new Republic of Cali-

Coming off minesweeping duties in Mobile Bay, Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Grafton, USN, assumed com-
mand of the monitor Manhattan at New Orleans in November 86 and blockaded the mouth of
the Red River until the end of the Civil War. Grafton died in New York City in 86 but his iron-
clad, photographed during the 88s, survived until 2 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Greene
fornia. Becoming a passed midshipman on Au-
gust 10 while on the West Coast blockade of
Mexico, he participated in landing parties that
captured Guaymas on October 19 and occupied
Mazatlan on November 11. Grafton served at the
Boston naval facilities (yard and rendezvous)
from April 1847 through 1851 and was then un-
employed until advanced to lieutenant on Sep-
tember 18, 1855, and assigned to the East Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Portsmouth for a two-
year cruise to the Orient, during which she
joined in the November 16–22, 1856 USN con-
frontation with the Canton, China, barrier forts.
Transferred in mid–1858 for a two-year cruise
with the Brazil Squadron brig Perry, Grafton
participated in the October–February 1859 U.S.
Paraguay Expedition, a diplomatic mission
backed by force.
Coming off shore duty at the outbreak of the
Civil War in April 1861, Graham became exec-
utive officer and flag lieutenant aboard the At-
lantic (later North Atlantic) Blockading Squad-
ron (NABS) screw frigate Minnesota, which led
the way during the August bombardments of
Forts Hatteras and Clarke, NC. While on block-
ade duty at Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862,
the frigate attempted to engage the CSS Virginia
but grounded, being saved the next day by the
intervening Federal Monitor. Promoted to lieu-
tenant commander on July 16, Grafton remained
aboard the NABS flagship until the beginning
of 1864 when he became captain of the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS) steam gun-
boat Genesee, then on the blockade of Mobile,
AL. The gunboat did not participate in the
initial passage into Mobile Bay on August 5 but
afterwards lent her guns to the bombardment
of Fort Morgan. Grafton’s gunboat was soon
converted into a storeship, which replenished
the fleet from its base at Pensacola, FL, and was
also employed as an ersatz minesweeper, clear-
ing Confederate “torpedo” fields. At New Or-
leans in November, Grafton assumed command
of the Canonicus-class single-turret monitor
Manhattan, a veteran of the August engage-
ment. Early in 1865 she steamed up the Missis-
sippi River to the mouth of the Red River, which
she blockaded until August, when she was de-
commissioned.
Grafton was given command of the paddle-
wheel North Atlantic Squadron gunboat Gettys-
6
burg in November 1866, became a commander
on December 29, and completed a short cruise
to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in March
1867. He was captain of the Portsmouth navy
yard receiving ship from 1868 until his retire-
ment on January 18, 1871.
A bachelor, Grafton resided in New York City,
where he died on June 24, 1876. No USN vessels
have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
DANFS; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Appletons’ Annual Cy-
clopaedia and Register of Important Events, I.
Greene, Samuel Dana (1839–1884,
USN)
The eldest of four sons of U.S. Civil War gen-
eral George Sears “Pappy” Greene (1801–1899)
and his second wife, Martha Dana Greene
(1809–1883), Samuel was born at Cumberland,
MD, on February 11, 1840. He was appointed an
acting USN midshipman on September 21, 1855,
and was sent to the USNA, from which he grad-
uated in June 1859, his commission confirmed.
He joined the East Indies Squadron flagship,
sloop-of-war Hartford, for an 18-month cruise,
during which he became a lieutenant, on Au-
gust 31, 1861. When news arrived that civil war
had broken out in the United States, his warship
departed her Oriental station, returning to
Philadelphia, PA, in December 1861.
After a short leave, Greene volunteered for
duty aboard the revolutionary ironclad monitor,
then being completed at New York, and became
executive officer, the only one in her history. On
March 8–9, 1862, Greene was in the turret when
his craft engaged the CSS Virginia in the historic
Battle of Hampton Roads, and he personally
aimed and fired the giant Dahlgren cannon. On
the second day, following the wounding of the
captain, he assumed command of the Monitor,
and when the Virginia retreated he ordered sev-
eral parting shots. Then, in a move deemed con-
troversial in some quarters thereafter, he fol-
lowed the letter of his orders by withdrawing to
protect the frigate Minnesota. Although he
would be criticized for allowing the Southern
ironclad to escape, he was also commended for
his “great courage, coolness, and skill.” Greene
was superseded in command on March 12 but
remained as executive officer, participating in
 
both of the ironclad’s actions with Fort Darling
on the James River in May and her loss in a
storm off Cape Hatteras on December 30–31.
Saved from the foundered monitor, Greene
married Mary Willis Dearth (1839–1874) of Bris-
tol, RI, while on leave in early 1863; the couple
would have three children. He became executive
officer of the North Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (NABS) paddle-wheel gunboat Florida,
which joined the blockade off North Carolina
in March 1863 and over the next year captured
or destroyed a number of runners, including
several attempting to enter Wilmington. In
March 1864 he became executive officer of the
sloop-of-war Iroquois, which steamed in the
North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific seek-
ing the CSS Shenandoah. Failing to apprehend
the Confederate ocean raider, the warship re-
turned to New York six months after the end of
the war.
Greene was a USNA instructor from January
1866 to 1868, after which he was posted to the
Pacific Squadron to serve aboard, respectively,
the sloops-of-war Ossipee and Saranac and the
The only executive officer of the famous Union
warship Monitor, Lt. Samuel Dana Greene
assumed her command on March , 862, follow-
ing the wounding of her captain during the sec-
ond day of the Battle of Hampton Roads against
the CSS Virginia. Superseded in command on
March 2, he remained first lieutenant of the ship
until her loss in a storm off Cape Hatteras on
December / (courtesy Naval History and
Heritage Command).
Greer
screw steamer Pensacola. In 1871 he returned to
the USNA and from 1871 to 1875 during tenure
advanced to commander, on December 12, 1872.
Greene was captain of the European Squadron
sloop-of-war Juniata until February 1876, when
(after his marriage to a Bristol lady, Mary Abby
Babbitt Greene (1839–1926)) he was given com-
mand of the sloop-of-war Monongahela and or-
dered to undertake USNA cadet training cruises
on the Atlantic coast. Late in 1878 he was ap-
pointed USNA assistant superintendent and in
1883 and 1884 commanded the special duty
steamer Despatch on the Potomac River and in
Chesapeake Bay. In the fall of the latter year,
Greene became executive officer of the Ports-
mouth, NH, navy yard.
For some time, he had continued to face
critics regarding his March 9, 1862, decision to
break off action with the Virginia. He became
anxious over the reception of an article in the
“Battles and Leaders” series he had completed
for Century magazine as well as another for The
United Service. Before their publication, he com-
mitted suicide at the yard’s Franklin shiphouse
on December 11. He was later reported to have
been acting “strangely” for some time. He was
buried at Juniper Hill Cemetery, Bristol, RI, on
December 16. One 20th century USN destroyer
(DD-226) was named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Still,
Ironclad Captains; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; “Samuel Dana
Greene,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6017440 (accessed Decem-
ber 3, 2016); Chittenden, comp., The Monitor and the
Merrimac; DANFS; Douglas Niermeyer, “Loyal Le-
gion Vignettes: Commander Samuel Dana Greene,
USN,” Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United
States, http://suvcw.org/mollus/art055.htm (accessed
December 3, 2016); Quarstein, The Monitor Boys;
Wright; Greene, “The Fight Between the Monitor and
the Merrimac”; Greene, “‘I Fired the First Gun and
Thus Commenced the Great Battle’”; Greene, “In the
Monitor’s Turret,” B&L, I; Greene, “The Monitor at Sea
and in Battle”; Greene, “The Monitor Repels the Mer-
rimac,” in Post, ed., Soldier’s Letters From Camp, Bat-
tlefield, and Prison; Neeser, “Historic Ships of the
Navy: Monitor”; Concord Evening Monitor, Decem-
ber 12, 1884; New York Times, December 14, 1884.
Greer, James Augustin
(1833–1904, USN)
The oldest of two children of James Greer
(1807–1874) and Caroline Elizabeth King Greer
Greer
(1812–1876), James Augustin was born at Cincin-
nati, OH, on February 28, 1833. Appointed an
acting midshipman on January 10, 1848, he spent
much of 1849 aboard the Home Squadron sloop-
of-war Saratoga. On the Home Squadron paddle-
wheel sloop-of-war Saranac during 1850 off the
East Coast, he went on Pacific Squadron sloop-
of-war St. Mary’s until late 1852. After nine
months on the Home Squadron flagship, the
frigate Columbia, in 1853, he returned to the
USNA that October and graduated on June 15,
1854, the day he became passed midshipman.
From August to October 1857, Greer served on
A participant in the Trent affair in Novem-
ber 86, Lt. Cmdr. James A. Greer, USN, was
transferred in January 86 to the Mississippi
Squadron, where he briefly commanded the iron-
clad Carondelet until March when he became
captain of the Benton. Following a long postwar
campaign, he retired as the navy’s senior rear
admiral in February 8 (courtesy Naval His-
tory and Heritage Command).
8
the Pacific Squadron ship-of-the-line Independ-
ence, becoming a master (September 15, 1855)
and a lieutenant (September 16, 1855). He mar-
ried Mary Randolph Webb (1835–1900) at Nor-
folk, VA, on November 26—the couple would
have four children—and he was employed at the
navy yard from December to October 1858. As-
signed to the chartered steam gunboat Southern
Star (later USS Crusader), he participated in the
October–February 1859 U.S. Paraguay Expedi-
tion, a diplomatic mission backed by force. From
August into 1860, Greer was aboard the Africa
Squadron screw frigate San Jacinto on anti-
slavery patrol on the west coast of the “Dark
Continent.”
The San Jacinto continued her patrols in 1861
without much success, during which the Civil
War erupted in the U.S. Assigned to hunt the
Confederate ocean raider Sumter, the cruiser in-
stead encountered the British mail steamer Trent
north of Havana, Cuba, on November 8. The
neutral vessel was transporting two Confederate
diplomats, Mason and Slidell, and Greer was or-
dered to take a cutter and support the one sent
to remove them. The action, which did not re-
flect upon the boarding officers, caused a sig-
nificant international incident. He joined the
sloop-of-war St. Louis, in December. From Jan-
uary to October 1862 the St. Louis patrolled the
Central Atlantic area, protecting Union com-
merce and seeking Confederate ocean cruisers.
During his time aboard, Greer became a lieu-
tenant commander on July 16. After brief Navy
Department service from October through De-
cember, he was transferred to the Mississippi
Squadron in January 1863 and briefly served as
commander of the Pook turtle Carondelet. In
March, Greer took over became captain of the
great ironclad Benton, running past Vicksburg’s
batteries, fighting in the Battle of Grand Gulf in
April 1863, and participating in the bombard-
ment of the Vicksburg in its May–July surrender.
Greer served during the Red River campaign in
the spring of 1864; detached, he was posted in
August and September on special duty at
Cincinnati correcting abuses at the local USN
recruiting station. He then commanded the
Mound City naval station for two months. In
November, Greer led a team on a confidential
mission to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and other
riverfront towns to acquire ten light-draft
  Guest
steamers for conversion into tinclads. At month’s Le Roy Fitch; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Hope,
end, he became captain of the squadron flagboat pseud., “Adm. James Augustin Greer,” FindaGrave,
Black Hawk. He left the Western waters during http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&
GRid=15158524 (accessed July 12, 2014); Neeser, “His-
the holidays and at the beginning of 1865 began toric Ships of the Navy: Benton”; Greer, The Navy in
a 21-month tour at the USNA, where he became the War of the American Revolution; Greer, Our Minor
a commander on July 25, 1866. Naval Wars; New York Times, February 28, 1895;
Greer was assigned to the North Pacific Sta- Washington Post, February 28, 1895; New York Trib-
une, March 1, 1895; Macon Telegraph, March 13, 1895;
tion (NPS) in September 1866 and served as
Baltimore Sun, June 18, 1904; Army and Navy Journal,
commander of two vessels through December June 25, 1904; “James Augustin Greer,” Arlington Na-
1867: the paddle-wheel gunboat Mohongo and tional Cemetery, http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/
the sloop-of-war Tuscarora. At the Philadelphia jagreer.htm (accessed July 12, 2014).
navy yard from July 1868 through March 1869,
he returned to the USNA, through July 1873,
where for five months he commanded the char- Guest, John (1822–1879, USN)
tered steamer Tigeress on an expedition that Born in Missouri of unknown parentage on
found wreckage but no survivors from the miss- March 7, 1822, Guest was appointed a USN mid-
ing Arctic exploration vessel Polaris. Following shipman on December 16, 1837, was attached to
board duty, he was captain of the NPS screw
sloop-of-war Lackawanna in the Far East from
November 1875 to March 1877, being advanced
to captain on April 26, 1876. He returned to
board duty until April–July 1878, when he com-
manded the historic corvette Constellation on a
round trip to Le Harve, France, delivering
American exhibits to the Exposition Universelle.
Unemployed until April 1879, Greer com-
manded the South Atlantic Station (SAS) screw
sloop-of-war Hartford on a nine-month cruise.
After two more years of board work, he became
yard captain at the Washington navy yard from
April 1882 to August 1884. Returning to board
duty from April 1885 through June 1887, he be-
came a commodore on May 19, 1886. His final
sea service occurred between August 1887 and
June 1889, when he took a break from board ac-
tivities to command the European Station, wear-
ing his flag on the screw sloop-of-war Lancaster.
Advanced to rear admiral on April 3, 1892, he
was kept busy by administration until he was
placed on the retired list on February 28, 1895.
In retirement, Greer privately published small
naval history books in 1898 and 1899. In poor
health after December 1903, he was confined to At the beginning of July 86 Lt. Cmdr. John
his bed for the last three months of his life and Guest, USN, became captain of monitor Lehigh,
died on June 17, 1904. He was buried in cere- which was sent to the James River in conjunction
mony at Arlington National Cemetery the next with the overall Federal alarm occasioned by the
day. A World War I USN destroyer (DD-145) Battle of Gettysburg. A month later he assumed
command of the James River monitor Sanga-
was named in his honor. mon, and during the fall his ship became the first
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple- outfitted with a spar torpedo in a rig the captain
tons’, II; DANFS; DAB, VII; Cogar, I; DANFS; Smith, had invented (courtesy Naval History and Her-
Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, itage Command).
Guest
the West Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Warren
until late 1842, and graduated from the Philadel-
phia naval school, becoming a passed midship-
man on June 29, 1843. Posted aboard the char-
tered War Department gunboat Pointsett, which
surveyed Tampa Bay, FL, in 1844 and 1845, he
joined the Pacific Squadron frigate Congress in
September of the latter year, which before de-
ploying off Monterey, CA, in July 1846 trans-
ported the American minister to Hawaii. During
the Mexican War, Guest participated in the oc-
cupation of Los Angeles, the capture of Guay-
mas in October 1847, the occupation of Mazat-
lain in November, and the Battle of Niess on
January 9, 1848. After the warship returned to
Norfolk, VA, in January 1849, Guest was on leave
or unemployed until he was commissioned a
lieutenant on December 24, 1851, and joined the
East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Plymouth.
Part of a small task group under Com. Matthew
C. Perry (1794–1858), Guest became executive
officer of his vessel as she participated in the suc-
cessful 1853–1854 American effort to “Open
Japan.” When at Shanghai during February–
April 1854, Guest thrice led landing parties to
handle Chinese militant unrest, joining Royal
Navy personnel in halting shore depredations
on April 4. Having returned from the Orient in
January 1855 and following duty at Washington,
D.C., in 1856–1858 and the Philadelphia naval
rendezvous (recruiting station) in 1859, Guest
was assigned to the steam frigate Niagara, which
joined the Atlantic blockade off Charleston, SC,
on May 10, 1861, less than a month after the be-
ginning of the Civil War.
In late fall 1861 Guest became captain and
completed outfitting the Unadilla-class gunboat
Owasco, which joined the Union Mortar Flotilla,
a division of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron
(WGBS), as a support and tow vessel in late Feb-
ruary 1862. In mid–April, she helped to position
the mortar schooners that bombarded Forts
Jackson and St. Philip below New Orleans and,
after the fall of the city, helped tow schooners
up the Mississippi to Vicksburg, MS, in May,
where they pounded that fortress city until late
July. Becoming a lieutenant commander on July
16, his ship participated in the October 3 bom-
bardment and capture of Galveston, TX, but
while blockading that port on January 1, 1863,
she and several other ships were engaged by

Confederate cottonclad gunboats and driven
away. Early in July Guest became captain of the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
monitor Lehigh, which was dispatched to the
James River in conjunction with the overall Fed-
eral alarm occasioned by the Battle of Gettys-
burg. When, at the end of the month, his com-
mand underwent New York repair, he was
moved across the James River to take over f the
Passaic-class monitor Sangamon. During the
fall, the Sangamon became the first ironclad out-
fitted with a spar torpedo in a rig of Guest’s in-
vention. Detached, Guest competed outfitting
the NABS double-ender gunboat Iosco, which
spent the summer of 1864 on protection and
coast guard duties in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
region before she was sent to the North Carolina
coast to join the blockade and participate in the
unsuccessful Federal Christmas attack on Fort
Fisher. During the successful January 13–15,
1865, assault, Guest sent 44 of his men to form
part of the naval force that stormed the citadel.
The Iosco remained engaged in the North Car-
olina sounds through the end of the war and
also participated in a May expedition on the
Roanoke River.
Guest became a captain on July 25, 1866, was
captain-of-the-yard at the Portsmouth navy yard
in 1867–1868, commanded the Philadelphia
naval rendezvous until July 1870, and that
August undertook a year-long cruise to Europe
as captain of the sloop-of-war Brooklyn. New
York navy yard captain-of-the-yard until De-
cember 12, 1872, he became a commodore and
undertook board duty until late 1876, when he
was named Portsmouth navy yard comman-
dant.
Guest died of “gastric fever and heart disease,
combined with a kidney problem” on Janu-
ary 12, 1879, while on duty. His wife Anna J.
(1859–1909), a daughter and four sons were
present when he was buried in Philadelphia, PA.
A World War II USN destroyer (DD-472) was
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Appletons, III; Powell and Shippen;
DANFS; Johnson, Far China Station: The U.S. Navy
in Asian Waters, 1800–1898; New York Times, Janu-
ary 12, 1879; Army and Navy Journal, January 12, 18,
1879.
 
Gwathmey, Washington
(1817–1880, CSN)
Gwathmey was born in Liverpool, England,
on May 30, 1817, immigrated to Virginia with
his father, Robert, and others of his family, and
was appointed a USN Midshipman on July 21,
1832. As with most junior sea service officers, he
rotated his antebellum career between various
squadrons and ashore, winning promotion
slowly: passed midshipman, June 23, 1838, and
lieutenant, June 28, 1843. In the weeks before the
outbreak of the Civil War, Gwathmey found
himself in service onboard the sailing frigate
Sabine, off Fort Pickens at Pensacola, FL. When
the squadron commander chose not to land
forces, he dispatched his lieutenant to Washing-
ton, D.C., with secret documents for new the
navy secretary, Gideon Welles (1802–1878), ex-
plaining his situation. Despite secessionist lean-
ings, Gwathmey felt honor bound to complete
his assignment and neither opened the commu-
nications nor resigned until after delivering his
package to the cabinet officer on April 6. He was
officially dismissed from the Federal service on
April 17.
Gwathmey became a CSN 1st lieutenant on
April 20 and shortly thereafter became captain
Gwathmey
of the CSS Carondelet at New Orleans. In June,
he was given command of the CSS Jackson (for-
merly the Yankee), which he guided up the Mis-
sissippi in July, reporting her ready to assist the
Confederate forces of Maj. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow
(1806–1878). At the beginning of September, his
vessel, together with the CSS Grampus, escorted
the eight Southern transports that landed South-
ern forces at Columbus, KY, and on September
10 engaged the U.S. timberclads Lexington and
Conestoga in the Battle of Lucas Bend, MO,
being hit, damaged, and forced to withdraw. Re-
paired and returned to New Orleans, the Jackson
participated in the October 12 engagement off
Head of Passes. Forced to scuttle his craft fol-
lowing the April 1862 capture of the Crescent
City, Gwathmey evacuated to Jackson, MS,
briefly serving there prior to his return to Rich-
mond. That fall he was seconded to the ACS and
commanded the heavy guns at Fort Caswell,
Wilmington, NC, into early 1863. During a part
of 1863 he was captain of the CSS Arctic of the
Wilmington Squadron before he was ordered to
Savannah, GA, and command of the CSS Res-
olute, Savannah and, after July 1864, the floating
battery Georgia. In December following the
capture of the city and the scuttling of the Geor-
gia, he returned to the Wilmington naval

A veteran of fighting on the Western waters and at Wilmington, NC, st Lieutenant Washington Gwath-
mey, CSN, was captain of the ironclad Georgia at Savannah, GA, from July to December 86. Despite
the caption included in the original image, this vessel was not a ram. Following the capture of the city
and the scuttling of the Georgia, Gwathmey returned to the Wilmington naval station and served out
the remainder of the war (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Gwin 2

station, where he was stationed for the re-
mainder of the war, surrendering and being
paroled at Appomattox Court House, VA, on
April 9, 1865.
Although his postwar career is uncertain, it
is known that Gwathmey died in Marengo
County, AL, on July 8, 1880, and was buried
there in the cemetery of St. Michael’s Episcopal
Church.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; Driver, Confederate Sailors, Marines, and Sig-
nalmen from Virginia and Maryland; CSN Register;
ORN, 2, 1; Callahan; Nelson, Reign of Iron; Smith, Civil
War Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, The
Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, CSS Arkansas.
Gwin became executive officer of the Mediter-
ranean Squadron paddle-wheel frigate Susque-
hanna, which visited the Holy Land, several
Middle East ports, and European locations be-
tween September 1860 and June 1861. The Civil
War having begun, Gwin found himself acting
captain of the Susquehanna upon her return
when her captain resigned and “went South.”
In September 1861 Gwin became executive of-
ficer of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
(NABS) armed steamer Cambridge on the North
Carolina coast in September 1861, but within the
month he became captain of the brig Perry, then

Gwin, William (1832–1863, USN)

The son of Irish immigrant John M. Gwin (?–
1866) and Mary Ann (Scott) Gwin (1812–1861),
William was born December 6, 1832, in Colum-
bus, IN. In 1841 he was enrolled in St. Xavier
Academy at Cincinnati, OH, and, three years
later transferred to St. Xavier College in Vin-
cennes, IN. He was appointed a USN midship-
man on April 7, 1847, and that August under-
took a three-year cruise aboard the Brazil
Squadron frigate Brandywine. In July 1851 he was
deployed in the same unit’s sloop-of-war Ger-
mantown for a short cruise off the east coast of
South America; between January and June 1852
he completed his USNA studies and became a
passed midshipman. Aboard the screw steamer
Princeton from July through October on patrol
of the Newfoundland fisheries, Gwin served
aboard the Brazil Squadron brig Bainbridge
from January 1853 through September 1856, be-
coming a master on September 15, 1855, and
lieutenant a day later. Assigned to the Pacific
Squadron paddle-wheel sloop-of-war Saranac,
he transferred, in late spring 1858, to that flotilla’s
sloop-of-war Vandalia, which on August 3 res-
cued the survivors of the American clipper ship
Wild Wave, which had crashed on the outlying
reef of Oneo Island, one of the Pitcairn group, Noted for his captaincy of the Western Flotilla
back in March. On October 11 he participated timberclad Tyler at Shiloh in April 862 and
in a punitive expedition sent ashore at Waya, Fiji against the CSS Arkansas in July, Lt. Cmdr.
William Gwin, USN, assumed command of the
Islands, that engaged some 300 of the “canni- ironclad Mound City in July and the giant Benton
bals.” Their village was burned in response to two months later. He was mortally wounded in
the murder of two American citizens. Detached the Yazoo River on December 2 (courtesy Naval
from the Vandalia in November 1859 on leave, History and Heritage Command).
 
lying in the Potomac River off Alexandria, VA.
In early January 1862 he volunteered for reas-
signment to the U.S. Western Gunboat Flotilla
and upon his arrival at the Cairo, IL, fleet base
assumed command of the timberclad gunboat
Tyler. After the fall of Fort Henry, TN, he swept
with two other wooden gunboats up the Ten-
nessee River all the way to regions of Alabama,
spreading destruction and terror. This action
was a major factor in the collapse of the Con-
federate lines far behind him in Kentucky. Fire
support from Gwin’s gunboat and the timber-
clad Lexington helped save Union troops from
disaster in the Battle of Shiloh, bringing high
praise from Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1822–
1885). Gwin would, as captain of the Tyler, al-
ways be remembered for her running July 15
fight in the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg, MS,
with the ironclad CSS Arkansas. By the time of
his promotion to the rank of lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, Gwin had gained a reputa-
tion as one of the most promising officers in the
nation. He took command of the ironclad
Mound City in July and in mid–September was
named captain of the big ironclad Benton. On
leave, he married Mary Frances Hutchinson
(1837–?), daughter of prominent New Yorker
Hiram Hutchinson (1808–1869), on Novem-
ber 11. After a three-week honeymoon in the
city, Gwin returned to his command, now part
of a large Mississippi Squadron advance down-
stream to the Yazoo River. On December 27,
1862, the Benton was ordered to lead several
boats up that stream to bombard the Confeder-
ate batteries on the 90-foot high Haynes’ Bluff
as a diversion in favor of the Union soldiers then
engaged in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou. The
Benton opening the engagement about 4:00
p.m., it was soon apparent that the ironclad
would need to be moved to avoid deadly Con-
federate plunging fire. Gwin, anxious to see if
his guns were causing any damage, left the Ben-
ton’s armored pilothouse and went out onto deck
armed only with a spyglass. Impeccably uni-
formed as usual, the Tyler’s former skipper ex-
posed himself to enemy fire, aptly demon-
strating his motto that “the quarterdeck was the
place for a commander to be in time of action.”
While “braving fearlessly their balls” as he had
during the heated battle with the Arkansas back
in July, Gwin was mortally wounded by a rifled
Hall
Confederate shell that took off most of his right
breast. As he fell, according to the Chicago Daily
Tribune, he knew his wound was life-threatening
and supposedly screamed his final words: “My
love to my wife—my wishes to my country.” The
Benton was quickly withdrawn from action and,
despite the fact that her captain received the best
of the primitive care available, he died aboard
on January 3, 1863.
Gwin was buried in the Hutchinson family
vault at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark,
NJ, 24 days later. He was remembered in the
20th century when no less than four USN war-
ships (TB-16, DD-71, DD-433, DM-33) were
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Biog-
raphical Record of Prominent and Representative Men
of Indianapolis and Vicinity; D. Stevenson, Indiana’s
Roll of Honor; Appletons’, III; DANFS; Callahan; E.
Whyte, “William Gwin,” in Tucker, I; Smith, Civil War
Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, The Tim-
berclads in the Civil War; Neeser, “Historic Ships of
the Navy: Benton”; Smith, CSS Arkansas; Smith, Tin-
clads in the Civil War; Chicago Daily Tribune, Janu-
ary 5–6, 11, February 19, 1863; Smith, Fight for the
Yazoo; “Lt. Cmdr. William Gwin,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=
2441&GSvcid=266131&GRid=94924030& (accessed
December 12, 2012); New York Times, January 28, 1863,
August 16, 1864; Newark Daily Advertiser, January 26,
28, 1863; Cincinnati Daily Commercial, February 18,
1863; Indianapolis Journal, February 19, 1863; Chicago
Daily Tribune, February 19, 1863.
Hall, John P. (?–1862, USN)
A native of Illinois about whom little is
known, Hall was appointed a USN midshipman
from Ohio on December 29, 1840, studied at the
naval school attached to the Philadelphia Naval
Asylum, from which he graduated in June 1842,
and went to sea, serving in both the Atlantic and
Caribbean for the next decade and becoming a
passed midshipman on July 11, 1846. In July 1850
he joined the storeship Relief for two years, de-
livering supplies to ships of the Brazil Squadron,
after which he was transferred to the Brazil
Squadron sloop-of-war Jamestown. He joined
the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war John Adams
in May 1854 and, although scheduled for pro-
motion to lieutenant in September 1855, was one
of the many officers discharged from the USN
before the end of the year by authority of the
Naval Retiring Board, established by act of
Harrison 

Congress that February 28. Hall’s activities be-

tween the time of his dismissal and the outbreak
of the Civil War in April 1861 are unknown, al-
though it is probable that he remained in the
maritime industry.
When the U.S. Western Gunboat Flotilla
opened its base at Cairo, IL, in the fall of 1861,
Hall was part of the staff, and in late April 1862
he was sent with messages to Flag Officer An-
drew Hull Foote (1806–1863), below Island No.
10, being then assigned to the ironclad Cincin-
nati. When the vessel’s acting captain, William
Rion Hoel (1825–1879), was detached following
the June 6 Battle of Memphis, TN, Hall, an
acting volunteer lieutenant, was made the gun-
boat’s acting captain and took the vessel back
upstream to Cairo for repairs. Just after her ar-
rival on July 14, Hall was detached and ordered
to St. Louis to assist Cmdr. William D. “Dirty
Bill” Porter (1813–1864) with construction of the
giant ironclads Choctaw and Fort Henry.
It was at St. Louis that he became ill and died,
on September 8.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; ORN, I, 23; Paullin, History of Naval A loyal Virginian, Cmdr. Napoleon Boneparte
Administration, 1775–1911. Harrison, USN, became captain of the monitor
Catskill off Charleston, SC, in February 86.
For the next six months, his ship performed
Harrison, Napoleon Boneparte blockade duty off the Southern citadel, destroy-
(1823–1870, USN) ing the British blockade runner Prince Albert,
which had grounded off Fort Moultrie during
The eldest son of Dr. John Stewart Harrison, the night of August  (courtesy Naval History
Sr. (1760–1838), Napoleon was born at Martins- and Heritage Command).
burg, VA (now WV), on February 19, 1823. Ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on February 27, Following 1851 USNO duty, he was seconded to
1833, he joined the sloop-of-war Erie and sub- the USCS, where he became a master on April 2,
sequently the sloop-of-war Boston, cruising the 1852. Appointed lieutenant on January 6, 1853,
West Indies until 1838, when he was transferred Harrison was East India Squadron storekeeper
to the Brazil Squadron schooner Enterprise. and participated through 1856 in the expedition
From 1841 to 1842, he was aboard the Brazil under Com. Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858) that
Squadron frigate Potomac and the steamship opened Japan. Following an 1857 tour aboard
Norfolk before returning to the Erie, which had the Boston receiving ship, he joined the Africa
become an armed storeship and delivered sup- Squadron flagship, the frigate Cumberland,
plies to Brazil Squadron, Africa Squadron, and being placed in charge of the details of the flo-
Pacific Squadron vessels from early February tilla’s logistics during its two-year service. He
1843 to August 1846, during which deployment was aboard the sloop-of-war Jamestown when
Harrison became a passed midshipman on the Civil War began on April 12, 1861.
May 20, 1844. Off California, Harrison trans- Resisting the appeals of his Virginia family
ferred to the sloop-of-war Portsmouth, partici- and friends to join the Confederacy, Harrison
pated in the capture of San Francisco, and after- remained loyal and aboard the Jamestown
wards sailed his ship’s launch in five days with during her South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
news of the victory down the coast to Monterey. (SABS) deployment in the last half of 1861 off
 
the east coast of Florida. In January 1862, he be-
came captain of the Unadilla-class gunboat
Cayuga, which joined the West Gulf Blockading
Squadron (WGBS) in late March. In April the
Cayuga led assigned elements of the WGBS past
the lower Mississippi River Forts Jackson and
St. Philip, winning her commander praise for
his actions in the capture of New Orleans.
Within weeks, Harrison was transferred to the
James River and command of the double-ender
gunboat Mahaska, then supporting the AUS ad-
vance toward Richmond. On June 20 his new
ship engaged Confederate batteries along the
Appomattox River and on July 1 blasted those at
Harrison’s Landing. In recognition of his New
Orleans gallantry, Harrison was promoted to the
rank of commander on July 16, and when later
in the year the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) flagship Minnesota required
a new captain he was tapped to fill the billet. The
Passaic-class monitor Catskill had seen much
service in 1863 in the contests with Confederate
forts at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. With
much of the heavy bombardment work already
completed, the Catskill’s mission when Harrison
became her captain in February 1864 was block-
ade and AUS support. On August 9 his ship
shelled and destroyed the British blockade run-
ner Prince Albert, which had grounded off Fort
Moultrie during the night. When Cmdr. Edward
Barrett (1827–1880) assumed command of the
Catskill, Harrison undertook special ordnance
duty at the Philadelphia navy yard until July 27,
1865, when he became commandant of the
Portsmouth navy yard.
Harrison was commissioned a captain on
April 23, 1868, becoming USNA Commandant
of Midshipmen. In late 1869 he assumed com-
mand of the new South Atlantic Squadron (SAS)
screw sloop-of-war Congress, but during her ini-
tial cruise as SAS flagship in the summer of 1870
she encountered numerous Caribbean storms
and Harrison contracted pneumonia.
He was taken ashore at Key West, FL, where
he died on October 20. Harrison was buried at
Oak Hill Cemetery, leaving a wife, Maria Plater
Wellford Harrison (1824–1897), whom he mar-
ried before the war, and three children. One 20th
century USN warship (DD-573) was named in
his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
Hoel
tons’, III; DANFS; ORN, I, 15; SLGMSD, pseud., “Capt.
Napoleon Boneparte Harrison,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
37191041 (accessed March 12, 2016); United Service 4
(September 1865), 273; Philadelphia Inquirer, Novem-
ber 2, 1870; New York Herald, November 2, 1870; Bal-
timore Sun, November 3, 1870.
Hoel, William Rion (1825–1879,
USN)
Born on March 7,1825 in Sharon, Hamilton
County, OH, Hoel, the son of a well-known
steamboat pilot, Edmund Hoel, spent a short
time at Cincinnati’s Xavier College before turn-
ing to the river. He began service as a cub pilot
on the steamer Samson on October 15, 1840, be-
coming a full-fledged pilot in June 1843 and one
of the earliest licensed pilots in January 1853. He
piloted steamers on the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers during the late 1840s and early 1850s, in-
cluding the Valley Forge, Ohio, R.H. Winslow,
Norma, and South America. Hoel, a passenger,
was injured on October 1, 1855, when the bal-
loon America crashed in a rainstorm near
Waynesville, OH. He had recovered by Decem-
ber 8 and resumed work, as pilot of the Monon-
gahela. In April 1856 He became pilot of the
steamer Argyle, service aboard which boat was
followed by stints on board at least 16 other
steamboats
Hoel became a civilian pilot on the U.S. tim-
berclad Lexington on October 19, 1861, and
guided the vessel during the November 7 battle
of Belmont, MO. By February 1, 1862, he was
first master of the Pook turtle Cincinnati and
was wounded during the Battle of Fort Henry,
on the Tennessee River, five days later. He re-
mained onboard the Cincinnati as she par-
ticipated in the capture of Columbus, KY, on
March 4 and, on April 4 he volunteered to pilot
gunboat Carondelet in her famous run past the
Rebel batteries at Island Number 10. Hoel’s
courageous and skillful service on this occasion
won the praise of RAdm. Andrew H. Foote
(1806–1863), thanks from navy secretary Gideon
Welles (1802–1878), and promotion to the rank
of acting volunteer lieutenant effective April 29.
On May 10 Hoel assumed command of the
Cincinnati when her captain was incapacitated
during the Battle of Plum Point Bend near Fort
Hoel
Pillow, TN. Hoel was present at the June 6 Battle
of Memphis, after which he was detached to
command of the captured Confederate gunboat
Little Rebel (later Tinclad No. 16). On Octo-
ber 29 (after overseeing from that vessel the
Cincinnati’s salvage, move to Cairo, IL, and res-
toration) he became captain of the Pook iron-
clad Pittsburg and during November partici-
pated in minesweeping operations up the Yazoo
River below Vicksburg, MS. On December 12
He sent a damage control party to the stricken
ironclad Cairo, which could not prevent her loss
to a Confederate “torpedo.” Following her par-
A noted prewar Western waters steamboat cap-
tain who would become an acting volunteer lt.
cmdr., William R. Hoel, USN, piloted the iron-
clad Carondelet past Island No.  on April ,
862, and commanded the ironclad Pittsburg
during the Vicksburg campaign, playing a vital
role in the April 86 Battle of Grand Gulf (cour-
tesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
6
ticipation in the March 1863 Steele’s Bayou Ex-
pedition, the Pittsburg, on the night of April 16,
was one of several USN vessels to steam down
the Mississippi past the guns of Fortress Vicks-
burg. On April 29, as RAdm. David Dixon Por-
ter’s (1813–1891) flotilla was bombarding the
Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, his flag-
ship, USS Benton, became unmanageable and
was caught under heavy fire in a position where
she could neither steer nor reply to the enemy
guns. Upon seeing Porter’s predicament, Hoel
slipped the Pittsburg in between Benton and the
flaming Rebel batteries to protect her by taking
the fire himself. The bombardment allowed AUS
troops to cross the Mississippi and launch a final
campaign that led to the capture of Vicksburg
on July 4. Following leave, Hoel returned to the
Pittsburg off Grand Gulf and participated in
anti-contraband patrols. From early March to
May 1864 Hoel’s vessel joined the AUS-USN Red
River Expedition; returning to Grand Gulf, she
resumed anti-contraband activities. On Octo-
ber 19 and again on November 7 Hoel wrote let-
ters of resignation, wishing to return to Cincin-
nati and his stressed business affairs. Both ap-
plications were denied, and he was instead
promoted to acting volunteer lieutenant com-
mander on November 10. Detached from the
Pittsburg, Hoel took over the ram Vindicator on
March 1, 1865, maintaining that vessel in the
vicinity of Red River until July 7, 1865.
Hoel returned to Waynesville, OH, on Octo-
ber 17, 1865, was honorably discharged on De-
cember 30, and, returning to the steamboat
trade, became pilot of the transport Robert
Burns in January 1866. Married to Elizabeth
Hunt (1840–1904) on February 11, 1869, Hoel
built a model farm named Kildere, located east
of Corwin, OH. He and his wife, the parents of
two children, were also participants with Mark
Twain on the 1867 European tour that formed
the basis for Innocents Abroad. On December 1,
1875, Hoel was appointed captain of the light-
house tender Lily, which operated on the Upper
Ohio in the 14th Lighthouse District until she
was laid up at Cincinnati in early May 1879.
Often bad-tempered and jealous, Hoel incor-
rectly thought he caught his wife in a tryst on
May 29 and was accidentally killed in a struggle
with the man he believed was her lover. Hoel
was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery and a
  Howard
stained-glass window was later installed in his Amanda was dispatched to a position near the
memory in Waynesville’s St. Mary’s Episcopal lightship, located at the mouth of Chesapeake
Church. Three 20th century USN destroyers Bay, to await the monitor. When the Northern
(DD-533, DD-768 and DDG-13) were named in ironclad arrived, officers from the bark briefed
his honor. His personal diary survived in the In- her commander, Lt. John Worden (1818–1897),
land River Collection of the Cincinnati Public but as they approached Fortress Monroe it was
Library. discovered that the little warship’s previous pilot,
Sources: DANFS; Callahan; Miami (OH) a man with Southern sympathies, was refusing
Gazette, December 1, 1869; Karen Campbell, “Another to take her out to do battle with the Virginia.
Murder in Waynesville?: Captain William Rion Hoel”; Howard volunteered to remain aboard and pilot
Waynesville, Ohio: Connections with the Past, http://
waynesgenhis. blogspot. com/ 2005/ 08/ another- mur the monitor to a position near the just-freed
der-in-waynesville-captain.html (accessed March 16, Minnesota and do wherever else might be re-
2008); Hoel, “The Brown Water Navy: The Ironclads
of the Mississippi River Squadron and the Exploits of
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Commander William
Rion Hoel”; Rutter, “Capt. William Rion Hoel: The
Life of a 19th Century Riverman”; Smith, Civil War
Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, The Tim-
berclads in the Civil War; Smith, USS Carondelet;
Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Dallas Bogan, “Captain
William Rion Hoel,” Warren County Ohio Gen Web,
http:// www. rootsweb. ancestry. com/~ohwarren/ Bo
gan/bogan130.htm (accessed March 1, 2010); West-
ern Star, May 29, 1879; Cincinnati Daily Commercial,
May 30, 1879; Paul S., pseud., “Capt. William Rion
Hoel,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13036107 (accessed March
16, 2008).

Howard, Samuel (1821–1900, USN)

Born near Dublin, Ireland, in 1821, Howard
ran away to sea in 1837 on a merchant ship
bound to the Mediterranean. Early in the 1840s,
he immigrated to Newport, RI, where he even-
tually became a naturalized U.S. citizen and was
a prewar captain of numerous trading vessels
operating out of Chesapeake Bay. During these
years, he married Mary Dugan and fathered four
children. When the Civil War began, he was
captain of a bark trading with Cuba and in the
West Indies.
In August, he became an acting master and
joined the crew of the wooden-hulled North At-
Pilot of the Monitor during the March 862
lantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) bark Battle of Hampton Roads, Acting Volunteer
Amanda on blockade south of Norfolk, VA, the Lt. Samuel Howard, USN, became captain of
bark at the end of November being transferred the Mississippi Squadron monitor Neosho in
to the sector off Wilmington, NC. The Amanda July 86, remaining in command of the iron-
was under repair at Hampton Roads, VA, when clad for the rest of the war. In the spring of 86
she was part of the Federal armada that partici-
on March 8 the Southern ironclad CSS Virginia
pated in the Red River Expedition and in
sallied forth and sank the frigates Cumberland December aided in the defense of Nashville, TN
and Congress and caused the Minnesota and St. (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
Lawrence to run aground. After the fight, the mand).
Howell
quired. The famous battle between the two
metal behemoths occurred next day, with How-
ard in the pilothouse of the Union vessel. Re-
turning to the Amanda a few days later, he be-
came an acting volunteer lieutenant on June 5
and remained with her until transferred west to
the Mississippi Squadron on July 9, 1863. He as-
sumed command of the river monitor Neosho
on July 16 and on December 8 defended the dis-
abled merchant steamer Henry Von Phul from
a Confederate shore battery near Morganza, LA.
From March 12 to May 22, 1864, Neosho partic-
ipated in the unsuccessful Red River Campaign.
During the concluding downstream retreat,
Neosho joined several other ironclads in escap-
ing low water by maneuvering, via AUS dams,
over the falls at Alexandria. In the Battle of
Nashville, Neosho, accompanied by the casemate
ironclad Carondelet, bombarded Confederate
batteries on the Cumberland River, near Bell’s
Mills, TN, on December 6 and pounded the
Confederate right wing on December 15–16.
After the Neosho was laid up, in May 1865, How-
ard, following leave, was given a billet aboard
the receiving ship Vermont. In 1867 and 1868 he
served aboard the USS Pensacola, being reunited
once more with her commander, Capt. Worden,
prior to Howard’s honorable discharge of No-
vember 4.
Howard became a USRCS third lieutenant on
February 20, 1869, and a second lieutenant on
July 20, 1870. He would spend his career with
the Treasury Department service stationed at
Savannah, GA, Baltimore, MD, Cedar Keys, FL,
and Mobile, AL. A practical navigator innocent
of scientific training, Howard now encountered
advancement difficulties. Having failed his first
lieutenant’s exam, he was dismissed from the
USRS on March 28, 1876, but was reinstated, at
the bottom of the grade of third lieutenants, two
months later. By October 1883 he had climbed
back up the ladder to second lieutenant once
more, but by 1889 he was reportedly in ill health.
According to New York Times, he spent “most
of his days on his orange farm in Georgia.” In
1891 he again failed the promotion exam and was
placed at the foot of his current grade, out of
line for promotion. While he awaited orders at
Washington, D.C., a bill was introduced in Con-
gress to advance him to the rank of first lieuten-
ant; when this failed in 1895 he retired.
8
Active in Washington veterans’ organizations,
his church, and the Masons, Howard slipped
and fell on ice while walking home on Janu-
ary 13, 1900, and suffered a concussion from
which he did not awaken. The last Monitor offi-
cer from the famous duel with the CSS Merri-
mac died the next day and two days later was
buried in Arlington National Cemetery. No U.S.
vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: DANFS; Callahan; New York Times,
March 13, 1889; January 1, 1893; U.S. Treasury Depart-
ment, Revenue Cutter Service, Register of the Officers
and Vessels of the Revenue Cutter Service of the United
States; Quarstein, Monitor Boys; Smith, Civil War Bi-
ographies from the Western Waters; Smith, Le Roy
Fitch; Carpenter, “The Monitor and the Merrimac”;
Noble, comp., Historical Register: U.S. Revenue Cutter
Service Officers, 1794–1914; Neeser, “Historic Ships of
the Navy: Monitor”; Washington Post, January 15, 1900.
Howell, John Cumming
(1819–1892, USN)
The son of War of 1812 and Battle of Lake Erie
volunteer Maj. Richard Lewis Howell (1794–
1847) and his wife Rebecca Augusta (Stockton)
Howell (1798–1877), John Cumming was born
in Philadelphia, PA, on November 24, 1819.
Educated at Crawford’s Classical School and
Washington College, he was appointed a USN
midshipman on June 9, 1836, and cruised the
Caribbean for three years aboard the West
Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Boston. Following
a leave, he spent another year aboard that
squadron’s sloop-of-war Levant and the frigate
Macedonian between October 1839 and October
1840, being seconded to the War Department
gunboat Poinsett as she was prepared for duty
in the Second Seminole War. Howell attended
the Philadelphia Naval Asylum school in 1841,
graduated in June 1842, became a passed mid-
shipman on July 1, and, after serving on three
different ships between July and December 1845,
was the naval storekeeper at Macao, China, until
detached in September 1848. On the Philadel-
phia receiving ship for a year, he became a
master on February 21, 1849, and lieutenant on
August 2 and, from September through April
1850, was on the Home Squadron flagship, the
frigate Raritan. Thereafter, he joined the East
Indies Squadron sloop- of-war Saratoga for a
three-year cruise of the western Pacific and par-
  Howell
ticipated in the first phase of the Opening of
Japan in July 1853. Howell became ill in Novem-
ber and returned to Philadelphia, where he re-
covered and engaged in light duties aboard the
receiving ship. During that time, he married
Mary Stockton (1830–1889) on June 22, 1854; the
couple would have a daughter. In April 1856 the
lieutenant joined the Mediterranean Squadron
paddle-wheel frigate Susquehanna for a two-
year voyage. Upon her return, he was at the
Philadelphia naval rendezvous (recruiting sta-
tion) from June 1858 through February 1860,
when he was transferred to the new Brazil
Squadron steam sloop-of-war Seminole on her
voyage to Rio de Janeiro. After the outbreak of
the Civil War in April 1861, the warship was re-
turned to Philadelphia on July 6.
Aboard the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) flagship, the steam frigate
Minnesota, for two months, Howell became cap-
tain of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron
(EGBS) Unadilla-class gunboat Tahoma, which
joined the Florida blockade at the beginning of
1862. An effective blockader, Howell took
several runners and operated several shore raids, An effective blockader, Lt. Cmdr. John C. How-
becoming a commander on July 16. During ell, USN, outfitted and then commanded the
monitor Lehigh from November 862 to June
November–April 1863 Howell assumed com-
86. After this brief service off the Virginia
mand, and completed the outfitting, of the Capes and in the James River, he was ordered
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) back onto blockade duty (courtesy Naval History
Passaic-class monitor Lehigh. From a Newport and Heritage Command).
News, VA, base, she participated in the blockade
of the Virginia Capes and, in June, joined a 1866. European Squadron flag captain aboard
flotilla expedition up the James River. In No- the flagship Franklin from December to Novem-
vember, Howell became captain of the NABS ber 1871, he was League Island, PA, navy yard
screw gunboat Nereus and was stationed off the commandant until October 1872, being mean-
New Inlet station near Wilmington, NC, from while advanced to the rank of commodore on
April 28 through mid–August. Under repair January 29 of that year. Commandant of the
until November, the Nereus towed NABS mon- Portsmouth navy yard until September 1874, he
itors in November and December and provided then became chief of the USN Bureau of Yards
gunfire support during the unsuccessful Christ- and Docks in Washington, D.C. During his bu-
mas assault on Fort Fisher. She again provided reau tenure, Howell occasionally filled in as act-
cannon fire and also contributed men to the ing assistant secretary of the navy and became
landing parties that were sent ashore on Janu- a rear admiral on April 25, 1877. In September
ary 15, 1865, in the attack that captured the NC 1878 He became commander of the North At-
citadel. She towed a monitor to Charleston in lantic Squadron (NAS) and flew his flag in the
February and then joined the hunt for the Con- paddle-wheel frigate Powhatan until December
federate ocean raider Shenandoah. 10, when he shifted it to the screw gunboat Tren-
Aboard the NABS flagship Minnesota from ton. His sea service continued until October 1881
May to October 1865, Howell commanded the as he visited ports in Europe, the Mediterranean,
Philadelphia naval rendezvous until June 1868, and the Adriatic.
being promoted to the rank of captain on July 25, Upon his return, Howell was placed on the
Hunter 

retired list on November 24. Following the death
of his wife, he became a traveler. He died on Sep-
tember 12, 1892, at Folkestone, England, and was
buried in that city’s Cheriton Road Cemetery.
No USN warships have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar;
Hamesly, 3rd ed.; DANFS; History of the Upper Ohio
Valley, with Family History and Biographical Sketches,
I; Katherine Kerr, “Howell Lineage,” RootsWeb, http://
archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/HOWELL/
2001–03/0985714625 (accessed August 5, 2016); “Rub-
bings,” pseudo., “Adm. John C. Howell,” FindaGrave,
http:// www. findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page=
gr&GRid=83694861 (accessed August 5, 2016); Daily
Iner-Ocean, September 14, 1892; Milwaukee Sentinel,
September 14, 1892; Boston Daily Advertiser, Septem-
ber 14, 1892.
Hunter, Thomas Triplett
(1813–1872, CSN)
One of two sons and a daughter of Gen. John
Chapman Hunter (1762–1849) and Sara Dade
Hunter (1768–1845), Thomas Triplett was born
in Fairfax County, VA, on May 23, 1813. He was
appointed a USN midshipman on July 1, 1828,
and was for four years aboard the Pacific Squad-
ron schooner Dolphin. He became a passed mid-
shipman on June 14, 1834, and was on leave or
engaged in shore duty for the remainder of the
decade. On May 2, 1836, he married Mary Vir-
ginia Herbert (1816–1857) at Beltsville, MD; the
couple would have nine children. From Septem-
ber 1841 until October 1843 Hunter patrolled the
Atlantic coast and in the West Indies aboard the
Home Squadron brig Dolphin, becoming a lieu-
tenant on February 25, 1841. After shore duty
and a tour off the Dark Continent with the
Africa Squadron schooner Boxer, he joined the
Brazil Squadron frigate Brandywine in summer
1847 on a three-year cruise off the eastern coast
of South America. In April 1849 the lieutenant
was transferred, via Panama, to the East Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Plymouth, which re-
turned from the Far East in January 1851, only
to return again in August 1852 for another three
years, during which Japan was “opened” in 1854.
Unemployed for 18 months, Hunter joined the

Cmdr. Thomas T. Hunter, CSN, commanded the paddle-wheel gunboat CSS Gaines and Confederate
Navy Forces at Fort Morgan, Mobile, AL, from spring 862 until the fall of 86, when he assumed
command of the ironclad Chicora (shown on the left in this photo of a Conrad Wise Chapman painting)
at Charleston, SC. During the remainder of the year and all of 86 until January 86 when she was
destroyed, Hunter’s vessel held Federal ironclads close, making it possible for numerous blockade-
runners to get through (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
 
Mediterranean Squadron flagship, aboard the
paddle-wheel frigate Susquehanna, in May 1856
and became a lieutenant on December 23. When
she returned in April 1858, he was sent to Wilm-
ington, NC, as Sixth District lighthouse inspec-
tor. At some point during the last two years of
peace, he married Anne Anthony Pope (?– 1867)
but had no children.
On April 23, 1861, six days after Virginia se-
ceded from the Union, Hunter resigned his
commission; on May 14, the U.S. Navy Depart-
ment officially struck him from its rolls. Having
offered his services to the new Confederacy, he
was ordered to the Norfolk navy yard two days
later to protect the military property gained
there when Union forces evacuated on April 20.
Four days later he sailed the flag-of-truce
steamer Empire into Federal waters to return the
Northern personnel captured during the occu-
pation. Hunter became a CSN commander on
June 10 and in August became captain of the
paddle-wheel gunboat CSS Curlew, which pa-
trolled the waters of Pamlico Sound, NC, and
harassed Federal shipping near Hatteras Inlet.
On February 7, 1862, the Curlew was one of nine
Confederate warships that unsuccessfully at-
tempted to beat off the Northern invasion of
Roanoke Island. Following her loss the next day,
Hunter assumed command of the paddle-wheel
gunboat Gaines at Mobile, AL. He remained
captain of that vessel and commander of CSN
forces at Fort Morgan until late fall 1863 when
he succeeded Lt. Alexander Fraser Warley (1823–
1895) as commander of the ironclad Chicora at
Charleston, SC. During the remainder of 1863
and all of 1864 and early 1865, Hunter’s ironclad,
with its two consorts, served as a fleet-in-being,
holding Federal ironclads close and making it
possible for numerous blockade-runners to get
through. When it became certain that the city
would fall to approaching Federal columns and
evacuation was necessary, word came to the
Cooper City docks that all three ironclads were
to be destroyed. Ten tons of gunpowder was
placed aboard and the fuses lit on the night of
February 17/18, 1865. Hunter soon thereafter
found himself attached to the Confederate Ma-
rine Corps continent assigned to the army corps
of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell (1817–1872). On
April 6 Hunter led his men in fighting in the
Battle of Sailor’s Creek, near Burkesville, VA,
Jeffers
and was forced to surrender. After taking the
prescribed oath of allegiance to the U.S., Hunter
was released from Fort Warren, MA, on July 24.
Returning to Wilkes County, VA, Hunter be-
came a farmer. Following the death of his second
wife in 1867, he moved to Washington, GA,
where he married Harriet Frances DuBose (1842–
1898), sister of U.S. congressman Dudley M. Du-
bose (1834–1883). The couple built a large house
they called “The Anchorage,” where Hunter died
on July 10, 1872. He was buried in Washington’s
Rest Haven Cemetery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; DANFS; Foenander; David Woody, “Com.
Thomas Triplett Hunter,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4537
1330 (accessed August 16, 2016); New York Herald,
April 9, 1865; “Willingham Will Tell Lincoln History
Buffs About Hunter,” Wilkes County News-Reporter,
September 24, 2015.
Jeffers, William Nicholson, III
(1824–1883, USN)
The son of lawyer John Ellis Jeffers (c. 1793–
c. 1838) and Ruth Westcott Jeffers, William was
born in Swedesboro, NJ, on October 16, 1824.
He became a USN midshipman on Septem-
ber 25, 1840, and participated in a three-year
cruise aboard the Pacific Squadron frigate
United States that included the capture of Upper
California in 1841. In 1844 until October 1845,
he was on the Brazil Squadron frigate Congress
and, following study, graduated from the Phila-
delphia naval school in June 1846. On July 9 Jef-
fers reported to the Home Squadron steamer
Vixen, being promoted to a passed midshipman
two days later. During the Mexican War, he par-
ticipated in attacks on Alvarado and San Juan
d’Ulloa and in the captures of Vera Cruz, Tux-
pan, and Tampico. On leave from November
1847 to April 1848, Jeffers served as a USNA in-
structor, becoming an acting master on May 17.
He was seconded to the USCS from December
1849 to October 1850. On September 23 he mar-
ried Lucy Le Grand Smith (1828–?); the couple
would have two children. While on leave, he was
captain of the American Line mail steamer Fal-
con on her voyages between New York and sev-
eral Mexican ports but was then selected by
Com. Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858) to partici-
pate in the opening of Japan as acting master on
Jeffers
the screw frigate Princeton. When use of that
vessel was cancelled in December 1853, Jeffers
again received leave and took the opportunity
to join the Honduran expedition of Ephraim
George Squier (1821–1888), which sought a route
for an interoceanic railway. Jeffers became a
master on June 12, 1854, and returned to duty,
this time on the Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war
Germantown, aboard which he was advanced to
lieutenant on January 30, 1855. Given his ex-
ploratory bent, he became captain of the paddle-
wheel gunboat/survey steamer Water Witch,
with which he explored the Rio de la Plata. In
February his ship was fired upon by a Para-
guayan battery and ran aground, killing one
crewmember, before Jeffers could extricate her.
Praised for his actions in the unprovoked fight
(which would lead to a U.S. Paraguayan punitive
expedition), he was detached from the Water
Witch in May for Washington, D.C., duty. In
March 1857 Jeffers was granted a year-long fur-
lough to visit Europe, after which he became a
gunnery officer aboard the experimental ord-
nance sloop-of-war Plymouth. In January 1859
he transferred to the steam sloop-of-war Brook-
Shown seated before the turret of the USS Mon-
itor, Lt. William N. Jeffers, USN, served as the
second captain of the revolutionary ironclad,
from March to July 862. He was a shore-based
ordnance officer for the remainder of the Civil
War and became a commodore in 88 (courtesy
Naval History and Heritage Command).
2
lyn with the same assignment and then, arriving
off Chiriqui, Panama, on August 24, his ship
supported an expedition to find a passage across
the Isthmus of Chiriqui with him serving as hy-
drographer on the trek. During the adventure,
he became ill with rheumatism and was sent on
sick leave.
On May 23, 1861, following the outbreak of
Civil War a month earlier, Jeffers joined the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
steam frigate Roanoke, where he remained until
November when he became captain of the little
NABS steam gunboat Underwriter, which re-
mained active off the North Carolina coast and
its tributaries for the next six months, partici-
pating in numerous raids. On March 12 Jeffers
replaced the Monitor’s acting captain, Lt. Samuel
Dana Greene (1840–1884), who in turn had su-
perseded her original captain during the fight
with the CSS Virginia. On April 11 the Southern
ram challenged the Monitor to fight off Sewell’s
Point in Hampton Roads, but Jeffers remained
near Fort Monroe protecting the fleet anchor-
age. A second lost opportunity occurred in the
same area on May 8. Three days later, when Nor-
folk was abandoned by the South, the Virginia
was destroyed. The next day, in support of the
Federal’s Peninsula Campaign, the Monitor and
several other warships unsuccessfully bom-
barded Drewry’s Bluff on the James River. After
the shoot, the ironclad remained in the river,
where Jeffers was promoted to the rank of lieu-
tenant commander on July 16. Detached from
the warship the same day, he was ordnance offi-
cer at the Philadelphia navy yard until October
1863, when he became inspector of ordnance at
the Washington Navy Yard, where he helped to
create bombs employed at Fort Fisher, NC, at
the end 1864.
Becoming a commander on March 3, 1865,
Jeffers was captain of the European Squadron
steam sloop-of-war Swatara, from June 1866 to
February 1867, and returned to Washington,
D.C., the fugitive John Surratt, wanted in con-
nection with the assassination of President
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). In 1868 and 1869,
Jeffers served a USNO tour and suffered great
difficulty in passing the physical examination
and surviving initial rejection for his promotion
to captain on July 13, 1870. He was assistant to
the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance from Sep-
  Johnston
tember until October 1871, when he became he married Martha E. Parker (1816–1885); the
commander of the USNA practice frigate Con- couple would have five children. From Decem-
stellation. In April 1873 Jeffers became chief of ber 1840 to October 1843, he was aboard Pacific
the Bureau of Ordnance and began a significant Squadron sloop-of-war Dale off the west coast
program to upgrade USN armament. Becoming of South America; during this deployment,
a commodore on February 26, 1878, his resig- Johnston became a lieutenant on June 24, 1843.
nation from the bureau was accepted on June Following shore duty, he joined the Brazil
30, 1881, and he was ordered to Europe to ob- Squadron flagship, the frigate Columbia, for two
serve and report on foreign naval developments. years in November 1845 and after leave returned
Offered command of the Asiatic Squadron in to the Dale off the Africa Squadron, on which
early 1883, Jeffers was forced to decline, as his he served in 1850 and 1851. From 1852 until June
health was failing due to what the newspapers 1854 he put in a USNO tour, after which he com-
called “Brights Disease of the Kidneys.” manded the USN storeship at Valparaiso, Chile.
He died at Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1883, In early 1857, Johnston became executive officer
and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Phila- of the East Indies Squadron paddle-wheel frigate
delphia, PA, two days later. The respected author Powhatan, witnessing the signing of the U.S.-
of several naval manuals, Jeffers had one 20th Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce on her
century USN destroyer (DD-621) named in his deck on July 29, 1858. In February 1860 the
honor. Powhatan departed Yokohama for San Francisco
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; as escort to a Japanese ship transporting the
Hamersly; DANFS; Quarstein, Monitor Boys; Still, first official Japanese Empire embassy to San
Ironclad Captains; Wright, John “J-Cat” Griffith,
“Com. William Nicholson Jeffers,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
14010823 (accessed May 3, 2016); Hannan, New Jersey
Biographical Dictionary (2 vols.; Hamburg, MI: State
History Publications, 2008), I; Oliver, “William
Nicholson Jeffers,” in U.S. Naval Academy Alumni As-
sociation, Third Annual Reunion, June 7, 1888; Jeffers,
A Concise Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Naval
Gunnery; Jeffers, Ordnance Instructions for the U.S.
Navy; Jeffers, Inspection and Proof of Cannon; Jeffers,
Nautical Surveying; Jeffers with Murphy, Nautical
Routine and Stowage, with Short Rules in Navigation;
Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy: Monitor”; Wash-
ington Post, July 24, 1883; North American, July 25,
1883; Boston Daily Advertiser, July 26, 1883; New York
Tribune, July 26, 1883; San Francisco Daily Evening
Bulletin, July 27, 1883.

Johnston, James Douglas

(1817–1896, CSN)
The second of five children of Kentucky
lawyer Gabriel J. Johnston (1794–1867) and his
wife, James was born at Louisville on Septem-
ber 15, 1817. Appointed a USN midshipman on
June 30, 1832, for five years he cruised the Cmdr. James D. Johnston, CSN, commissioned
Caribbean aboard the West Indies Squadron the ironclad Baltic at Mobile, AL, in May 862
sloop-of-war Vandalia and then the squadron and remained her captain until February 86.
He assumed command of the ironclad Tennessee
flagship, sloop-of-war St. Louis. At the Norfolk
in May 86, serving both as captain and as fleet
naval school from late 1837, he graduated and captain during the Battle of Mobile Bay in
became a passed midshipman on June 23, 1838. August (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Johnston was on leave in 1839, and early in 1840 Command).
Jones
Francisco, CA. Thereafter, Johnston was detailed
to prepare a history of his ship’s cruise for com-
mercial publication.
On April 10, 1861, Johnston resigned his Fed-
eral commission and three days later was ap-
pointed a CSN 1st lieutenant. He completed out-
fitting and assumed command at Mobile, AL, of
the ironclad ram Baltic, which he employed in
the city’s defense from May 1862 until February
1863, when she was declared unfit for frontline
service, being employed thereafter as a mine-
layer, placing “torpedoes” near the bay’s en-
trance. Johnston became a CS Provisional Navy
commander in October 1863 and, following
commissioning of the ironclad ram Tennessee
at Selma, AL, on February 16, 1864, towed her
with the Baltic to Mobile for outfitting. He was
transferred as flag and vessel captain to the pow-
erful armored vessel as Adm. Franklin Bu-
chanan (1800–1874) raised his flag aboard on
May 18. The Tennessee, situated just north of
Fort Morgan, engaged the vessels of the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS) when they
moved past the citadel deeper into Mobile Bay
on August 5. With the vessel surrounded by
Union craft on all sides and Buchanan wounded,
Captain Johnston took command but could not
escape defeat. He soon surrendered, both his
ship and his sword, to the victorious Northern-
ers, who sent him as a POW first to Pensacola
and then to Fort Warren, MA.
Johnston took the oath of allegiance to the
United States on June 24 and became a Mobile
insurance agent and then proprietor of the Mo-
bile Tribune. From 1866 to 1872 he was Mobile
representative for a pair of distant insurance
concerns and. In 1873 the former sailor moved
to Savannah, GA, to become general agent of
the Alabama Gold Life Insurance Company. In
February 1886, the son of Admiral David G. Far-
ragut (1801–1870) wrote to Johnston, offering
the return of the sword surrendered to his father
in 1864.
A vice president of the Confederate Veterans’
Association, Johnston spent most of his sum-
mers at Asheville, NC, but returned ill from
there in the fall of 1895 and was hospitalized. In
and out of hospital in the months afterwards, he
died at his Savannah home on May 9, 1896, and
was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Norfolk,
on May 13, next to his wife.

Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; CSN Register; Foenander; Biographical Souvenir
of the States of Georgia and Florida; Driver, Confeder-
ate Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Tucker, “James D. Johnston,” in Tucker, I;
Conrad, “of the C.S. Ram Tennessee; SWF, pseud.,
“James Douglas Johnston,” FindaGrave, http://finda
grave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi/ http=:// www,finda grave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=97655372 (ac-
cessed August 1, 2016); DANFS; ORN I, 23; Johnston,
China and Japan: Being a Narrative of the Voyage of
the U.S. Steam Frigate Powhatan in the Years 1857, ’58,
’59, and 1860; Johnston, “The Ram Tennessee at Mo-
bile Bay,” B&L, IV; Johnston, “The Battle of Mobile
Bay”; Johnston, “Admiral Buchanan and the Confed-
erate States Ram Tennessee”; Johnston, “The Battle of
Mobile Bay”; Jack Friend, West Wind, Flood Tide: The
Battle of Mobile Bay; Savannah Morning News, May 10,
1896; Norfolk Virginian, May 12, 1896.
Jones, Catesby ap Roger
(1821–1877, CSN)
The eldest son and one of 13 children of Maj.
Gen. Roger ap (Welsh for “son of ”) Catesby
Jones (1789–1852) and his wife Mary Anne
Mason Jones (1800–1872), Catesby was born in
Fairfield, Clark County, VA, on April 15, 1821.
His mother was a cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee
(1807–1870) and his father’s brother was Com.
Thomas ap Catesby Jones, USN (1790–1858).
With a strong local education, Jones was ap-
pointed an acting midshipman on June 18, 1836,
and in 1837 was aboard the frigate Macedonian.
During 1838 to October 1841, he served on the
East Indies Squadron frigate Columbia, the Pa-
cific Squadron schooner Shark, and “Old Iron-
sides,” the frigate Constitution. Warranted a
passed midshipman on July 1, 1842, Jones un-
dertook a three-month tour as depot of charts
under oceanographer Lt. Matthew Fontaine
Maury (1806–1873) and returned the next fall.
Meanwhile, from September through July 1843,
he participated in the survey of Tampa Bay, FL,
conducted by the schooner Flirt. From October
1845 he was aboard the Pacific Squadron brig
Perry and the frigate Brandywine. After a brief
tour with the USCS, he became acting master
aboard the Home Squadron ship-of-the-line
Ohio, which was refurbished in 1846 for partic-
ipation in the Mexican War. Under the com-
mand of Com. Thomas ap Catesby Jones, she
did not arrive off Mazatlan until the fighting
 
there was over. She was sent to reinforce the Pa-
cific Squadron, visiting Monterey, CA, in Octo-
ber and Sausalito in November. During this de-
ployment, Jones became a master, on Septem-
ber 14, 1848. In the spring of 1849 he joined the
sloop-of-war St. Mary’s and engaged in a survey
of the San Francisco Bay area, becoming a lieu-
tenant on June 5. In April 1851 the lieutenant was
granted leave to visit Europe and was in Paris in
December when revolution erupted. Losing the
forefinger of his left hand to gunfire from French
troops, he recovered locally, after which he was
ordered by the Navy Department to gather in-
formation on France’s steam navy. From Febru-
ary 1853 until January 1856 Jones was an as-
sistant to cannon designer Lt. John A. Dahlgren
(1809–1870) at the Washington Navy Yard and
In November 86 Lt. Thomas ap Catesby Jones,
CSN, became executive and ordnance officer of
the CSS Virginia, the former USS Merrimac.
When Capt. Franklin Buchanan was wounded
during the March 8, 862, Battle of Hampton
Roads against the USS Monitor, Jones became
acting captain. From August to February 86,
Jones commanded the CSS Chattahoochee, after
which he held major shore-based commands
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Jones
in February 1856 oversaw installation of three
Dahlgrens aboard the new steam frigate Merri-
mac. In April 1857, Jones was executive officer
aboard Dahlgren’s ordnance test vessel, the
sloop-of-war Plymouth. From September to
February 1859 he was ordnance officer for the
U.S. Paraguay punitive expedition. That Novem-
ber he installed the ordnance suite of the Home
Squadron steam sloop-of-war Pawnee, oversaw
its introduction during her shakedown, and
joined in her October–December 1860 Mexican
cruise.
Jones was at the Washington Navy Yard from
January to April 12, when the Civil War began,
and resigned his commission on April 17, when
Virginia seceded from the Union. He became a
Virginia navy captain the next day. He trans-
ferred from the state fleet to the CSN as a lieu-
tenant on June 11, at which time he was com-
mandant of fortifications on Jamestown Island
on the James River. In November Jones became
executive and ordnance officer of the CSS Vir-
ginia, the former USS Merrimac, being con-
verted into an ironclad at Norfolk. Over the next
months, he participated in the installation of her
cannon and recruited and trained the ship’s
crew. All was in readiness when the Battle of
Hampton Roads began on March 8, 1862. Early
in the fight with the Union fleet, Capt. Franklin
Buchanan (1800–1874) was wounded and com-
mand of the ironclad passed to Jones, who com-
pleted destruction of the USS Congress and
Cumberland and decided to finish off the re-
maining USN vessels the next day. When the
Virginia returned on March 9 and headed for
the frigate Minnesota, she was met by the USS
Monitor, the North’s ironclad, which fought her
to a standstill. Reluctantly withdrawing upon
the advice of his pilots, Jones took his armorclad
back to base late in the day. During April the
Virginia sortied several times but was unable to
draw the Monitor or other Union vessels into
combat. When Confederate forces abandoned
Norfolk, Jones oversaw the removal of ordnance
and other stores and, acting on orders, became
the last man ashore on May 11 after setting the
charges that blew up the Virginia. He was at
Drewry’s Bluff until July; on May 15 he partici-
pated in the Battle of Fort Darling against the
Monitor and several other Union warships at-
tempting to reach Richmond by water. From
Jones
August to February 1863, Jones commanded the
CSS Chattahoochee, abuilding in Georgia. On
March 15 he was ordered to assume command
of the Navy Works at Charlotte, NC, and became
a commander on May 6, the same day he took
charge of the Naval Foundry and Ordnance
Works at Selma, AL, which now supplied most
of the naval armor and armaments of the Con-
federacy. On March 23, 1865, he married Ger-
trude Thomas Tartt (1842–1926) at the Mabry
home in Selma; the couple would have three
children. A few days later, he evacuated the ar-
maments factory, taking his family and several
others, plus machinery and records, to the Tartt
plantation, “Bodka,” above Gainesville, escaping
before Selma’s April 2 surrender. Later in the
month Jones surrendered to the Federals at Mo-
bile, AL, and his parole was granted on May 9.
Jones and his family returned to Selma after
the war to farm. When the former CSN officer
had words with his neighbor, Jared Alphonzo
Harral (1842–1933), on June 19, 1877, regarding
a fight between their sons, Harral shot Jones,
who died the next day. The sailor was buried at
the city’s Live Oak Cemetery. Harral, found not
guilty of murder on May 28, 1878, relocated to
New Orleans.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; CSN Register; Foenander; Driver, Confederate
Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Reynolds; Gene Allen Smith, “Catesby ap
Roger Jones,” in Tucker, I; Smith, Thomas ap Catesby
Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny; Starbuck,
“Frock Coat of Commander Catesby ap R. Jones,
CSN”; Mabry Tyson, Career of Catesby ap Roger
Jones, CSS Virginia.Org, http://cssvirginia.org/tyson/
jones/carjcar.htm (accessed March 29, 2016); “Catesby
ap Roger Jones,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8763 (accessed
March 29, 2016); Jones, Captain Roger Jones of London
and Virginia: Some of His Antecedents and Descen-
dants; W.S. Mabry, Brief Sketch of the Career of Captain
Catesby ap R. Jones; Benedict Davenport, “Catesby ap
Roger Jones,” in Naval Officers: Their Heredity and De-
velopment; Jones, “The First Confederate Iron-Clad:
The Virginia”; Jones, “Services of the Virginia (Merri-
mac)”; Ryan, “The Hardship of a Confederate Indus-
try: Catesby Jones and the Selma Naval Ordnance
Works”; Boston Daily Advertiser, July 3, 1877; St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, July 5, 1877; Birmingham Iron Age,
July 4, 1877, May 29, 1878; Kendall, History of New Or-
leans, iii.
6
Jones, John Pembroke “Paul
Jones” (1825–1910, CSN)
The eldest of six children of John Jones (1800–
1867) and Mary Slacter Booker Jones (1806–
1880), John Pembroke was born at Pembroke
Farm, near Hampton, VA, on February 28, 1825.
He was appointed an acting USN midshipman
on October 19, 1841, and became a member of
the first USNA class. In December 1844 Jones
went aboard the Home Squadron frigate Poto-
mac for a year’s cruise in the Caribbean, after
which he returned to the ship, serving in the
Mexican War until July 20, 1847. During this de-
ployment, he was involved with others from his
class in the Port Isabel, TX, landing in May 1846
and the March 1847 siege of Buena Vista. Upon
his graduation (second in his class and first in
mathematics), he became a passed midshipman
on August 10, 1847. Jones was wounded in a duel
with future poet James Barron Hope (1829–1887)
in April 1849 and in November joined the sloop-
of-war Marion, participating in her two-year
cruise of the East Indies. In June 1852 Jones was
seconded to the USCS schooner Gallatin and,
while surveying the mouth of the Cape Fear
River, met and married Jane Vance London
(1831–1859); the couple would have a son. He
commanded the USCS schooner Crawford from
early 1853 until the spring of 1855, when he was
transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron flag-
ship, the frigate Congress, for a 29-month Euro-
pean visit, during which time he was advanced
to master (March 1, 1855) and lieutenant (Sep-
tember 14, 1855). In June 1858 he joined and
oversaw outfitting of the Africa Squadron steam
sloop-of-war Mohican, active off the Dark Con-
tinent from January 1860.
Early in 1861 Jones, having taken ill with a se-
vere case of “African Fever,” was furloughed, but
when his ship arrived at New Orleans in mid–
April he learned that the Civil War had begun
and telegraphed his resignation to the Navy De-
partment. His name was stricken from its rolls
on April 29. Jones became a CSN 1st lieutenant
on May 2 and was sent to the Savannah, GA, sta-
tion, where he assumed command of the tug-
boat CSS Resolute, which in November harassed
the large Port Royal, SC, Union invasion fleet
and attacked Northern ships off the mouth of
the Savannah River. In late February 1862 Jones
 
was assigned to the ironclad Virginia as flag lieu-
tenant to Capt. Franklin Buchanan (1800–1874)
and participated in the March 8–9 Battle of
Hampton Roads against the Northern fleet and
USS Monitor, serving as executive officer after
Buchanan was wounded. He held the same po-
sitions after Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall (1795–
1871) assumed the Virginia’s command on
March 29. After the ironclad’s May 11 destruc-
tion, Jones returned to the Savannah Station,
where he participated in the construction of the
ironclad Georgia and her initial trials in the fall
of the year while also serving as captain of the
gunboat Savannah, which was by then a receiv-
ing ship at her namesake city. In April 1863 her
name was changed to Oconee and she was con-
st Lt. John Pembroke Jones, CSN, was named
flag lieutenant aboard the CSS Virginia in Feb-
ruary 862. When her captain was wounded dur-
ing the March 8, 862, Battle of Hampton Roads
against the USS Monitor, Jones became acting
executive officer, a post he held until the ship was
destroyed in May. From January to May 86 he
commanded the ironclad Raleigh at Wilmington,
NC, after which he was captain of the ironclad
North Carolina until she foundered in Septem-
ber. His postwar life was long and well-traveled
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Jones
verted into a blockade-runner. She ran aground
in August during her first attempt to visit En-
gland. During his deployment at Savannah,
Jones married Mary Willis (1838–1883); the cou-
ple would have two children. Jones was next sent
to Wilmington, NC, to assist in the construction
of the Richmond-class ironclad ram CSS Ra-
leigh, then under the command of CSN Lt. John
Wilkinson (1821–1891). Becoming a 1st lieuten-
ant, Provisional Navy, effective January 6, 1864,
Jones took command of the new ironclad when
he placed her into commission on April 30. On
May 6/7, the Raleigh stood out over the bar at
the mouth of the Cape Fear River and steamed
to engage the Union blockade fleet off New
Inlet. Her slow speed prevented her from closing
with any USN vessels and at daylight she with-
drew back into the river. Just inside the mouth,
the ram ran aground on a bar and became, after
only a week, a total loss. Following a court of in-
quiry that absolved him of blame, Jones took
over command of the Richmond-class ironclad
North Carolina, a poorly-built ram that leaked
so badly she had to be used as a receiving ship
at Southport, near which she foundered in late
September. At month’s end, Jones took com-
mand of the torpedo fields at Chaffins Bluff on
the James River and also the small wooden gun-
boat/torpedo boat Torpedo, with which he par-
ticipated in the January 1865 Battle of Trent’s
Reach.
At war’s end in April 1865, Jones and his
family removed to Halifax, NS, until 1870, re-
turning to Warwick County, VA, to settle at Air-
lie Farm in what is now Hilton Village. From
1872 to 1877 he held a commission in the Argen-
tine navy and surveyed the mouth of the Rio de
la Plata.
Jones married Georgia Newton (1837–1929)
at Norfolk, VA, on October 15, 1892, and the
couple moved to Europe, where he sought to im-
prove his health. Upon his return, they settled
in 1904 at Pasadena, CA, where Jones, then the
oldest USNA graduate, died on May 25, 1910.
His remains were returned to Hampton, VA, for
burial in St. John’s Episcopal Church Cemetery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Driver, Confederate Sailors, Marines, and Signal-
men from Virginia and Maryland; CSN Register; Foe-
nander; DANFS; “Capt. John Pembroke Jones”;
McCabe, “Dueling in the Old Navy”; Dawn Stewart,
“Capt. John Pembroke Jones,” FindaGrave, http://
Kell
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
22446539 (accessed April 10, 2016); Pecquet de Beller,
Some Prominent Virginia Families, I; Murray, “The
Condemnation of the CSS Georgia”; Atlanta Consti-
tution, January 16, 1898; Newport News Daily Press,
April 15, 2011; Charlotte Daily Observer, May 26, 1910;
New York Times, May 26, 1910; Meriden Morning Rec-
ord, May 26, 1910.
Kell, John McIntosh (1823–1900,
CSN)
The eldest son of attorney John Kell (1784–
1827) and Margery Spalding Baillie Kell (1794–
1870), John McIntosh was born at Darien, McIn-
tosh County, GA, on January 23, 1823, and spent
his youth at Laurel Grove Plantation and with
his great uncle U.S. congressman Thomas Spald-
ing (1774–1851), who owned most of Sapelo Is-
land. Having observed the USN brig Consort
conducting a nearby coastal survey in December
1840, McIntosh decided to enter the navy. He
was appointed a midshipman on September 9,
More famous for his service aboard the Confed-
erate ocean cruisers Sumter and Alabama, st Lt.
John McIntosh Kell, CSN, was captain of the
James River ironclad CSS Richmond from the fall
of 86 until he went on sick leave in March 86.
He was Georgia’s Adjutant General from 88 to
 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
8
1841, and served aboard the Home Squadron
sloop-of-war Falmouth until 1843. Later that
year he was transferred to the Pacific Squadron
flagship, the frigate Savannah, which partici-
pated in the capture of Monterey on July 7, 1846.
Kell graduated from the Annapolis naval school
in June 1848, became a passed midshipman on
August 10, and in September joined the West In-
dies Squadron sloop-of-war Albany. In 1849, he
ran afoul of naval etiquette (“declining to light
the lieutenants to or from the Albany’s ward
room”) and that November was court-martialed
and dismissed from the service. Restored to duty
in November 1850 with the loss of a year’s pay,
he was assigned to the East Indies Squadron
flagship, the paddle-wheel frigate Susquehanna,
which, with Com. Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858)
embarked, entered Edo Bay in July 1853 on a
mission to “open” Japan. Kell, who had trans-
ferred as acting master to Perry’s flagship, the
paddle-wheel frigate Mississippi, in February
1854, guided the vessel back to the U.S. in April
1855. On September 14 he became a master and
a day later a lieutenant. In December he was sec-
onded to the USCS schooner Argo for a six-
month survey cruise off the Texas coast. In Oc-
tober 1856 he married Julia Blanche Munroe
(1836–1917) at Macon, GA; the couple would
have six children. Aboard the Norfolk, VA, re-
ceiving ship from spring until late fall of 1857,
Kell then joined the storeship Supply for a pair
of Brazil Squadron replenishment cruises and
in July 1859 was stationed at the Pensacola navy
yard on his only major antebellum shore duty.
Kell was granted leave to Macon on Decem-
ber 20, 1860, and resigned his USN commission
on January 23, 1861, becoming the first naval
officer to offer his services to the new Con-
federacy. He became a CSN 1st lieutenant on
March 26 and, arriving at New Orleans, became
executive officer of Rafael Semmes’ (1809–1877)
ocean raider Sumter. After destroying 18 mer-
chantmen, the vessel was abandoned at Gibral-
tar in December 1862, her crew transferring to
the new cruiser Alabama, which went on to sink
65 vessels before being sunk herself by the USS
Kearsarge in June 1864. During this deployment,
Kell was promoted to the rank of commander
on October 4, 1863. Having been rescued by a
neutral yacht, he returned to the Confederacy
from England in the fall and was sent to Rich-
  Kilty
mond, where he assumed his first command, Grampus for a year. On the Philadelphia, PA, re-
that of the James River Squadron ironclad Rich- ceiving ship from August 1834 until March 1837,
mond. Her most significant combat under Kell Kilty became a lieutenant on September 6 and
occurred on January 23–25, 1865, when she joined the frigate John Adams, which accompa-
joined three other Southern ironclads in the Bat- nied the East Indies Squadron flagship Columbia
tle of Trent’s Reach, an unsuccessful effort to at- on a four-year around-the-world cruise. During
tack the Union base at City Point, VA. Ill from their passage, the two bombarded the forts at
exposure, Kell was granted leave on March 24 Kuala Batee on January 1, 1839, hoping to per-
and returned to his “Sunny Side,” home near suade the Sumatra rajahs to henceforth protect
Griffin in Spalding County to recover and American shipping. Kilty was sent to the frigate
engage in agriculture. Columbus in January 1842, participating in her
Kell signed his parole papers on May 16. Pur- April-May 1844 sojourns with the Mediterra-
suing “profitless farming,” he accepted the po- nean and Brazil squadrons. Unemployed until
sition of Georgia adjutant general in 1887, being May 1846, he was aboard the Africa Squadron
continuously reappointed. After a lengthy illness frigate United States until February 1849, when
caused by an 1895 stroke, Kell died at home on
October 5, 1900, and was buried in Griffin’s Oak
Hill Cemetery two days later.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; CSN Register; Fronander; Kell, Recollections of a
Naval Life; Tucker, “John McIntosh Kell,” in Tucker, I;
“John McIntosh Kell,” FindaGrave, http://www.finda
grave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10869542
(accessed July 13, 2016); Coski, Capital Navy: Guide
to the John McIntosh Kell Papers, David M. Rubenstein
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University,
http:// library. duke. edu/ rubenstein/ findingaids/ kell
johnmcintosh (accessed July 13, 1016); Delaney, John
McIntosh Kell of the Raider Alabama; Delaney, “John
McIntosh Kell: A Confederate Veteran in Politics”; At-
lanta Constitution, December 6, 1897, October 6–7,
1900; Savannah Tribune, October 13, 1900.

Kilty, Augustus Henry

(1807–1879, USN)
The youngest son of the third adjutant general
of Maryland, John Kilty (1756–1811), Augustus
was born on November 25, 1807, at Annapolis,
MD. He was appointed a USN midshipman on
July 4, 1821, and served aboard the Pacific
Squadron flagship, the ship-of-the-line Franklin,
until December 1824, when he transferred to the
West Indies Squadron frigate Constitution for a
Captain of the Western Flotilla ironclad Mound
three-year voyage. Following a year of unem- City from January to June 862, Cmdr. Augustus
ployment, he joined the Brazil Squadron frigate H. Kilty, USN, was seriously injured while com-
Hudson in 1828 and 1829 and was seconded in manding an expedition up the White River of
June 1830–March 1831 to the USCS schooner Arkansas and forced to relinquish command.
Florida for a Louisiana coast survey. Completing Returning to duty in April 86, Kilty’s last
wartime command was of the triple-turret mon-
study at the Norfolk naval school in March 1832,
itor Roanoke, the harbor-defense ship at Hamp-
he became a passed midshipman on April 28 but ton Roads, VA. He retired as a rear admiral in
was unemployed until February 1833, when he 8 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
deployed on the West Indies Squadron schooner mand).
Kirkland
he began a 28-month tour as executive officer
of the Baltimore naval rendezvous (recruiting
station). Aboard the New York receiving ship
from October 1851 until September 1, 1855, he
became a commander on September 14 and the
next day his name was placed on the reserve list.
Kilty was reinstated in June 1859 and became
commander of the Baltimore naval rendezvous.
When mobs threatened harm to his facility
in April 1861 unless he lowered the U.S. flag,
Kilty claimed he would fire on the first man
touching the ensign. Violence was averted when
the new navy secretary, Gideon Welles (1802–
1878), ordered the station closed. In September
Kilty was ordered to St. Louis, MO, to serve with
the AUS gunboat flotilla, then being formed
under the command of Flag Officer Andrew
Hull Foote (1806–1863). Upon her completion,
Kilty was given command of the Pook ironclad
Mound City. During a May 10, 1862, engage-
ment with the Confederate River Defense Force
at Plum Point Bend, above Fort Pillow, TN, the
Mound City was sunk but then was raised, re-
paired, and redeployed. Following the trium-
phant June 6 Battle of Memphis, Kilty com-
manded an expedition to White River, AR.
Approaching St. Charles on June 17, his task
group was taken under fire by Confederate
masked batteries and one round entered his
ship, causing immense damage and heavy loss
of life. Kilty was severely wounded, suffering the
loss of his left arm, and was hospitalized in
Memphis, where he converted to Roman Ca-
tholicism. Promoted to the rank of captain on
July 16, he remained on sick leave until April
1863, when he became Baltimore ordnance offi-
cer. In August 1864 Kilty assumed command of
the triple-turret North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) monitor Roanoke, the harbor
defense ship at Hampton Roads, VA.
When the Roanoke was laid up in June 1865,
Kilty became captain of the New York receiving
ship, being advanced to the rank of commodore
on July 25, 1866. Although he was placed on the
retired list on November 25, 1868, he finished
his last assignment as commandant of the Nor-
folk navy yard and was commissioned a rear ad-
miral on July 13, 1870.
During his Washington, D.C., retirement, the
cultured bachelor particularly enjoyed a daily
walk to the Blind Asylum, where he offered
2
small presents to the patients. Following a six-
week illness, Kilty died at home on Novem-
ber 10, 1879, and was buried in Baltimore’s New
Cathedral Cemetery. One 20th century USN de-
stroyer (DD-137) was named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar,
I; DANFS; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Joiner, “Augustus H.
Kilty,” in Tucker, I; “Adm. Augustus Henry Kilty,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page= gr&GSsr= 3081&GSvcid= 266131&GRid=
70823801& (accessed March 12, 2012); McSherry,
“Rear Admiral Augustus H. Kilty,” in The National
Medals of the United States and Essays and Addresses;
Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Le
Roy Fitch; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the West-
ern Waters; O’Neil, “Convert Sons of the Navy”; Barn-
hart, “The Deadliest Shot”; New York Tribune, No-
vember 12, 1879; Washington Post, November 14, 1879;
Baltimore Sun, November 14, 1879.
Kirkland, William Alexander
“Ashe,” “Red Bill,” “El Rubio”
(1836–1898, USN)
The eldest of two sons of merchant Alexander
McKenzie Kirkland (1828–1842) and Anna Mc-
Kenzie Cameron Kirkland (1817–1890), William
Alexander (or Ashe in some records) was born
at Hillsborough, NC, on July 3, 1836. He was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on July 2, 1850.
Until November 1851 he attended the USNA,
where, because of his red hair and volatile tem-
perament, he was nicknamed “Red Bill.” He
spent the next four years aboard the Pacific
Squadron sloop-of-war Portsmouth and the
frigate St. Lawrence, returning in October 1855
to the USNA, where he graduated on June 20,
1856, and became a passed midshipman. From
September to May 1857 he was aboard the Brazil
Squadron flagship St. Lawrence, transferring to
the same unit’s sloop-of-war Falmouth. On Jan-
uary 22, 1858, he became a master and a lieuten-
ant on March 18. Kirkland’s ship participated in
the Paraguay Expedition late that year and
thereafter cruised in the Rio de la Plata and
Parana River until May 1859. Following a fall
supply trip to the Brazil Station aboard the store-
ship Release, Kirkland joined the squadron flag-
ship, the frigate Congress, where he remained
until joining the sloop-of-war Jamestown in Au-
gust 1861. While attached to the Congress, he
married Dona Consolación Victoria Gowland
 2 Kirkland
(1833–1909) at Montevideo, Uruguay, on May 15,
1861; the couple would have five children.
Between late 1861 and the end of 1862, Kirk-
land served aboard the North Atlantic Blockad-
ing Squadron (NABS), the Jamestown, was pro-
moted to the rank of lieutenant commander on
July 16, and was transferred in January 1863 to
the East Indies Squadron steam sloop-of-war
Wyoming, which was then seeking Southern
raiders. In response to an unprovoked Japanese
attack on an American merchantman in the Shi-
monoseki Straits, off Himeshima Island, Kirk-
land’s ship was sent from Yokohama to obtain
redress. On July 16, having been fired upon, the
Wyoming blasted the land forts along the strait
and sank two Japanese combatants. She was the
first foreign warship to take offensive action in
defense of treaty rights with Japan. Without suc-
cess in her hunt for Rebel vessels, the Wyoming
returned to Philadelphia in July 1864. At that
point, Kirkland received his first command, the
Unadilla-class West Gulf Blockading Squadron
(WGBS) Owasco, then on blockade duty off the
coast of Texas. On November 27 he replaced the
ill captain of the West Gulf Blockading Squad-
ron (WGBS) monitor Winnebago, supporting
Remembered for his effective participation in
Union operations against the city of Mobile, AL. a naval response to an incident in the Shimono-
On March 27–28, 1865, the ironclad bombarded seki Straits of Japan in January 86, Lt. Cmdr.
Confederate defenses around Spanish Fort and William A. Kirkland, USN, became captain of
in late April protected a large Federal troop con- the monitor Winnebago in November 86
voy to Selma and Montgomery. Kirkland’s com- and participated in the final spring 86 cam-
mand also blockaded the Confederate ironclad paign against Mobile, AL. While serving in com-
mand of the European Squadron in 8, he
Nashville and a gunboat far up the Tombigbee became involved in controversies that led to his
River. ordered relief by President Grover Cleveland
Kirkland was detached from the Winnebago (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
in June 1865 and in August was sent to the South mand).
Atlantic Squadron (SAS) paddle-wheel gunboat
Wasp for two cruises totaling four years, most SAS Wasp from November to May 1877. Briefly
of which time was spent off the coast of Para- in charge of the Washington, D.C., receiving
guay protecting American interests during the ship, he rejoined the Supply, which transported
War of the Triple Alliance. In 1868 the Spanish- American exhibits to France for the Paris Expo-
speaking captain bluffed the rescue of the U.S. sition in January 1878. Kirkland became a cap-
minister to Paraguay, thus earning his second tain on April 1, 1880, and a year later to the day
nickname. Becoming a commander on March 2, assumed command of the SAS steam sloop-of-
1869, and following leave, Kirkland commanded war Shenandoah. On shore duty at Norfolk and
the storeship Supply on her December–February New York from July 1882 to February 1894, he
1873 voyage to Austria-Hungary transporting was advanced to commodore on June 27, 1893,
American exhibits for the Vienna Exposition and appointed SAS commander. However, at his
and then, while in command of the gunboat own request he received, in April 1894, the Eu-
Guard, returning them. Following a Bureau of ropean Squadron with his flag in the Chicago
Ordnance tour in mid–1874, he returned to the (CA-14). Promoted to rear admiral on March 1,
Langthorne 22
1895, his European deployment ran into several
political controversies that led to his October
relief at the direct order of President Grover
Cleveland (1837–1908). The senior officer in the
USN commanded Mare Island navy yard from
June 1896 until placed on the retired list on July 3,
1898.
Expecting to remain on duty “for the dura-
tion” of the Spanish-American War, Kirkland
instead died at San Francisco, CA, on August 12
due to complications from an August 9 stomach
operation. He was buried in Brooklyn, NY. No
USN ships have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersley, 3rd ed.; Cogar; DANFS; Still, “William Alexan-
der Kirkland,” in William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of
North Carolina Biography, III; New York Times, Sep-
tember 29–30, 1895, October 22, 1895, July 3, 1898,
August 18, 1898; Washington Post, July 10, 1895, July 3,
1898; Milwaukee Sentinel, October 11, 1895, August 13,
1898; New York Tribune, August 13, 1898; Chicago
Daily Tribune, August 13, 1898; Boston Daily Globe,
August 13, 1898.
A veteran Mississippi Squadron tinclad commander, Acting Volunteer Lt. Amos R. Langthorne, USN,
assumed charge of the depicted ironclad Mound City in February 86. His vessel participated in the
Red River campaign of March–May and was thereafter off Natchez, MS, until the fall when he was
transferred East (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Langthorne, Amos R. (1832–1877,
USN)
One of three sons of William Langthorne
(1802–1877) and Mary Randall (1802–1884),
Amos was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1832.
In the 1850s he moved to Eastport, Washington
County, ME, with his wife Hannah Wood Lan-
thorne (1837–1873), to become an American
shipwright and commercial mariner. Eight
months after the Confederate attack upon Fort
Sumter, he volunteered to join the USN and was
appointed an acting master on December 16,
1861. Having outfitted the NYC schooner C.P.
Williams for service with the mortar division of
the new West Gulf Blockading Squadron
(WGBS), he became her first captain on Janu-
ary 21, 1862, and participated in the April attack
upon Confederate defenses in the Mississippi
River below New Orleans. In May, following the
Federal capture of the Crescent City, the
schooner accompanied WGBS elements up the
Big Muddy to Vicksburg, MS, placing it under
mortar fire until mid–July. In October, after his
 2
schooner went under repair, Langthorne relo-
cated to Cairo, IL, to command and outfit the
new Mississippi Squadron light-draught gun-
boat Cricket (Tinclad No. 6). Langthorne be-
came an acting volunteer lieutenant on Janu-
ary 29, 1863. Stationed at Memphis and engaged
in anti-contraband patrols and port security, he
came upon the steamers Delta and Forest Queen
on April 14 taking aboard cotton from a prohib-
ited location. Langthorne ordered it turned over
to the USN at Memphis to await a decision on
the legality of its acquisition. On May 4, while
anchored off Argyle Landing north of Milliken’s
Bend, LA, the Cricket responded to an attack
upon the troop steamer Golden Era by horse ar-
tillery under Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Ferguson,
CSA, and after a successful defense, escorted her
and three other boats safely upriver to Island
No. 82. While thus away, the steamer Minnesota
put into Argyle Landing and was promptly de-
stroyed by Ferguson. The loss was blamed on
Langthorne, who was reported to be engaged in
an unauthorized convoy. In August the Cricket
joined the White River patrol and was damaged
by Confederate horsemen near Devall’s Bluff on
August 13. At the end of the month the Cricket
participated in a raid up the Little Red River,
during which she captured the steamers Kaskas-
kia and Thomas Sugg near Searcy, AR. Langth-
orne remained in the vicinity of the White River
until October before moving to participate in
the Chattanooga reinforcement. In February
1864 he took over the ironclad Mound City,
which he would command for the next nine
months. The Mound City’s most notable service
during this period was in the March–May joint
service Red River Expedition. There, until freed
by an ingenious wing dam, she and other vessels
were trapped by low water at Alexandria, LA.
Langthorne was lauded for his work on the dam
with a detail from the Mound City. Thereafter,
until fall, his ironclad kept station in the 4th Dis-
trict near Natchez, MS, or New Carthage. Trans-
ferred to the North Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (NABS), Langthorne captained the reserve
fleet vessel Alabama during the second Fort
Fisher Expedition in January 1865. The 10-gun
steamer remained off Wilmington, NC, in Feb-
ruary and then, during March and April, oper-
ated in the vicinity of Hampton Roads and on
the James River, VA.
Lewis
Langthorne was honorably discharged on
March 6, 1866, and thereafter returned to Maine,
where he died in 1877 and was buried at Hillside
Cemetery in Eastport. No U.S. vessels have been
named in his honor.
Sources: Callahan; DANFS; ORN, I, 11; ORN, I,
18; ORN, I, 25; Kilby, comp., Eastport and Pas-
samaquoddy: A Collection of Historical and Biograph-
ical Sketches; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil
War; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight for
the Yazoo; “Washington County, ME, Lines,” Roots
Web, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mnichols/
misc.htm (accessed June 4, 2012); Border Historical
Society, “Cemeteries,” http://www.borderhistorical
society.com/cemeteries.html (accessed June 4, 2012);
“Capt. Amos H. Langthorne,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
94344062 (accessed June 4, 2012).
Lewis, Robert F.R. (1826–1881,
USN)
Born in Washington, D.C., on January 30,
1826, Lewis was warranted a USN midshipman
on October 19, 1841, and in early 1842 joined the
Home Squadron sloop-of-war Vandalia. He was
aboard the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war Cyane
from 1845 to 1848 and during the Mexican War
participated in the capture of San Diego and the
seizure of La Paz and Mazatlan. Lewis was de-
tailed to the USNA that fall, from which he
graduated in June 1849, becoming a passed mid-
shipman. At the USNO in 1850, he was seconded
to the Collins Line in 1851 to gain experience in
the operation of transatlantic commercial
steamers. In 1852 and 1853, Lewis served aboard
a USNA training ship, the sloop-of-war Preble,
then transferred to the storeship Supply. Becom-
ing a master on September 14, 1855, and a lieu-
tenant a day later, he took leave to marry Hen-
rietta A. Lewis (1815–1830); the couple would
have five children. He served on the Baltimore
receiving ship in 1856 and 1857 before joining
the Brazil Squadron frigate Sabine for three
years. During her deployment, the Sabine served
in the 1858–1859 Paraguay Expedition and also
operated in the West Indies.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War in
April 1861, the Sabine joined the blockade off
Pensacola, FL, and Lewis, after leading the small
boats transporting reinforcements to Fort Pick-
ens, became her executive officer. He became
Lewis 2

After months off Charleston, SC, Lt. Cmdr. Robert F.R. Lewis, USN, assumed command of the monitor
Nantucket in January 86, continuing his blockade of the port until its surrender. In March the war-
ship was shifted to Port Royal, SC, to guard the USN receiving ship there against any possible threat
from the Confederate ocean ironclad Stonewall, then at sea (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).

executive officer in October of the Gulf (later
West Gulf ) Blockading Squadron (WGBS)
steamer De Soto, which during the campaign
against New Orleans in the spring of 1862 re-
mained off the Louisiana coast. In early July she
steamed up the Mississippi with communica-
tions for Union vessels participating in the siege
of Vicksburg, MS, and during that voyage, Lewis
became a lieutenant commander on July 16. In
early August he became captain of the Unadilla-
class gunboat Itasca and was sent to blockade
the Texas coast, remaining so engaged until late
1863. Following a three-month leave at year’s
end, Lewis in early 1864 took over the armed
bark Ethan Allen and operated a patrol off the
New England coast before transferring to the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
steam gunboat Nipsic on the blockade off
Charleston. In August he was transferred to the
paddle-wheel gunboat Mahaska, which re-
mained off Charleston until early winter. Lewis
took over the SABS monitor Nantucket in Jan-
uary 1865 off Charleston, where she helped to
destroy a stranded blockade runner and occa-
sionally exchanged shells with Confederate gun-
ners on Sullivan’s Island. In March the warship
was shifted to Port Royal, SC, to guard the USN
receiving ship there against any possible threat
from the Confederate ocean ironclad Stonewall,
then at sea.
Following the war, Lewis spent four years as
a USNA instructor and then buildings and
grounds supervisor, being advanced to Com-
mander on January 29, 1867. He commanded
the Pacific Squadron steamer Resaca from 1869
to 1871, undertaking a flag-showing voyage to
New Zealand. After three years of naval board
duty, he assumed command of the Pacific
Squadron gunboat Yantic in 1874. From June 24
to August 16, 1875, he served as temporary com-
mander of the entire squadron while captain of
the steam sloop-of-war Kearsarge. Detached that
November, he became Norfolk navy yard ord-
nance inspector in March 1876 and a captain on
February 26, 1878. Lewis held command of the
South Atlantic Squadron (SAS) flagship, the
screw sloop-of-war Shenandoah, after Septem-
ber 6, 1879, but while she was on patrol off the
Argentina in late 1880 he became ill.
Ordered home, he died at sea off Martinique
on February 23, 1881, and was subsequently
buried at the USNA cemetery on March 8, 1882.
No USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; DANFS; “Shawna,” pseud. “Robert F.R.
Lewis,” FindaGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
 2
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=58092621 (accessed May 3,
2017); Baltimore Sun, March 8, 1881.
Lord, George Peter (1842–1866,
USN)
Born in Camden, DE, in 1842, merchant
mariner Lord married Mary Eltinge (1842–1931)
of New Paltz, NY, in 1860 and joined the USN
in May 1861, being sent to the AUS Western
flotilla at Cairo, IL, with the rank of master’s
mate. Advanced to acting volunteer lieutenant
on October 1, 1862, he became executive officer
of the huge ironclad Benton under Lt. Cmdr.
William Gwin (1832–1863). Within a few days
Lord was temporarily transferred to command
Lord
of the auxiliary General Lyon, which conducted
a sweep for contraband-trading steamers oper-
ating on the Mississippi River near Helena, AR.
Returning aboard the Benton, he participated in
the joint army-navy Yazoo River campaign of
December, during which Federal troops as-
saulted the enemy in the Chickasaw Bayou area.
After the unsuccessful action in support of the
soldiers conducted against with Confederate
gunners at Snyder’s Bluff on December 27 (in
which Gwin was killed) it was Lord, himself
wounded, who withdrew the ironclad to safety.
Following his recuperation, Lord assumed com-
mand of the light draught Covington (Tinclad
No. 25), which served initially on the Tennessee
River. Moving on to the Mississippi in June, the

Acting Volunteer Lt. George P. Lord, USN, was executive officer of the ironclad Benton from October
to December 862, after which he commanded Tinclad No. 2, the Covington (shown here), which
was lost in the Red River on April 2, 86, following a five-hour battle with Confederate artillery.
In July Lord became the last captain of the ironclad Chillicothe, a command he held until the end of
the war (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Loyall
Covington continued the anti-smuggling and
anti-contraband patrols her captain had initiated
six months earlier. In the spring of 1864 the
vessel was ordered to Alexandria, LA, to aid the
Federal effort on the Red River and, about 25
miles below Alexandria on April 27 while pro-
tecting the transport John Warner, the vessel and
her consort were attacked by Confederate in-
fantry in force. After five hours of bitter fighting,
the transport was captured and the two escorts
were so badly damaged that they had to be aban-
doned. Lord and 32 of his crewmembers escaped
to Alexandria and he was exonerated for the
loss. Lord became captain of the ironclad Chil-
licothe in July, serving as her commander until
she was laid up in May 1865.
After he helped demobilize the Mississippi
Squadron during that fall, Lord was honorably
discharged on February 22, 1866. He joined his
merchant brother-in-law, Peter Eltinge (1841–
1877), in operating a Memphis, TN, grocery
business, but died on August 16. No U.S. vessels
have been named in his honor.
Sources: Callahan; Jackie Myers, “Lieut. George
P. Lord,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=97664134 (accessed July 12,
2014); Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western
Waters; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War;
Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight for the
Yazoo; Milligan, ed., From the Fresh Water Navy, 1861–
1864: The Letters of Acting Master’s Mate Henry R.
Browne and Acting Ensign Symmes E. Brown; David
M. Rubenstein, “Guide to the Eltinge-Lord Family Pa-
pers, 1856–1871,” Duke University Libraries, http://
library. duke. edu/ digitalcollections/ rbmscl/ eltinge/
inv/ (accessed November 18, 2011); Memphis Daily
Post, August 17, 1866; New Paltz Times, August 31,
1866.
Loyall, Benjamin Pollard
(1832–1923, CSN)
The last of four children of the naval agent at
Norfolk, VA, George Loyall (1789–1866), a for-
mer U.S. congressman, and his wife Margaret
Mason Pollard Loyall (1793–1855), Benjamin
was born at Norfolk, VA, on February 11, 1832.
An 1847 University of Virginia matriculant, he
was appointed a USN midshipman on March 5,
1849, and joined the Brazil Squadron frigate
Raritan for an 18-month cruise. Detached in No-
vember 1845, he went aboard the Home Squad-
ron sloop-of-war St. Mary’s, on which he served
26
until late 1852, including deployment off Tam-
pico and Vera Cruz during the Mexican War.
Aboard the squadron flagship, the frigate Co-
lumbia, until March 1855, he was ordered for ex-
amination, graduated from the USNA as a
passed midshipman on July 11 and became a
master on September 16 and a lieutenant on Jan-
uary 28, 1856. Loyall sailed to Europe in June
aboard the Mediterranean Squadron flagship,
the frigate Congress and in January 1858 joined
the Africa Squadron corvette Constellation. Dur-
ing his deployment, the vessel captured three
slave ships (in 1859, 1860, and 1861), one of
which, the Cora, carried 705 captives who were
released at Monrovia, Liberia.
Upon his return, Loyall attempted to resign
on October 2, 1861, in order to “go South,” but
his letter was not accepted and he was dismissed
instead, being placed under arrest at Fort
Lafayette, NY. Commissioned a CSN 1st lieuten-
ant on November 26, Loyall was transferred to
Norfolk and released at year’s end. On Janu-
ary 9, 1862, he was ordered, as an ACS captain,
to assume command of Fort Bartow on Roanoke
Island. When the fort fell to Union troops on
February 8, 1862, he became a POW again. Pa-
roled and exchanged on February 21, he joined
the ironclad ram Richmond. In late September
Loyall was selected to participate in a covert op-
eration to capture the Federal Great Lakes
guardship USS Michigan and, on October 10,
1863, embarked aboard a blockade runner to
make the trip, via Bermuda, to Halifax, NS.
Alerted by an informant, the U.S. War Depart-
ment notified Canadian officials, who were
planning to intervene when the Confederate se-
cret mission was cancelled. Loyall returned to
his previous ironclad billet and was appointed
a Provisional Navy 1st lieutenant on January 6,
1864, with orders to participate in the CSA effort
to capture New Bern, NC. On February 2 he was
executive officer of a small force that successfully
cut out, captured, and destroyed the USS Un-
derwriter in the Neuse River near that town,
being the first man to board the enemy vessel.
Ordered to assume command of the ironclad
ram Neuse, then completing her outfit at White-
hall, NC, Loyall commissioned the vessel in
April, but within days she grounded off Kinston.
Refloated within a month, but without military
support, the vessel became a floating battery,
 2 Luce

Coming off a failed secret mission in fall 86 and the successful capture of the USS Underwriter, st
Lt. Benjamin P. Loyall, CSN, was given command of the ironclad Neuse abuilding at Whitehall, NC.
The vessel was commissioned in April 86 but within days she grounded off Kinston. Refloated
within a month, she became a floating battery, from which Loyall was detached in August, prior to
her loss. The hull of Loyall’s ironclad command is shown under restoration at Kinston, NC (courtesy
Naval History and Heritage Command).

from which Loyall was detached in August. In
November he became commandant of midship-
men aboard the CSNA school ship Patrick
Henry in the James River and, in honor of his
capture of the Underwriter, a commander on
February 10, 1865. In early April he was attached
to the Semmes Naval Brigade and surrendered
on April 26 at Greensboro, NC, where he was
paroled.
Loyall returned to Norfolk, VA, after the war
and, with his wife Imogen Thompson Loyall
(1835–1879) became a grocer and had two sons.
Following the death of his spouse, he married
Cornelia Wickham Taylor (1846–1932) in 1882.
He died at home on January 24, 1923, and was
buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Norfolk.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Foenander; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;
Duppstadt, “Benjamin Pollard Lloyall,” in Tucker, I;
Martin, “North Carolina’s Ironclad (Neuse),” Naval
History; “Benjamin Pollard Loyall,” FindaGrave,
http:// www. findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page=
gr&GRid=80180863 (accessed July 19, 2016); DANFS;
“Benjamin Pollard Loyall,” Cedar Grove Cemetery,
http://historicforrest.com/HSites/NorfolkVA/cedar
Grove/benjaminPollardLoyall.html (accessed July 19,
2016); Loyall, “Capture of the Underwriter, New Bern,
2 February 1864,” in Clark, ed., Histories of Several
Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the
Great War, 1861–65, V; Still, “The Career of the Con-
federate Ironclad Neuse.”
Luce, Stephen Bleecker
(1827–1917, USN)
The last of four children of Dr. Vinal Luce
(1782–1856) and Charlotte Bleecker Luce (1789–
1858), Stephen Bleecker was born in Albany, NY,
on May 25, 1827, appointed a USN midship-
man on October 19, 1841, and joined the frigate
Luce
Congress in April 1842 for a three-year cruise
with the Mediterranean and Brazil squadrons.
In May 1845 he was transferred to the East Indies
Squadron ship-of-the-line Columbus, which ar-
rived off Canton and was present on Decem-
ber 31 when the parties exchanged ratified copies
of the first U.S. commercial treaty with China.
Following an unsuccessful effort to open trade
with Japan in July 1846, Columbus arrived off
Monterey, CA, in March 1847 to join the Mexi-
can War but was found to be too large to serve.
Assigned to the Annapolis naval school in April
1848, Luce graduated in June 1849, becoming a
passed midshipman, effective the previous Au-
gust 10. Attached to the Pacific Squadron sloop-
of-war Vandalia in August, he made several voy-
ages from the West Coast to Hawaii. Following
leave and a USNO tour, he joined the Home
Squadron steam gunboat Vixen from May 1853
to February 1854 and was seconded to the USCS
between May and November 1857, during which
deployment, he became a master on Septem-
ber 14, 1855, and a lieutenant a day later. Also,
on December 7, he married childhood friend
Elisa Henley (1829–1912); the couple had three
children. From December 1857 until February
1860, Luce cruised aboard the Home Squadron
sloop-of-war Jamestown and that May went to
the USNA as assistant instructor of seamanship
and gunnery, a billet he filled until May 1861. A
month after the Civil War began he was posted
aboard the Atlantic Blockading Squadron flag-
ship, the steam screw frigate Wabash.
While aboard the Wabash, Luce participated
in the August 1861 occupation of Hatteras Island
and the November capture of Port Royal, SC.
He was detached in January 1862 and ordered
to the relocated USNA at Newport, RI, where
he wrote a textbook, Seamanship, which was
published the following year. He became a lieu-
tenant commander on July 16. He assumed com-
mand of the frigate Macedonian in June 1863 and
cruised the coast of Portugal until October un-
successfully seeking Confederate ocean raiders.
Upon returning, he assumed command of the
Passaic-class South Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (SABS) monitor Nantucket, which was as-
signed to the blockade of Charleston Harbor, in-
cluding a May 14, 1864, bombardment of the
defending fortifications. Luce commanded two
SABS gunboats in August, the Sonoma and the
28
Remembered as the father of the U.S. Naval War
College, Stephen B. Luce, USN, a lieutenant com-
mander during the Civil War, was captain of the
monitor Nantucket, which was assigned to the
blockade of Charleston Harbor, SC, from
November 86 to August 86, and participated
in various bombardments of the defending for-
tifications (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
Canandaigua, before taking command of the
SABS gunboat Pontiac. Hit while bombarding
Sullivan’s Island on November 7, the paddle
wheeler was repaired and in January 1865 dis-
patched up the Savannah River, where she
guarded the left wing of the Army of the Ten-
nessee as it crossed at Sister’s Ferry, GA.
Luce was at the USNA from June 1865 until
June 1868, serving as commandant of midship-
men after October 1865 and being promoted to
commander on July 25, 1866. From September
1868 to May 1869, he was captain of the Pacific
Squadron paddle-wheel gunboat Mohongo,
steaming to and off Hawaii, and from July 1869
to July 1872, he commanded the Mediterranean
Squadron sloop-of-war Juniata. Luce undertook
Boston navy yard duty until October 1875 and
was promoted to the rank of captain on Decem-
ber 28, 1872. He was captain of the North Atlan-
tic Squadron (NAS) flagship, the steam sloop-
of-war Hartford, from November 1875 through
August 1877 and captain of the steam frigate
Minnesota, then a gunnery and training ship,
 2 Lull
from January 1878 through February 1881. He Grandson”; Washington Post, August 15, 1887, July 29–
was sent to Newport, RI, as commander of the 30, 1917; New York Times, July 29, 1917.
U.S. Naval Training Squadron in April and on
November 25 became a commodore. During the
next two years he commanded the North Pacific
Lull, Edward Phelps (1836–1887,
Station from his familiar flagship, the Hartford, USN)
and served briefly as NAS commander (July– The son of Martin Lull (1803–?) and Julianne
September 1884) before becoming president of Lull (1811–?), Edward was born in Windsor, VT,
the new NWC at Newport in September. Having on February 20, 1836. Following the death of his
collaborated with navy secretary William C. father, the lad and his mother relocated to Wis-
Chandler (1835–1917) to establish that institution consin, from which he was appointed a USNA
and advanced to acting rear admiral on Septem- acting midshipman on October 7, 1851. Becom-
ber 20, he held his billet until June 1886, when ing a passed midshipman in June 1855, he un-
he returned to his previous NAS command, dertook a three-year European cruise aboard
flying his flag in the steam sloop-of-war Rich- the Mediterranean Squadron frigate Congress
mond. Confirmed as rear admiral on October 5, and in January 1858 was briefly transferred to
1885, Luce was detached from the NAS in Feb- the Home Squadron steam frigate Colorado be-
ruary 1889 and placed on the retired list on fore joining the squadron flagship, the steam
March 25. frigate Roanoke, in August. The latter was
Retiring on active service until 1910, Luce
completed his 1887–1898 service as president of
the U.S. Naval Institute, wrote, participated in
various patriotic organizations, and served both
the USNA and the NWC in various capacities.
Officially retired on active service since 1901, his
final retirement came in November 1910. Sud-
denly becoming ill at home on the afternoon of
July 28, 1917, he died within two hours and was
buried at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Cemetery,
Portsmouth, RI. Three USN destroyers were
named in his honor during the 20th century:
DL-7, DLG-7, and DDG-38. USNA and NWC
buildings were named in his honor, as was one
at the San Diego Naval Training Center and the
library of the New York Maritime College.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar;
Reynolds; Hamersley, 3rd. ed.; DANFS; Alden,
“Stephen Bleecker Luce, USN”; Jen Snoots, “Stephen
Bleecker Luce,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18708081 (ac-
cessed August 31, 2016); Hayes and Hattendorf, eds.,
The Writings of Stephen B. Luce; Luce, Seamanship;
Douglas Niermeyer, “Loyal Legion Vignettes: Rear
Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce, Sr.,” Military Order
of the Loyal Legion of the United States, http://suvcw.
org/mollus/art055.htm (accessed August 31, 2016); Following the August 86 Battle of Mobile Bay,
Goodrich, In Memorium: Stephen Bleecker Luce, Rear AL, Lt. Cmdr. Edward P. Lull, USN, was made
Admiral, United States Navy; Hattendorf, “Stephen B. captain of the captured CSN ironclad ram Ten-
Luce: Intellectual Leader of the Navy,” in James Brad- nessee, which was commissioned into the Union
ford, ed., Quarterdeck and Bridge: Two Centuries of Navy. Lull’s ironclad participated in the Fort
American Naval Leaders, I; Gleaves, Life and Letters Morgan bombardments on August  and 22 and
of Admiral Stephen B. Luce, U.S. Navy: Founder of the then served off the mouth of the Mississippi
Naval War College; Luce, “Stephen B. Luce, Rear Ad- River until laid up in August 86 (courtesy
miral, U.S. Navy: Family Reminiscences by His Naval History and Heritage Command).
Madigan
dispatched to Aspinwall, Panama, where she
waited until April 1860 to receive the first Japa-
nese embassy to the U.S., which she took to
Hampton Roads, VA, on May 12. Lull arrived at
the USNA in September as the new instructor
of ethics, English, and fencing. On October 30
he became a lieutenant.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War, the
USNA was moved for its protection from An-
napolis, MD, to Newport, RI, and in June Lull,
one of its four remaining instructors, was sent
back to the Roanoke. After a brief sojourn on
the North Atlantic blockade, he returned to the
USNA in September as its executive officer and
captain of “Old Ironsides,” the training frigate
Constitution, becoming a lieutenant commander
on July 16, 1862. Prior to his detachment on De-
cember 15, 1863, Lull married Elizabeth F. Bur-
ton (1812–?). Posted aboard the West Gulf Block-
ading Squadron (WGBS) steam sloop-of-war
Brooklyn, he participated in the August 5, 1864,
Battle of Mobile Bay and upon her capture be-
came captain of the former CSN ironclad ram
Tennessee. Commissioned into the USN, the
ironclad participated in the Fort Morgan bom-
bardments on August 14 and 22 and, following
a fall refit, was transferred to the Mississippi
Squadron to serve off the mouth of the Missis-
sippi River until laid up in August 1865.
Detached, Lull commanded the screw sloop-
of-war Swatara on a January–May 1866 West In-
dies cruise and then returned to the USNA as a
professor of mathematics and Spanish until
1869, leaving an unpublished history of the in-
stitution in its library. Appointed captain of the
steamer Guard, Lull participated in the 1870–
1871 Darien Expedition, became a commander
on June 10 of the former year, and led the Nica-
ragua Exploring Expedition of 1872–1873. Fol-
lowing the death of his first wife, he married
Emma Gillingham Terry (1836–?), on Novem-
ber 5, 1873, served at the Boston navy yard in
1874, and was hydrographic inspector of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey (1875–1879), while
during the middle 1870s also publishing various
scientific reports. Lull was captain of the screw
sloop-of-war Wachusett in 1879 and 1880 and
military commander of Alaska. Promoted to
captain on October 1, 1881, he commanded the
North Pacific Squadron (NPS) flagship Hartford
until 1884.

On September 1, 1886, Lull became comman-
dant of the Pensacola navy yard, where he died
in the naval hospital on March 5, 1887, and was
buried at Barrancas National Cemetery. No USN
vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersley, 3rd ed.; U.S. Office of Veteran’s Affairs, “Capt.
Edward P. Lull,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GSln= lull&GSfn=
edward&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=
934025&df=all& (accessed September 1, 2016); “Ed-
ward Phelps Lull,” Prabook, http://prabook.com/web/
person-view.html?profileId=1092359 (accessed Sep-
tember 1, 2016); Tom Ledoux, “Edward Phelps Lull,”
Vermont in the Civil War, http://vermontcivilwar.org/
units/navy/v-lull.php (accessed September 1, 2016);
Lull, Description and History of the U.S. Naval Acad-
emy from Its Origins to the Present Time; Lull, “Vo-
cabulary of the Indians of San Blas and Caledonian
Bay, Isthmus of Panama,” in American Philological As-
sociation Transactions, 1873; Lull, History of the United
States Navy Yard at Gosport; Lull and Collins, Reports
of Explorations and Surveys for the Location of Inter-
oceanic Ship Canals Through the Isthmus of Panama
and by the Valley of the River Napipi; San Francisco
Daily Evening Bulletin, March 7, 1887.
Madigan, John, Jr. (1823–1870,
USN)
The son of Maine sea captain John Madigan
(1795–1862) and his wife Elizabeth Cottrill
Madigan, John Jr. was born at Newcastle, ME,
on August 5, 1823, and appointed a USN mid-
shipman on February 19, 1840. He served aboard
the Mediterranean Squadron sloop-of-war
Preble until 1844 and then on the Brazil Squad-
ron sloop-of-war Boston in the West Indies and
off the eastern coast of South America, being
promoted to passed midshipman on July 15,
1846. Madigan joined the Home Squadron
bomb brig Vesuvius during the Mexican War,
participating in the Vera Cruz, Tuxpan, and
Tabasco operations in 1847 and was then sec-
onded to the USCS. In 1851 he joined the East
Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga, partic-
ipated in the 1853–1854 opening of Japan, and
became a master then a lieutenant in September
1855. Madigan filled various billets during the
last decade of the antebellum period, and also
marrying Helen J. Bryant (1833–?) on March 1,
1859.
Joining the West Gulf Coast Blockading
Squadron (WGBS) paddle-wheel frigate Missis-
  Maffitt

Having seen much service off the Gulf coast, Lt. Cmdr. John Madigan, Jr., USN, assumed command
of the monitor Patapsco (shown in this pencil drawing by an unknown artist) in the spring of 86.
Assigned to the blockade off South Carolina and Georgia, his ironclad duty was largely taken up with
anti-torpedo (minesweeping) work and the occasional duel with the guns on Sullivan’s Island. Taken
sick, he was detached in early August; illness caused his death in 8 (courtesy Naval History and
Heritage Command).

sippi early in the Civil War, Madigan spent the
first year of conflict on the Gulf coastal blockade.
In March 1862 he assumed his first command,
the sloop-of-war Vincennes, patrolling between
her Pensacola base and Mobile, AL. Becoming
a lieutenant commander on July 16, he shifted
to the blockade off Ship Island, MS, in October,
guarding the Mississippi Sound, a mission that
continued until the beginning of 1864. That
spring he assumed command of the single-turret
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
Passaic-class monitor Patapsco, assigned to the
blockade off South Carolina and Georgia and
spending most of his time on anti-torpedo
(minesweeping) work. Ill from August until
March 1865, he took over the steam gunboat
Paul Jones on April 1, being stationed in the Gulf
off Mobile until July 1867.
Detached, Madigan was stationed at the
Boston navy yard from August into1868 before
he was again granted sick leave to return to his
Newcastle home. He died there on October 22,
1870, and was buried in that area.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; “Some Newcastle Vital Records, 1844–
1875,” Maine Genealogy Archives, http://archives.
mainegenealogy. net/ 2011/ 03/ some- newcastle- vital-
records-1844–1875.html (accessed September 10,
2016); Bushman, The History of Ancient Sheepscot and
Newcastle, Maine; Thompson, The U.S. Monitor Pat-
apsco; DANFS; North American and United States
Gazette, October 31, 1870.
Maffitt, John Newland “Prince
of Privateers” (1819–1886, CSN)
The only son of Methodist minister John
Newland Maffitt (1795–1850) and Ann Carnic
(?–1847), who also had three daughters, John
was born at sea on February 22, 1819, as his
mother was immigrating from Ireland to Con-
necticut to join her husband. After his parents
separated in ca. 1824, the boy’s uncle at Fayette-
ville, NC, adopted him and in 1828 saw to his
schooling in New York, from which John was
appointed a USN midshipman on February 25,
1832. In August 1835 he was aboard the West In-
dies Squadron sloop-of-war St. Louis, and until
October 1837 he served on the Mediterranean
Squadron flagship “Old Ironsides,” the frigate
Constitution. Upon graduation from the An-
napolis naval school, he became a passed mid-
shipman on June 23, 1838, and as sailing master
joined the West Indies Squadron frigate Mace-
donian’s voyages in the Caribbean and off the
west coast of Africa until detached in 1842 and
seconded to the USCS. During this time, Maffitt
married Mary Florence Murrell (1810–?) at Mo-
bile, AL, on November 17, 1840; the marriage,
with two children, ended for unknown reasons.
His hydrographic work along the East Coast
from Massachusetts to Georgia continued for 14
years. While on this duty Maffitt commanded
Maffitt
his first ship, the schooner Gallatin, becoming
a lieutenant on June 25, 1848. On August 3, 1852,
he married widow Caroline Laurens Read
(1826–1859) at Charleston, SC; the couple had
two children. Furloughed by the Naval Retiring
Board in September 1855, he was reinstated Jan-
uary 1858 and assumed his first USN command,
the Home Squadron brig Dolphin, which par-
ticipated in the December–February 1859
Paraguay Expedition. From June 1859 until Jan-
uary 23, 1861, he was captain of the Home
Squadron steam gunboat Crusader on West In-
dies slavery suppression patrol. Having arrived
at Key West, FL, Maffitt sent seamen ashore to
help bolster the garrisons of Forts Taylor and
Jefferson. When his ship was recalled to New
Having taken sick leave from his famous ocean
raider Florida, Cmdr. John Newland Maffitt,
CSN, assumed command of the ironclad Albe-
marle in summer 86, dominating the Roanoke
River near Plymouth, NC, until he was detached
on September . Just over a month later she was
blown up by the daring Lt. William B. Cushing,
USN (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
2
York he employed his own funds to finance the
voyage, arriving on March 1.
Maffitt resigned his USN commission on
April 28, becoming a CSN lieutenant on May 8
at the Savannah station, where he captained the
gunboat CSS Savannah in the defense of Port
Royal, SC, and an attack on Union ships off the
Savannah River in November. Briefly naval aide
to Gen. Robert E. Lee, he commanded the
blockade runners Nassau, Cecile, and Gordon,
and in August 1862 received command of the
ocean raider CSS Florida. He suffered a bout of
yellow fever and blockade at Mobile, AL, getting
to sea in January 1863. Having sunk or destroyed
37 Union vessels, Maffitt took sick leave in Feb-
ruary 1864; during his recovery, he was ap-
pointed commander, to rank from April 29,
1863, and was then promoted commander, Pro-
visional Navy, to rank from May 13, 1863. In
summer 1864 he was captain of the ironclad ram
Albemarle and dominated the Roanoke River
near Plymouth, NC, until detached on Septem-
ber 9. Just over a month later, the Albemarle was
blown up by the daring Lt. William B. Cushing,
USN (1842–1874). Maffitt then successively cap-
tained the blockade runners Owl, Lillian, and
Florie prior to the end of the conflict in April
1865. Acquiring a British shipmaster’s papers,
Maffitt captained the merchantman Widgeon be-
tween Liverpool and South America until he
returned to Wilmington, NC, in 1868 and pur-
chased a house and over 200 acres near Wrights-
ville Sound, naming the place “The Moorings.”
In June 1870 Maffitt captained the steamer Hor-
net from Wilmington to New York, where she
was turned over to her Cuban revolutionary
owners.
That November he married Emma Martin
(1842–1918) at her Wilmington home; the couple
would have three children. She honed his
literary inclination, working with him on mag-
azine articles and an 1871 fictional account of his
Constitution days. Maffitt died at home of
Bright’s disease on May 15, 1886, and was buried
at Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; Callahan; CSN Register; DANFS; Maffitt,
“Reminiscences of the Confederate Navy”; Maffitt,
Nautilus; or, Cruising Under Canvas; Emma Martin
Maffitt, The Life and Services of John Newland Maffitt;
Boykin, Sea Devil of the Confederacy; Sprunt, “Run-
ning the Blockade”; Bennett, “The Albemarle in Albe-
  Maury
marle Sound”; Roy Parker, Jr., “Stealth Practice Served
Blockade Well,” Fayette Observer, August 22, 1996;
Singleton, High Seas Confederate: The Life and Times
of John Newland Maffitt; B.C.W. Roberts, “John New-
land Maffitt,” NCpedia, http://ncpedia.org/biography/
maffitt-john-newland (accessed September 6, 2016);
Wayne Carver, “Cdr. John Newland Maffitt,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GRid=6265492 (accessed September 6,
2016); Robert D. Maffitt, “John Newland Maffitt, CSN,”
290 Foundation, https://sites.google.com/site/290foun
dation/290-standing-orders/john-newlands-maffitt
(accessed September 6, 2016); New York Times, May 16,
1886; Nashville American, February 3, 1907; Boston
Daily Globe, September 26, 1907.

Maury, William Lewis (1813–1878,

CSN)
The third of 13 children of William Grymes
Maury (1784–1860) and Anne Hoomes Wool-
folk Maury (1793–1856), William Lewis was
born at Caroline, VA, on October 13, 1813. Ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on February 29,
1829, he served aboard the Mediterranean
Squadron frigate Java for three years. Unem-
ployed until fall 1834, he graduated from the
Norfolk naval school and became a passed mid-
shipman on July 3, 1835. After leave and shore
duty, he sailed on the sloop-of-war Vincennes in
the United States Exploring Expedition, August
1838–June 1842. During this deployment, he also
served aboard the sloop-of-war Peacock and the
brig Porpoise and on February 26, 1841 was ad-
vanced to lieutenant. From July 1842 until 1848
Maury was on the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-
war Warren, which served off the coast of Cali-
fornia through the Mexican War. At the deploy-
ment’s start, he married Mary Hill Beckham
(?–1850); the couple would have two children.
In 1849 and 1850 he was on the Mediterranean
Squadron steam paddle-wheel frigate Mississippi
and in 1852 was transferred to the East Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga, aboard which
he participated in the opening of Japan in 1853
and 1854. Maury was a junior member of the
U.S. Naval Efficient Board, which met in 1855
and 1856, where he was able to prevent the fur-
lough of his cousin, Lt. Matthew Fontaine
Maury (1806–1873) and then served under him
at the USNO. He married Anne Fontaine Maury
(1832–1890) on April 3; the couple would have
five children. The lieutenant departed for Japan
A cousin of Matthew Fontaine Maury, Cmdr.
William L. Maury, CSN, commanded the iron-
clad Tuscaloosa during her construction and
trials at Selma and Mobile, AL, in late 862
and early 86. Later in 86 he was appointed
captain of the ironclad North Carolina in the
Cape Fear River. Built with green timber, the
vessel’s hull was riddled by worms, causing
her to founder off Southport, NC, on Septem-
ber 2 (James Morris Morgan, Recollections
of a Rebel Reefer, Cambridge, MA: Riverside,
).
in May 1860 aboard the steam frigate Niagara,
taking home the first Japanese diplomatic mis-
sion to the U.S.
The Civil War began in April 1861, the same
month the Niagara returned from the Far East.
Maury resigned his commission on April 20,
was made a Virginia navy commander in May,
and became a CSN lieutenant on June 10. As-
signed to the Wilmington station, he was sec-
onded, as a lieutenant colonel, to the ACS in Jan-
uary 1862 and commanded the Sewell’s Point
Battery. In the summer he went to the Charleston
May 

station, where he participated in the laying of
defensive underwater mines (“torpedoes”) in
the harbor. Maury commanded the ironclad ram
Tuscaloosa during her construction and trials
at Selma and Mobile, AL, in late 1862 and early
1863. He became a commander, effective May 13
of the latter year. In April, having traveled to
Scotland, he took over the ocean raider CSS
Georgia and captured nine vessels in seven
months. When Confederate authorities elected
to sell his ship, the ill Maury was detached on
January 19, 1864, returning to Virginia in April
to recover. Late in the year he was appointed
captain of the ironclad ram North Carolina in
the Cape Fear River; built with green timber, the
vessel’s hull was riddled by worms, causing her
to founder off Southport, NC, on September 27.
Maury was on sick leave when the Civil War
ended in April 1865. He eventually served as a
New York customs collector. He and his wife
were residing at Bowling Green, VA, in Caroline
County, when he died on November 27, 1878.
He is buried in Lakewood Cemetery, Bowling
Green. Maury Bay, Antarctica, was named in his
honor in 1955.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; DANFS; Driver, Confederate
Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Coddington; Tucker, “Naval Retiring
Board,” in Tucker, I; Maury, ed., Intimate Virginiana:
A Century of Maury Travels by Land and Sea; George
Seitz, “Capt. William Lewis Maury,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
5764690 (accessed July 12, 2015).
May, Robert Logan (1832–1916,
USN)
Born in Bath, NY, on November 22, 1832, May
was appointed a USN acting midshipman on
November 7, 1849. Sent to the Philadelphia
naval training school, he joined the Susque-
hanna, participating in her world cruise of 1850–
1855 and the opening of Japan as an aide and
signal officer to Com. Matthew C. Perry (1794–
1858). Confirmed a midshipman on July 14, 1852,
he returned to the naval school, now the USNA.
He graduated and became a passed midshipman
and then master on June 30, 1856 (to date from
1855). From July 28 until June 27, 1857, when he
was injured and went home on sick leave, May
served on the USCS steamers Vixen, Petrel, and
Gallatin, being promoted to lieutenant on Sep-
tember 26, 1856. On January 21, 1859, recovered
somewhat, May returned to duty at the USNO;
on May 5, 1860, his first sea voyage in years
began as navigator of the steam frigate Niagara,
which returned home the first Japanese diplo-
matic mission to the U.S.
On Washington Navy Yard ordnance duty on
April 12, 1861, when war erupted, May became

Long-time Washington navy yard ordnance officer Lt. Cmdr. Robert L. May, USN, assumed command
of the Mississippi Squadron’s th District and its station ship, the depicted veteran ironclad Benton,
on October , 86. Performing routine and largely administrative duty, he was appointed captain of
the fleet’s flagboat, the Tempest (Tinclad No. ) in early 86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
 
a lieutenant commander on July 16, 1862, con-
tinuing at Washington until July 14, 1864, when
he was ordered to assume command of the Mis-
sissippi Squadron ironclad Louisville. Paperwork
instead sent him to a short posting aboard the
steam frigate Colorado, but by October 7 he in
charge of the 4th District of the Mississippi
Squadron and captain of its station ship, the
ironclad Benton. Early in 1865 he was placed in
command of the fleet flagship Tempest (Tinclad
No. 1), and when the squadron was disbanded
he returned home to Bath, NY, on August 21,
1865, to await orders.
May assumed command of the steam sloop-
of-war Canadaigua on November 15, 1865, sail-
ing her to the European Station. During this de-
ployment, employing crutches, he was largely
incapacitated from his earlier injury and thus
was ordered detached from his command on
February 12, 1866. A court of inquiry found him
“inefficient” by reason of incapacity and upon
recommendation of the navy secretary, with the
concurrence of the president, he was retired on
April 21, 1867, with a year’s salary.
May thereafter lived in NYC, Bath, and Corn-
ing, NY, before obtaining a position with the
Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, NE. His foot
having worsened, he suffered an unsuccessful
1889 operation and in 1891 moved to Denver,
CO, hoping to obtain relief from bronchial diffi-
culties. Without means, he briefly became a
charity case at St. Luke’s Hospital that June. His
attempt to win reinstatement to the USN retired
list having failed, he lived on a small government
pension until he died of pneumonia on Septem-
ber 24, 1916. Buried in Lexington, NE, his bal-
ance on deposit in the Central Savings Bank of
Denver upon his death was $22.15.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; ORN, I, 27; ORN, I, 27; Smith, Civil War Biogra-
phies from the Western Waters; Neeser, “Historic Ships
of the Navy: Benton”; U.S. Congress, Senate, Commit-
tee on Naval Affairs, Robert Logan May: Adverse Re-
port.
Mayo, William Kennon
(1829–1900, USN)
The son of attorney Peter Poythress Mayo
(1797–1857) and Leah Curtis Upshur Mayo (1815–
1863), Peter was born at Drummondtown, VA,
Mayo
on May 29, 1829, appointed a USN midshipman
on October 18, 1841, and until October 1844
served aboard the Pacific Squadron flagship, the
frigate United States, and the same squadron’s
sloop-of-war Cyane. In November 1844 Mayo
joined the sloop-of-war St. Mary’s, which arrived
off Galveston, TX, in late April 1845; he re-
mained aboard the warship during the entire
Mexican War, participating in the blockade and
capture of Vera Cruz and Tampico. Promoted
to passed midshipman on August 10, 1847, he
joined the European Squadron frigate St. Law-
rence in October 1848 for a 30-month cruise.
Between July 1851 and 1852, he was navigator of
the brig Dolphin on a scientific voyage and then
aboard the steam frigate Saranac on a trip to
Brazil. He went aboard the Home Squadron
Cyane in November, participating in her hydro-
graphic survey of Caledonia Bay. He returned
to the USNA in October 1854 as an acting
master and an instructor. During that deploy-
ment, he wrote a textbook and was promoted
to master and then lieutenant in September
1855. From May 1857 to September 1859, Mayo
was in the Far East on the East Indies Squad-
ron frigate Minnesota, after which he returned
to the USNA. In December 1860 he returned
aboard the Pacific Squadron St. Mary’s and,
because of his adherence to the Union, was
declared an alien enemy by the Virginia Con-
vention of July 1861 and forever banished from
the state. He thereafter resided in Washington,
D.C.
Mayo helped outfit the new South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) steam sloop-of-
war Housatonic from January to August 1862,
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, and was aboard when she
joined the Charleston blockade in September.
Detached in November, he joined the West Gulf
Blockading Squadron (WGBS) Unadilla-class
gunboat Kanawha off Mobile, AL, capturing six
blockade-running schooners and in October
1863 fighting a heavily reported engagement
with Fort Morgan’s batteries. Detached a month
later, he oversaw ironclad construction at the
New York navy yard from February to May 1864,
in May and June escorted recruited contrabands
to Panama to join the Pacific Squadron, and in
July assumed command of the Passaic-class
SABS monitor Nahant off Charleston. Having
McBlair
determined that the blockade was occasionally
porous, Mayo’s ironclad intensified picket pa-
trols and managed to run nine blockade runners
ashore over the next seven months.
Detached in March 1865 Mayo became SABS
ordnance officer and served as commandant of
the Bay Point Depot until May 1866. Navigation
officer at Boston, MA, from that November until
May 1869, he became a commander on July 25
and commanded the North Atlantic Squadron
(NAS) steam sloops-of-war Tuscarora and Con-
gress in 1870 and 1871 and the North Pacific Sta-
tion (NPS) screw sloop-of-war Omaha during
1872–1874. Promoted to captain on December
12, 1873, May was captain of the screw sloop-of-
war Hartford on the South Atlantic Station
(SAS) from 1877 to 1879, was executive officer
of the Norfolk navy yard in 1881 and 1882 and
Lt. Cmdr. William K. Mayo, USN, was appointed
captain of the monitor Nahant off Charleston,
SC, in July 86. Having determined that the
blockade was occasionally porous, Mayo’s iron-
clad intensified picket patrols and managed to
run nine blockade-runners ashore over the next
seven months (courtesy Naval History and Her-
itage Command).
6
its commandant, following his elevation to com-
modore in July of the latter year, until 1885. Dur-
ing this deployment, he was involved in 15
discipline or etiquette cases with his subor-
dinates, leading the USN promotion board to
deny his advancement to rear admiral and caus-
ing him to retire of his own volition on May 18,
1886.
Most of Mayo’s retirement years following the
death of his first wife, Jennet P. Mayo, in 1887
were taken up by highly publicized marriage
problems with a second and a third spouse.
After an illness of several days, he died at his
Washington home on April 10, 1900, and was
buried at Arlington National Cemetery two days
later. No USN warships have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 4th ed.; “William Kennon Mayo: Obituary,” in
Appletons’ Annual Cyclopedia, 1900; “William Kennon
Mayo,” in Hamersly, ed., A Naval Encyclopedia; DANFS;
“William Kenyon Mayo,” Prabook, http://prabook.
com/web/person-view.html?profileId=1092369# (ac-
cessed September 12, 2016); Denver Evening Post, June
29, 1899; New York Times, January 28, April 11, 1900;
Washington Post, December 16, 1892; April 11, August 2,
1900; Baltimore Sun, April 10, 1900; New York Tribune,
April 11, 1900.
McBlair, Charles Henry
(1809–1890, CSN)
Born at Baltimore, MD, on December 24,
1809, McBlair was appointed a USN midship-
man on March 4, 1823. Serving ashore and afloat
on different ships, he became a passed midship-
man in March 1829 and a lieutenant in July 1831.
During the remainder of the decade he served
as sailing master of the Mediterranean Squadron
sloops-of-war Ontario and Warren, was aboard
the paddle wheel frigate Mississippi, and from
October 1842 to 1845, held command of the
leased War Department paddle-wheel steamer
Poinsett on survey duty in Tampa Bay, FL.
Aboard the bomb brig Stromboli during the
Mexican War (1846–1847), particularly at Ta-
basco in June 1847 and on the Mexican block-
ade, McBlair was seconded to the USCS from
September 1848 to July 1852, was lighthouse in-
spector for the 4th District at Wilmington, DE,
and one of the most distinguished linguists in
the antebellum navy. He became a commander
  McBlair

Having been superseded as captain of the ironclad Arkansas by Lt. Isaac Newton Brown, Cmdr. Charles
H. McBlair, CSN, completed the ironclad Atlanta (pictured here after the war) and served as her
second captain (following the profiled but unpictured Cmdr. William B. McBlair, CSN) until trans-
ferred to Mobile, AL, in fall 86. He was Maryland’s adjutant general from 8 to 8 (courtesy
Naval History and Heritage Command).

on April 18, 1855, and, five months later, captain
of the Great Lakes gunboat Michigan.
On USNA board duty in January 1861, Mc-
Blair resigned from the Federal service on April
22 and joined the Virginia state navy as a com-
mander. On October 19, 1861, he was appointed
a CSN commander, but a month later he was
temporarily seconded to the ACS as a colonel.
He was sent to Fernandina, FL, in December to
serve as the local ACS chief of artillery and offi-
cer in charge of batteries, Department of Middle
and East Florida. In March 1862 McBlair was
posted to Memphis to take over construction
supervision of the incomplete ironclad rams
Arkansas and Tennessee. Just after the Union
capture of New Orleans in April, he ordered the
former, the more complete of the two, towed up
the Yazoo River to Greenwood, MS, by the con-
tract steamer Capitol. Unable due to flooding to
complete the outfitting of the Arkansas, he was,
in May, succeeded by Lt. Isaac Newton Brown
(1817–1889). Returning to Richmond, VA, Mc-
Blair was sent to Savannah late in the year to
take command of the casemate ironclad At-
lanta. On July 31, 1863, she steamed toward Fort
Pulaski in full view of the Union blockade, but
defects forced her to retire above the obstruc-
tions for modifications. While those were un-
derway, McBlair was transferred to Mobile, AL,
and command of the new gunboat CSS Morgan.
In December 1863 he took command of the
Gaines and on April 30, 1864, the Huntsville.
Also in April 1864 he took command of the
Tuscaloosa. All three of the Mobile Bay vessels
with which McBlair was associated survived the
great battle of August 5 and escaped up the
Spanish River. The city of Mobile held out an-
other eight months, with the upper portion of
the bay remaining in Confederate hands. On
April 12, 1865, the Tuscaloosa and Huntsville
were scuttled where the Spanish River splits off
from the Mobile River on the north side of
Blakeley Island, just north of Mobile. McBlair
escaped to Greensboro, NC, and there surren-
dered.
Paroled on April 28, 1865, McBlair returned
to “Bonnie Brae,” his home at Baltimore, where
in April 1869 he was appointed colonel and aide-
de-camp to the governor and then assistant ad-
jutant general. In February 1871 he was pro-
moted to the rank of major general and became
Maryland’s eleventh adjutant general, serving
until 1874. McBlair died in Washington, D.C.,
on November 15, 1890.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Foenander; Callahan; Driver, Confederate
Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the West-
ern Waters; DANFS; Allardice, Confederate Colonels;
McBlair, “Historical Sketch of the Confederate Navy”;
Smith, CSS Arkansas; Maclean, “The Short Cruise of
the CSS Atlanta.”
McBlair 8

McBlair, William Beverly Reared on the shores of the Mediterranean and

(1810–1863, CSN) becoming fluent in four languages, he was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on September 9,
Born at Baltimore in 1810, McBlair was ap- 1841, and served aboard the Fairfield, Delaware,
pointed a USN midshipman on November 16, and Cumberland from February 1842 until No-
1824, and was aboard the Mediterranean Squad- vember 1845, when he entered the USNA. From
ron ship-of-the-line North Carolina during her May 1846 to January 1848 he was on antislavery
three-year European deployment. Becoming a patrol aboard the Africa Squadron frigate United
passed midshipman on February 20, 1830, he States then returned to the USNA, from which
served on the West Indies Squadron sloop-of- he graduated in June and became a passed mid-
war Fairfield from late 1831 into the middle of shipman, effective August 10, 1847. For a year
the decade, being advanced to the rank of lieu- from October 1848 until taking leave, McCauley
tenant on December 31, 1833. Transferred to the was on “Old Ironsides,” the Mediterranean
sloop-of-war Vandalia until November 1839, he Squadron frigate Constitution. From October
saw service in the Second Seminole War. Fur- 1851 to June 1852, he was aboard the Mediter-
loughed and on leave until 1853, McBlair ranean Squadron flagship, the ship-of-the-line
returned to duty in 1854 and became a com-
mander on September 14, 1855. At the Philadel-
phia navy yard from 1856 to 1858 and the Wash-
ington navy yard in 1859, he became captain of
the sloop-of-war Dale in May 1860.
Declaring for the South at the beginning of
the Civil War, McBlair was dismissed from the
USN on April 20, 1861, was appointed a CSN
commander on June 10, and was assigned to the
Richmond naval station for the remainder of the
year. In late spring 1862 he assumed command
of the ironclad ram Atlanta then outfitting at
Savannah, GA, conducted her sea trials on the
Savannah River in July, and was present when
she was placed into commission on November
22. Taken ill, McBlair died on duty on February
16, 1863, and, after a funeral at the city’s St. John’s
Church, was buried the next day, leaving a wife
and five children.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;
Maclean, “The Short Cruise of the CSS Atlanta”; Sa-
vannah Daily Morning News, February 17, 1863.

A veteran of the Atlantic Coast and Caribbean

McCauley, Edward Yorke
(1827–1894, USN)
The son of Philadelphia and Mideast busi-
nessman Daniel Smith McCauley (1798–1852)—
a former USN lieutenant and later U.S. counsel
to Tripoli and Egypt from 1842 until his death—
and Sarah Yorke McCauley (?–ca. 1829) and
nephew to RAdm. Charles Stewart, USN (1778–
1869), Edward was born on November 2, 1827.
blockade, Lt. Cmdr. Edward Y. McCauley, USN,
assumed command of the giant Mississippi
Squadron ironclad Benton in November 86,
also serving as commander of the squadron’s th
Naval District between Grand Gulf and Natchez,
MS. In June 86, his vessel accompanied the
expedition of Maj. Gen. Edward R.S. Canby to
Shreveport, LA, and participated in the capture
of the CSS Missouri, the last Confederate iron-
clad (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
 
Independence, took leave at the death of his fa-
ther, and in August joined the new East Indies
Squadron paddle-wheel frigate Powhatan. From
her decks, McCauley, with a reputation as an
amateur artist, witnessed and sketched the
opening of Japan. He was appointed master on
July 1, 1855, fought Chinese pirates off Kowloon
that August, and became a lieutenant on Sep-
tember 14. Deployed aboard the training ship
Princeton, he served on the steam frigate
Niagara from March 1857 until August 1858,
helping to lay the first Atlantic cable. While in
port on January 28 of that year, he married
Josephine McIlvaine Berkeley (1836–1886), a
Virginian; the couple would have a son. While
at the USNO, McCauley resigned on August 19,
1859, to enter business in St. Paul, MN.
McCauley rejoined the USN on May 11, 1861,
as an acting volunteer lieutenant and captain of
the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
steamer Flag. Becoming a lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, 1862, he took over the East
Gulf Blockading Squadron (EGBS) gunboat Fort
Henry off the coast of Florida. During this com-
mand, five blockade runners were captured and
expeditions were mounted against Confederate
Crystal River and coastal positions. McCauley
became captain of the West India Squadron
double-ender gunboat Tioga on November 23.
Patrolling as far south as Grand Bahama Island,
she took part in the Federal attack on Bayport,
FL, and captured three more blockade runners
before Yellow Fever forced her into quarantine
at Portsmouth, NH, in late June 1864. In the fall
McCauley served aboard the Mississippi Squad-
ron flagboat Black Hawk and in November was
appointed commander of the squadron’s 5th
Naval District between Grand Gulf and Natchez,
MS, and the giant ironclad Benton. In June 1865
his vessel accompanied Maj. Gen. Edward R.S.
Canby’s (1817–1873) expedition and participated
in the capture of the CSS Missouri, the last op-
erational Confederate ironclad.
At the Philadelphia navy yard after August
1865, McCauley became a commander on July
25, 1866. Between February 1867 and 1871, he
was captain of the North Atlantic Squadron
(NAS) steam frigate Susquehanna as well as NAS
chief-of-staff, was at the Portsmouth navy yard,
and served as head of the USNA French Depart-
ment. Advanced to captain on September 3,
McGunnegle
1872, while at the Philadelphia navy yard, Mc-
Cauley commanded the Asiatic Squadron steam
sloops-of-war Hartford and Lackawanna from
October to May 1875. He was captain-of-the-
yard at the Boston navy yard from that Novem-
ber until July 1878 and superintendent of the
Philadelphia Naval Asylum until June 1880. Be-
coming a commodore on August 7, 1881, and si-
multaneously being elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society, McCauley
worked at the Bureau of Navigation until Octo-
ber 1883. He was unemployed until November
1884, but, having continuously honed his expert-
ise as an Egyptologist throughout his career, he
used that year to publish an Egyptian dictionary.
Following duty as League Island, PA, navy yard
commandant, McCauley became a rear admiral
on March 2, 1885, and commanded the Pacific
Station from May until November 1886, wearing
his flag in Hartford.
Placed on the retired list on January 25, 1887,
McCauley’s remaining years were given over to
his Egyptian passion and life with his family at
his home, “The Mist,” on Canonicut Island in
Narragansett Bay. McCauley was granted an
honorary LLD at Hobart College in 1892. He
died on September 14, 1894, and was buried at
Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. No USN
vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar;
Appletons’, IV; Callahan; Hamersly, 4th ed.; DANFS;
Lew Zerfas, “Edward Yorke McCauley: An American
‘Master and Commander,’” U.S.S. Fort Henry Living
History Unit, http://www.ussforthenry.com/USSFH
pdf/Edward_yorke_mccauley.pdf (accessed Novem-
ber 29, 2011); Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy:
Benton”; McCauley edited by Cole, With Perry in Ja-
pan: The Diary of Edward Yorke McCauley; McCauley,
A Manual for the Use of Students of Egyptology; Russ
Dodge, “Edward Yorke McCauley,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
21872 (accessed November 29, 2011); Frazer, “In Mem-
ory of Edward Yorke McCauley, USN”; McCauley, A
Dictionary of the Egyptian Language; Washington Post,
September 15, 1894; Portland Morning Oregonian, Sep-
tember 15, 1894; New York Tribune, September 15,
1894; New York Times, September 18, 1894.
McGunnegle, Wilson (1829–1863,
USN)
The eldest of five children of prominent St.
Louis businessman George Kennedy McGun-
McGunnegle 

Lt. Wilson McGunnegle, USN, became captain of the Western Flotilla ironclad St. Louis (later renamed
Baron de Kalb) in April 862. She participated in the disastrous Federal expedition up Arkansas’s
White River in June, during which Cmdr. August Kilty’s vessel was badly damaged. Assuming com-
mand of the task group, McGunnegle oversaw its withdrawal to Memphis. He died of consumption
in April 86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

negle (1800–1878) and his wife Elizabeth Easton
Starr McGunnegle (1809–1864), Wilson was
born on August 23, 1829, and appointed a USN
midshipman on December 10, 1845. He became
a passed midshipman on June 10, 1853, and mar-
ried Isabella Steele Ray (1801–1891) at Anne
Arundel County, MD, on September 5. Pro-
moted to lieutenant on September 16, 1855, Mc-
Gunnegle was attached to the Brazil Squadron
sloop-of-war Falmouth in 1856 and served until
the spring of 1859. In September 1859 he joined
the USNA training sloop-of-war Plymouth.
McGunnegle was at the Portsmouth navy
yard when the Civil War erupted in April 1861
and on March 31, 1862, he was given command
of the U.S. Western Flotilla ironclad St. Louis
(later known as the Baron de Kalb), then under-
going repair at St. Louis. In April and May he
travelled to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh to ascer-
tain the state of AUS ram construction. He par-
ticipated in an AUS reconnaissance of Craig-
head Point, AR at the end of May, and in June
his vessel accompanied several others on an ex-
pedition up the White River of Arkansas. The
task group was fired upon as it approached St.
Charles, AR and the flagboat Mound City was
badly damaged, with great loss of life and injury,
including the unit’s commander. McGunnegle
took command of the task group’s orderly, keep-
ing charge until dispatched to St. Louis in July
to oversee work on two army rams under con-
struction.
In October he was, although ill, put in charge
of the recruitment of Mississippi Squadron sea-
men. He died of consumption on April 2, 1863,
while on special duty at Annapolis, MD, and was
buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, MO.
No U.S. vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; History of Crawford County, Pennsylva-
nia; “Died on This Date: April 2,” FamousPeople-
Buried, http://famous-people-buried.blogspot.com/
2009/04/april-2nd.html (accessed June 4, 2012); ORN,
I, 22; ORN, I, 23, 520; Smith, The Timberclads in the
Civil War; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the West-
ern Waters; “Wilson McGunnegle,” FindaGrave,
http:// www. findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page=
gr&GRid=18471 (accessed June 4, 2012).
 
McIntosh, Charles Flemming
(1813–1862, CSN)
Born at Norfolk, VA, on October 24, 1813,
McIntosh became a USN midshipman in No-
vember 1828, a passed midshipman in June 1834,
and a lieutenant in February 1841. In the Orient
during July 1846, his ship, the sloop-of-war Vin-
cennes, in company with the ship-of-the-line
Columbus, was rebuffed while attempting to pay
a diplomatic call on Japan. McIntosh served
aboard the Home Squadron sloop-of-war Sara-
toga during the 1847–1848 Mexican War. On De-
cember 4, 1849, he married Isabella Donaldson
Thornburn (1827–?). Promoted to commander
on March 2, 1857, he was in charge of the Nor-
folk, VA, naval rendezvous (recruiting station)
on April 12, 1861. He immediately resigned.
McIntosh was formally dismissed from the
Federal service on April 20, joined the Virginia
navy in May, received the state militia rank of
lieutenant colonel, and was detailed to erect bat-
teries at Fort Nelson. He became a CSN com-
mander on June 13. On March 2, 1862, he was
ordered to New Orleans to assume command
of. and finish, the ironclad CSS Louisiana. Since
the previous year, laborers had struggled to
In March 862 Cmdr. Charles F. McIntosh, CSN,
was ordered to finish the ironclad Louisiana at
New Orleans. Unable to do so before the USN
assault on the city in April, McIntosh fought her
as a floating battery and was mortally wounded
during the defense (Scharf, History of the Con-
federate States Navy).
Meade
complete the mighty command, covering her
with protective railroad iron and bringing
aboard a formidable battery of heavy guns. Un-
able to obtain propulsion machinery, McIntosh
was forced to commission her as a floating bat-
tery on April 20 and moor her above Fort St.
Philip, on the Lower Mississippi below the Cres-
cent City. As ships of the U.S. West Gulf Block-
ading Squadron (WGBS) passed on April 24,
three grapeshot from one of them struck McIn-
tosh, who was mortally wounded but lingered
until May 13. Shortly after McIntosh was hit, the
Louisiana was set ablaze and abandoned, with
most of her crew becoming POWs. The Spanish
River gun battery at Mobile, AL, was named Bat-
tery McIntosh in his honor. In 1866 his remains
were returned to Cedar Grove Cemetery, Nor-
folk, VA.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Callahan; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;;
DANFS; Foenander; Porter, A Record of Events in Nor-
folk Col, VA, from April 19th, 1861 to May 10th, 1861;
Crozier, ed., The Buckners of Virginia and the Allied
Families of Strother and Ashby; Richmond Daily Dis-
patch, May 21, 1862; Allison Stec Bell, “Charles F.
McIntosh,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=3561&GSvcid=266131
&GRid=61927207& (accessed September 6, 2012).
Meade, Richard Worsam, III
(sometimes Jr.) (1837–1897, USN)
The son of USN Capt. Richard Worsam Meade,
Sr. (1807–1870), and Clara Forsyth Meigs Meade
(1811–1879), Junior Meade was born at NYC on
October 9, 1837. He was appointed a USN acting
midshipman on August 2, 1850, and was at-
tached to the Mediterranean frigate San Jacinto
(1851–1853) and the sloop-of-war St. Louis (1853–
1854). During 1854 and 1855, he sailed with the
Home Squadron Columbia, and in October of
the latter year he was posted to the USNA, from
which he emerged in June 1856 with the rank of
passed midshipman. Assigned to the steam
frigate Merrimac for the next year, he undertook
an extensive Africa Squadron antislavery cruise
aboard the frigate Cumberland and then the
sloop-of-war Dale from 1857 to 1859. Promoted
to master and then lieutenant in January 1858,
he served on the Pacific Squadron Saranac and
then the Cyane (1858–August 1861).
Meade 2

Meade was sick with Acapulco fever at the

New York naval hospital until October 1861, was
a gunnery training officer until January 2, 1862,
and then executive officer of the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) steamer Cone-
maugh until September 8, becoming a lieutenant
commander on July 16. Transferred to the Mis-
sissippi Squadron, he assumed command of the
Pook turtle Louisville, then he was on anti-
insurgent duty between Memphis and Helena
but was detached in December when invalided
back to New York on sick leave. On New York
navy yard duty from late January 1863, he com-
manded the naval battalion that saw action dur-
ing the New York draft riots in July. In Sep-
tember Meade assumed command of the SABS
gunboat Marblehead in South Carolina waters,
including the December Battle of Johns Island,
SC, for which he won commendation. He was
captain of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron
(WGBS) steamer Chocura on the Texas coast
from May 1864 to July 1865, during which time
he captured seven blockade runners. However,
in January 1865 he permitted the escape from
the mouth of the Calcasieu River of a notorious Joining the Mississippi Squadron in September
Southern gunboat, the former USN tinclad 862 as captain of the ironclad Louisville, Lt.
Cmdr. Richard W. Meade, rd, USN, participated
Wave. in a number of fall punitive expeditions ordered
Meade married Rebecca Paulding (1837– by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman along the river
1921), daughter of RAdm. Hiram Paulding (1797– between Memphis and Helena. Later achieving
1878) on June 6, 1865; the couple would have one the rank of rear admiral, he, like RAdm. William
child. After three years at the USNA, during A. Kirkland, USN (q.v.), was also censured by
which he became a commander in September President Grover Cleveland in 8, bringing
about his resignation (courtesy Naval History
1868, he captained the Pacific Station steamer and Heritage Command).
Saginaw off Alaska in 1869 and 1870 on a coastal
survey surrounding the purchase of the territory and 1895 of the North Atlantic Squadron (NAS),
from Russia. From 1871 to 1873, he cruised the from which he resigned on May 20 following a
South Pacific aboard the Narragansett and ne- censure from President Grover Cleveland (1837–
gotiated a commercial treaty with the Samoan 1908) over a policy dispute.
Islands, spending the remainder of the decade On August 17, 1895, Meade, a member of
on Washington, D.C., shore duties and writing many local civic groups, became a hero when
several professional books. From 1879 until 1882 he directed the firemen who saved the blazing
he commanded the Vandalia in the North At- Philadelphia Union League Club building.
lantic and West Indies, being promoted to cap- Taken ill with the grippe in early April 1897, he
tain on March 13, 1880. Meade then served as died on May 4 as the result of complications fol-
captain of the new dispatch vessel Dolphin, was lowing an emergency appendicitis operation
commandant of the Washington Navy Yard and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
(1887–1890), and was member of various official Two 20th century USN destroyers were named
boards, becoming commodore on May 5, 1892, in his honor, DD-274 and DD-602.
and rear admiral on September 7, 1894. He was Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
naval representative at the World Columbian tons’, IV; Callahan; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; Smith, Civil
Expedition in Chicago and commander in 1894 War Biographies from the Western Waters; DANFS;
 
“Richard Worsam Meade,” ArlingtonCemetery, http://
www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rwmeade.htm (accessed
January 12, 2012); New York Times, May 5, 1897; ORN,
I, 22; ORN, I, 23; Gregory Speciale, “Richard Worsam
Meade,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GSsr= 3601&GSvcid= 266131&
GRid=12066210& (accessed January 12, 2012); Smith,
Le Roy Fitch; Meade, Manual of the Boat Exercises at
the U.S. Naval Academy; Meade, A Treatise on Naval
Architecture and Ship-Building; Meade, Ordnance In-
structions for the United States Navy; Meade, trans.,
Our Naval School and Naval Officers; New York Times,
May 21, August 19, 1895, May 5, 1897; Washington Post,
May 7, 1897; Daily Inter-Ocean, May 11, 22, 1897.
Miller, Charles W.
(In USN Service 1862–1865)
Hoosier waterman Miller was appointed an
acting master’s mate in the Mississippi Squadron
on October 1, 1862. In late February 1863 he was
part of an officer shift aboard the Pook turtle
Carondelet when Acting Volunteer Lieutenant
John McLeod Murphy (1827–1871) took com-
mand. Miller became an acting ensign on
August 1, rising to the rank of acting master and
executive officer on May 18, 1864. By June, Miller
was temporary commander of the Carondelet
in the absence of her permanent captain and
Appointed executive officer of the famous river ironclad Carondelet in May 86, Acting Master
Charles W. Miller, USN, became the vessel’s captain in June and commanded her during the December
Battle of Nashville. Superseded in charge during February 86, he resumed his billet as XO (courtesy
Naval History and Heritage Command).
Miller
skippered her on a brief expedition up the White
River in July. The vessel was badly worn by that
fall and seldom engaged in any strenuous steam-
ing. However, following a period of repair,
Miller, who was left in charge, led the craft into
the December 1864 Battle of Nashville, and dur-
ing that campaign she was actively engaged in
attacks upon Confederate horse artillery
blockading the Cumberland River at Bell’s Mills.
In February and March 1865 new men took over
the ironclad, leaving Miller as executive officer.
He was honorably discharged on September 27,
1865.
His life and fate beyond the war are unknown.
Sources: Callahan; Smith, Civil War Biographies
from the Western Waters; Thomas A. Pearson, “Land-
locked Sailors: U.S. Navy Civil War Volunteer Officers
from Midwestern States,” St. Louis Public Library Pre-
mier Library Sources 2000, http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/
libsrc/ldsailor.htm (accessed September 30, 2011);
Smith, Le Roy Fitch; Smith, USS Carondelet.
Miller, Joseph Nelson (1836–1909,
USN)
The third of four sons of local auditor Reuben
Miller (1797–1897) and Mary Tabb Hedges Miller
(1802–1875), Joseph was born in Springfield,
Miller 

OH, on November 22, 1836. He was appointed

a USN midshipman on October 1, 1851, and
graduated from the USNA on June 10, 1854.
From September through October 1856 he
served aboard the Pacific Squadron flagship, the
ship-of-the-line Independence, and in February
1857 he returned as an instructor to the USNA.
Detailed to the Home Squadron sloop-of-war
Preble from October 1858 to September 1860 and
promoted to lieutenant on February 19 of the
latter year, he resumed his previous USNA duty
until May 1861, when he was appointed captain
of the Atlantic Blockading Squadron brig Perry.
The Perry served off Florida until July and
captured two blockade runners before serving
as a Washington, D.C., Potomac River guardship
during the Battle of Bull Run. From November
to May 1862 he commanded the North Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (NABS) steam gunboat
Cambridge and then became executive officer of
the USNA training vessel John Adams at New-
port, RI. In September, after his July 16 advance- The executive officer of the monitor Passaic, Lt.
ment to lieutenant commander, Miller became Cmdr. Joseph N. Miller, USN, assumed the same
post aboard the monitor Sangamon in November
executive officer of the South Atlantic Blockad- 86. In command by February 86, he partic-
ing Squadron (SABS) monitor Passaic, which ipated in the blockade of Charleston, SC, until
engaged Fort McAllister, GA, for eight hours on summer, when his ironclad operated in the
March 3, 1863. On April 7 the Passaic joined James River. Detached in November, Miller
other SABS ironclads in an intense but unsuc- became executive officer of the new twin-turret
cessful attack on the fortifications in Charleston monitor Monadnock, which participated in the
unsuccessful December attack on Fort Fisher,
Harbor; damaged, she had to undergo repair. In NC, as well as in its mid–January 86 capture
September and October Miller saw blockade (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
duty for two months as executive officer of the mand).
steam sloop-of-war Sacramento, and in Novem-
ber he became executive officer of the NABS North Atlantic Station (NAS). After work at the
monitor Sangamon, which operated from New York navy yard, during which deployment
Hampton Roads, VA. In February 1864, with he was advanced to commander on January 25,
Miller in command, the ironclad was assigned 1870, Miller was captain and chief of staff of the
to the SABS and participated in the blockade of Pacific Station Southern Division on the sloop-
Charleston until summer, when she returned to of-war Ossippe from April 1870 to November
the NABS and operated in the James River. De- 1872 and captain of the NAS monitor Ajax until
tached in November, Miller became executive May 1874, undertook Washington hydrographic
officer of the new twin-turret monitor Monad- duties, and was captain of the Pacific Station
nock, which participated in the unsuccessful De- sloop-of-war Tuscarora until August 1876. As-
cember attack on Fort Fisher, NC, as well as in sistant chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks
its mid–January 1865 capture. through March 1877, Miller was inspector of the
Miller taught in February 1865 at the USNA, 11th Lighthouse District at Detroit until October
where on November 22, 1866, he married Ellen 1880. On November 13, 1877, he married Helen
Comstock (1833–1867), who died on August 22, Wills (1849–1916); the couple had a daughter.
1867. He became executive officer aboard the Promoted to captain on May 28, 1881, Miller
steam sloop of war Powhatan in October, un- commanded the Boston receiving ship, the
dertaking a two-year cruise with the Pacific and screw frigate Tennessee, and was a member of
 
various boards from April 1882 through April
1885. From May 1888 to July 1892, he was
captain-of-the-yard, New York navy yard and
commander of the cruiser Chicago, flagship of
the Squadron of Evolution. Following board
duty and advancement to commodore on April
16, 1894, he served as Boston navy yard com-
mandant. Named a rear admiral on March 21,
1897, Miller was Pacific Station commander after
July, raised the U.S. flag over Hawaii on August
12, and operated his fleet through the Spanish-
American War until October 1898.
Miller retired to his East Orange, NJ, resi-
dence on November 22, 1898. Taken ill in early
1909, he died on April 25 and was buried at Ar-
lington National Cemetery three days later. No
USN warships have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 4th ed.; Cogar; SLGMSD, pseud., “RAdm. Jo-
seph Nelson Miller,” FindaGrave, http://www.finda
grave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42329938
(accessed July 11, 2013); “Admiral Joseph N. Miller,”
Timely Topics, I; The Youth’s Companion 83 (May 15,
1909), 230; DANFS; Boston Daily Globe, July 8, 1898;
New York Times, November 19, 23, 1898, April 27,
1909; Washington Evening Star, May 26, 1909; Wash-
ington Post, May 9, July 23, 1897; April 29, 1909; De-
troit Free Press, April 27, 1909.
Mitchell
Mitchell, John Gardner
(1833–1868, USN)
Born at Nantucket, MA, in 1833, Mitchell was
appointed a USN midshipman on October 2,
1850, and, following his 1856 USNA graduation,
became a passed midshipman and then in 1858
a master and a lieutenant. He served on the San
Francisco–like USCS steamer Active until trans-
ferred back to the USNA in 1860. Mitchell was
aboard in the Gulf Squadron sloop-of-war
Sabine when the Civil War began.
In May 1861, while attached to the steam
frigate Minnesota, Mitchell was prize master of
the captured ship North Carolina on a voyage
from Hampton Roads, VA, to New York. In Au-
gust he was given ordnance duty at the Wash-
ington Navy Yard, becoming a lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, 1862. On May 1, 1863, he
assumed command of the North Atlantic Block-
ading Squadron (NABS) gunboat Commodore
Jones and undertook operations on Virginia’s
rivers and coast, performing picket and patrol
duty, dragging for torpedoes (mines), skirmish-
ing with enemy cavalry, shelling shore installa-
tions, and capturing contraband goods with her
shore parties. The Commodore Jones joined in

Active in the amphibious war in Virginia waters, Lt. Cmdr. John G. Mitchell, USN, was appointed
captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad Carondelet in November 86. He commanded the
famous ship (depicted third from left) during the March-May 86 Red River campaign. He was mur-
dered while recruiting for his ship at San Francisco in October 868 (courtesy Naval History and Her-
itage Command).
Muir
the evacuation of West Point, VA, on May 31 and
June 1 in the expedition up the Mattaponi River
from June 3 to 7 and in the Chickahominy River
demonstration of June 10–13. He then put to sea
in search of CSS Tacony from June 13 to 19.
Mitchell became commander of the Mississippi
Squadron ironclad Carondelet in November
1863 and, between March and May 1864, cap-
tained the veteran Pook turtle on the Red River
campaign in Louisiana, bringing her safely back
from Alexandria via the famous emergency
dam. At the end of the month Mitchell took over
his squadron’s 8th District and in early June was
sent up the White River to assist in the rebuff of
Confederate cavalry and guerrillas then harass-
ing Union shipping. Shortly thereafter, having
become ill, he was granted recuperative leave.
In late 1865 Mitchell was posted to the USNA,
was then transferred as executive officer to the
Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war Pensacola, and
in late 1867 became skipper of the sloop-of-war
Saginaw, the first ship built at the Mare Island
navy yard. In spring and summer 1868 the Sag-
inaw patrolled off Southeast Alaska.
Not long after returning to San Francisco, CA,
for replenishment, Mitchell obtained permission
to augment his depleted crew through personal
recruiting. Having gone into the city from Mare
Island to recruit on October 21, he was attacked
by two club-wielding men on Sutter Street in
early evening and murdered. Mitchell Bay in
Alaska was named in his honor in 1869; how-
ever, there have been no USN warships named
for him.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; ORN, I, 5; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; North American and United States
Gazette, October 23, 1868; Stockton (CA) Daily Inde-
pendent, October 23, 31, 1868; Vallejo (CA) Weekly
Chronicle, October 24, 1868; San Francisco Daily
Morning Chronicle, October 23, 1868, February 16,
1869; Smith, USS Carondelet.
Muir, Walter (1836–1916, USN)
The son of shipbuilder/caulker William and
Agnes Strong Muir, Walter was born in Scotland
on April 22, 1836. Upon the death of his mother
and his father’s remarriage, his family moved to
Rondout, NY, in 1848 and subsequently to Chi-
cago and then a farm in Lake County, IL. He
supplemented his public education through
6
study at the Wauconda Academy in Wauconda,
IL, and afterwards returned to Chicago, where
he worked in a shipyard and studied law. Upon
reaching his majority, Muir participated in the
Pike’s Peak gold rush before settling in Denver;
he thereafter became a merchandiser at Fort
Kearney. In 1860, he returned to Chicago and
took up work as a ships carpenter.
Muir was among the first to enlist for three
months as an Illinois volunteer upon the out-
break of the Civil War in April 1861, but his com-
pany was too late to join a regiment forming at
Freeport, IL, so it was transferred as Company
I into the 15th Illinois, where Muir was ap-
pointed orderly sergeant. When soldiers were
required to help man the gunboats of the West-
ern Flotilla, he was one of 23 from his regiment
detailed in time to participate in the campaign
against Island No. 10, Fort Pemberton, and
Memphis in the spring of 1862. Subsequently
promoted to master’s mate, he found himself at
the fleet base at Illinois, where he was, due to
his earlier work as an orderly sergeant, detailed
to assume charge of the naval post office. Ad-
vanced to the rank of acting ensign upon for-
mation of the Mississippi Squadron in October,
he was detailed to join the crew of the new iron-
clad gunboat Chillicothe as her fourth master.
By the time of the ironclad’s participation in the
February–April 1863 Yazoo Pass expedition, an
effort to flank Vicksburg, MS, from the north,
Muir had risen to executive officer. Badly dam-
aged in that expedition, the gunboat was under
repair until September, when it returned to serv-
ice. During that break, Muir married Lovisa L.
Wheelock of McHenry County, IL; the couple
would have seven children. While en route
south, the vessel was damaged due to the faulty
performance of her captain and Muir succeeded
him in acting command of the Chillicothe until
just before Christmas. The following spring he
transferred to the ironclad Cincinnati, aboard
which he participated in the campaign against
Mobile, AL, and finally resigned from the USN
in June 1865.
Walter Muir returned briefly to Chicago be-
fore purchasing a farm in Steele County, MN,
where he took the family and farmed for 15 years
while also serving in the state legislature. In 1879
the Muirs removed to Hunter, ND, and became
deeply involved in the state activities of the Pop-
  Murphy
ulist Party during the 1890s. He unsuccessfully
ran on different occasions for governor, con-
gressman, and twice for U.S. senator, losing one
of the latter races by three votes. Muir died at
home on January 17, 1916, and was buried in the
area. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: Callahan; Myron J. Smith, Jr., Joseph
Brown and His Civil War Ironclads: USS Chillicothe,
Indianola, and Tuscumbia (Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
2017); Lounsberry, Early History of North Dakota, II.

Murphy, John Mcleod (1827–1871,

USN)
Born on February 14, 1827, in Westchester
County, NY, Murphy was appointed a USN mid-
shipman on August 10, 1841. Late in 1846 he
joined the Home Squadron bomb brig
Stromboli, which arrived in the Gulf of Mexico
in April 1847 to participate in the Mexican War,
supporting the capture of Tabasco in June and
providing blockade and gunfire support until
detached in July 1848. Becoming a passed mid-
shipman on August 10, 1847, Murphy married
Mary Teresa Mooney (1831–?) in NYC on No-
vember 6; the couple would have four children.
In 1849 Murphy and William Nicholson Jeffers,
III (1824–1883), coauthored the text Nautical
Routine and Stowage, with Short Rules in Navi-
gation, which became required reading in 1861.
In 1851 Murphy was hydrographic assistant on
Maj. John G. Barnard’s survey of the Isthmus of A former naval officer, engineer, New York
Tehuantepec but resigned on May 10, 1852, to politician, and colonel of New York volunteers,
become a first officer with the Collins Steamship John McLeod Murphy transferred to the USN in
Line. He resigned from that position the follow- January 86, was commissioned an acting vol-
ing year and became a civilian surveyor and en- unteer lieutenant, and succeeded Capt. Henry
gineer, and three years later he was named NYC Walke as commander of the Mississippi Squad-
ron ironclad Carondelet. He led his vessel
surveyor. As his heart was still with ships and through the capture of Vicksburg but was forced
the sea, Murphy quit that post a year later to be- ashore by illness in September (courtesy Naval
come the civilian constructing engineer at the History and Heritage Command).
Brooklyn Navy Yard. In 1860 friends persuaded
him to try his luck in politics, and in the No- SUNY Maritime College. Also while in Albany,
vember elections he won a seat in the New York Murphy wrote American Ships and Ship-
State Senate representing the 4th District. Before building.
the month was over he was appointed chairman After Fort Sumter Murphy resigned his seat
of a special committee to investigate the man- to serve as the first colonel of the 15th Regiment,
agement of Central Park, NYC. In March 1861 New York Volunteer Engineers. With this rank
he introduced a bill for the establishment of a and force, the former naval officer saw hard
publicly funded nautical school for boys in New service with the Army of the Potomac, especially
York Harbor; the unsuccessful idea later became during the Peninsular Campaign. In early
Muse
August 1862 the Albany, NY, newspapers an-
nounced his death, which error he dispelled in
a note to New York Times. Disillusioned with
the military after participating in the disaster at
Fredericksburg, Murphy addressed a letter in
late December to RAdm. David Dixon Porter
(1813–1891), commander of the USN Mississippi
Squadron, supported by letters of reference from
Capt. Henry A. Wise (1819–1869) of the Navy’s
Ordnance Bureau and RAdm. Andrew Hull
Foote (1806–1863), former inland navy chief,
seeking a berth in the west. That communica-
tion resulted in his appointment as an acting
volunteer lieutenant and his transfer to the Pook
turtle Carondelet on March 4, 1863. He skip-
pered the ironclad during the Porter-led expe-
dition in Steele’s Bayou, March 18–24, and dur-
ing that adventure won praise for landing two
boat howitzers and 300 men near Rolling Fork
to hold that place until the Union ships could
cover it with their guns. Murphy next took
Carondelet past the Vicksburg batteries in mid–
April and engaged the guns at Grand Gulf at the
end of the month. His vessel remained active
below the Vicksburg fortress until its July 4 sur-
render. He relinquished command of the gun-
boat on September 1 due to illness and resigned
his commission July 30, 1864.
Murphy returned to NYC and resumed his
profession as a civil engineer, but several at-
tempts to reenter politics failed, leading to his
appointment as inspector at the New York Cus-
toms House. He was a frequent contributor to
the newspaper and periodical press on subjects
connected with his specialty.
The apparent victim of a heart attack, Murphy
died on June 2, 1871, and was buried in Calvary
Cemetery, Woodside, NY, in a plot he had pur-
chased in April 1863. In its obituary, New York
Times honored the 44-year-old as “a brave,
benevolent, and gifted man.” The USN named
a 20th century destroyer in his honor (DD-603).
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; Smith, USS Carondelet; Smith, Civil
War Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith,
Joseph Brown and His Civil War Ironclads; Appletons’
IV; Vanicia, pseud., “John McLeod Murphy,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?pag
= gr&GRid=55037067 (accessed August 15, 2011);
“John McLeod Murphy,” Rootweb, http://wc.rootsweb.
ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mcclary
wm&id=I372 (accessed July 12, 2016); Phisterer, New
8
York in the War of the Rebellion, II; New York State
Division of Military and Naval Affairs, “Military His-
tory: 15th Engineer Regiment During the War,” Unit
History Project, https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/
civil/other/15thEng/15thEngCWN.htm (accessed Au-
gust 15, 2011); New York Herald, June 22, 1857, May 12,
1861; New York Times, November 23, 1860, April 2,
1861, August 11, 1862, June 2, 4, 1871; Milwaukee Sen-
tinel, August 17, 1871.
Muse, William Templeman
(1811–1864, CSN)
The second son of William T. Muse, Sr. (1780–
1823), and Mary Blount Muse (1779–1813), Muse
was born at Edenton, NC, on April 1, 1811. Fol-
lowing local schooling he was appointed a USN
midshipman on June 1, 1828. He was on the Pa-
cific Squadron schooner Dolphin until ordered
to the New York naval school in 1833, from
which he graduated as a passed midshipman on
June 14, 1834. After leave, he served from 1836
to 1841 aboard “Old Ironsides,” the frigate Con-
stitution, in both the Mediterranean and Pacific,
during which time he was promoted to lieuten-
ant on December 29, 1840. In 1842 Muse mar-
ried Priscilla Jane Gantt (1822–1893)—the
couple would have four children—and there-
after, until November 1845, he was on the Brazil
Squadron frigate Raritan. After leave and shore
duty, he joined the East Indies Squadron steam
frigate Susquehanna, which after trials voyaged
to China. Returning home in late 1851, Muse was
assigned to the USNO from August 1852 until
September 14, 1855, when he became a com-
mander. Unemployed through 1856, he was sec-
onded to the USCS from 1857 to 1861.
Declaring for the South, Muse was stricken
from the USN rolls on April 2, 1861. Shortly
thereafter, as he accepted a commission in the
NC state navy, he learned that his Alexandria,
VA, home was occupied by Union troops. Ap-
pointed a CSN commander on June 24, 1861, he
was detailed to outfit gunboats at the captured
Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk. Muse was cap-
tain of the CSS Ellis, which participated in the
defense of Hatteras Inlet, NC, in August, and
thereafter of the Wilmington-based CSS Uncle
Ben. While serving aboard the ironclad battery
CSS Arctic in 1863, Muse helped oversee con-
struction of the ironclad ram North Carolina at
the city, becoming her captain when she began
 
service in the Cape Fear River at the beginning
of 1864.
Catching typhoid fever, Muse died at Wilm-
ington on April 8. His remains were sent by rail
to Warren County, NC, for burial in the Old
Warrenton Cemetery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; DANFS; Kelly Agan, “William
T. Muse,” NCpedia, http://ncpedia.org/biography/
muse-william-t (accessed September 26, 2016); Anne
Rucker, “Com. William Templeman Muse,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GRid=7845467 (accessed September 26,
2016); Wilmington Daily Journal, April 11, 1864.
Myers, Julian, Sr. (1825–1899,
CSN)
Third of 12 children of Mordecai Myers
(1794–1865) and Sarah Henrietta Cohen Myers
(1799–1886), Julian was born at Savannah, GA,
on May 5, 1825. Schooled locally, he joined the
USN against the wishes of his parents in 1838
and received an appointment as USN midship-
man on March 2, 1839. From 1842 to 1844 he was
aboard the Home Squadron schooner Boxer. Be-
coming a Passed Midshipman on July 2, 1845,
he was posted aboard the Africa Squadron
frigate United States from May 1846 to February
Myers
1849, when he was seconded to the USCS and
engaged in East Coast hydrographic surveys
until July 1852. While in Key West, FL, on Feb-
ruary 18 of the latter year, he married Elizabeth
“Lizzie” Wall (1832–1906); the couple would
have four children. From July 1853 until May
1854, Myers served on the Brazil Squadron sloop
of war Jamestown, after which he was posted to
the USNO. He was twice promoted in 1855: mas-
ter (February 21) and lieutenant (September 20).
From late 1858 to December 2, 1861, he was
aboard the East Indies Squadron steam sloop-
of-war Hartford. Myers declared for the South.
Dismissed from the service, he was arrested and
held at Fort Warren, Boston, MA, until paroled
and released on January 16, 1862.
Myers joined the CSN as a 1st lieutenant on
February 6, 1862, and initially served at the
Richmond naval station. Posted to Selma, AL,
he participated in the completion and outfitting
of the ironclad CSS Huntsville, which, when the
craft was delivered in August 1863, was only par-
tially armored and her engines defective. Still,
Myers was appointed captain and ordered to
guard the waters of Mobile Bay. Unable to pro-
vide much assistance during the August 5, 1864,
Battle of Mobile, Myers afterwards took his
command up the Spanish River and employed
her as a floating battery to help protect the upper

Late in 862 Richmond naval station officer Cmdr. Julian Myers, Sr., CSN, was posted to Selma, AL,
to participate in the completion and outfitting of the ironclad Huntsville depicted in this drawing by
RAdm. David G. Farragut. Upon her August 86 delivery, he became captain and was ordered to
guard the waters of Mobile Bay. Only partially armored and with defective engines, the vessel was
unable to provide much assistance during the August , 86, Battle of Mobile and was thereafter
turned into a Spanish River floating battery (Navy Official Records).
Nicholson
portion of the bay and the city of Mobile. During
this time, he was named a 1st lieutenant in the
Provisional Navy, to rank from January 6, 1864.
When Federal forces closed in on the city, the
Huntsville was scuttled near Blakeley Island on
April 12, 1865, her captain and crew fleeing
ashore. Myers was paroled at Nunna Hubba
Bluff, AL, on May 10, but unwilling to be “re-
constructed” he refused to sign the oath of alle-
giance to the U.S. He and his wife moved to Sa-
vannah, where he operated a rug mill.
While at the Montclair, NJ, home of one of
his daughters, Myers died on May 21, 1899; his
remains were returned to Savannah for burial
at Laurel Grove Cemetery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; DANFS; “Julian Myers, Sr.,”
John S. Whitaker Genealogy Home Page, http://www.
genealogy. com/ ftm/ w/ h/ i/ John- S- Whitaker/ WEB
SITE-0001/UHP-0008.html (accessed May 3, 2016);
Jane O. Kelly, “Capt. Julian Myer,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=
myers&GSfn=julian&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GS
st=12&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=98025068&df=
all& (accessed May 3, 2016); Robert Kane, “CSS Hunts-
ville,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, http://www.encyclope
diaofalabama.org/article/h-3709 (accessed May 3,
2016); New York Times, May 27, 1899; New York Herald,
May 27, 1899; New Orleans Daily Picayune, May 27,
1899.
Nicholson, James William
Augustus “War Horse”
(1821–1887, USN)
The son of Nathaniel Dowse Nicholson
(1792–1822) and Hannah Gray Nicholson and
grandson of Continental Navy officer Samuel
Nicholson (1743–1813, the first commander of
“Old Ironsides,” the frigate Constitution, James
W.A. Nicholson was born at Dedham, MA, on
March 10, 1821. Appointed a USN midshipman
on February 10, 1838, he was aboard the West
Indies Squadron sloops-of-war Levant, Natchez
and Warren until January 1841. Completing a
year-long Mediterranean cruise, Nicholson had
New York navy yard duty until 1843, then after
studying at the Philadelphia naval school, he be-
came a passed midshipman on May 20, 1844.
On the Home Squadron steam frigate Princeton
until March 1846, he served in the Mexican War
through September 1847 aboard the Pacific
Squadron sloop of war Lexington and the frigate

Savannah. Following leave, Nicholson shipped
aboard the storeship Fredonia, transporting in-
valids from the war zone to Norfolk, VA,
through July 1848. Unemployed for a year, he
served on the West Indies Squadron flagship,
the frigate Raritan, until April 1850 and then un-
dertook an 18-month cruise aboard the Pacific
Squadron paddle-wheel storeship Southampton,
during which deployment he became lieutenant
on April 24, 1852. After leave he joined the East
Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Vandalia in Feb-
ruary 1853 and participated in the opening of
Japan under Com. Matthew C. Perry (1794–
1858). Taken ill, Nicholson returned to the U.S.
in November 1854 and was on sick leave until
October 1855, when he was given duty at the
New York navy yard. From October 1857 to
March 1860, he served aboard the African
Squadron sloop-of-war Vincennes and thereafter
provided instruction aboard the New York re-
ceiving ship until April 1861. During 1860 his
wife and the mother of his two children, Ellen
Berrian (1826–1860), passed away. Upon the eve
of the Civil War Nicholson became executive of-
ficer on the steamer Pocahontas, which was sent
to the relief of Fort Sumter. However, he arrived
after the surrender of April 13. Upon the return
of the Pocahontas he was detailed aboard the
steam sloop-of-war Pensacola at the Washington
Navy Yard.
Nicholson assumed command of the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) gunboat
Isaac Smith, which participated in the Novem-
ber USN assault on Port Royal, SC. In January
1862 she joined in an expedition to Savannah,
GA, and served in Florida waters until recalled
to New York. During this deployment, Nichol-
son became a commander on July 16. On New
York navy yard ordnance duty until December
1863, he was then named captain of the Canon-
icus-class West Gulf Blockading Squadron
(WGBS) monitor Manhattan, which fought in
the August 4, 1864, Battle of Mobile, engaging
both Fort Morgan and the CS ironclad ram Ten-
nessee II. The Manhattan bombarded Fort
Powell for twelve days and after a siege of six
weeks participated in the capture of Fort Mor-
gan. In November she put into New Orleans,
LA; resupplied, she joined the blockade off the
mouth of the Red River. Detached at New Year’s
1865, Nicholson assumed command of the
 
In December 86 Cmdr. James W. A. Nicholson,
USN, assumed command of the monitor Man-
hattan, one of the Union ironclads that fought
CSS Tennessee during the August 86 Battle of
Mobile Bay. Remaining in the Gulf until Novem-
ber, she was refitted at New Orleans, where
Nicholson was detached and ordered to other
duties (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
paddle-wheel Pacific Squadron gunboat Mo-
nongo in March and cruised off the west coast
of South America until October 1866, being ap-
pointed captain on July 25, 1866.
From August 1867 until May 1868 Nicholson
commanded the steam frigate Wampanoag,
which during her February 1868 trials set a
speed record that stood for 21 years. His first
wife having passed away, Nicholson is believed
to have married Mary Heape Martin (1843–?)
in 1870. He served as navigation officer of the
New York navy yard until May 1871, when he be-
came captain of the Brazil Squadron flagship,
the sloop-of-war Lancaster. Nicholson, who be-
came a commodore on November 8, 1873, was
on board duty until August 1876, when he be-
came commandant of the New York navy yard
until May 1880. Unemployed until September
1881, he became commander of the European
Squadron on October 1, the same day he was ad-
vanced to rear admiral. Flying his flag in the
Lancaster, Nicholson was off Alexandria, Egypt,
Owen
in June and July during riots that brought a
British bombardment of the harbor forts.
During the unrest, he took aboard U.S. and for-
eign refugees and sent a 100-man contingent to
guard the American consulate and rescue its
records. Detached on March 1, 1883, the admiral,
who had received a gold medal from the king of
Sweden in recognition of his Alexandria
services, was placed on the retired list on March
10.
After an illness of many months, Nicholson
died at a NYC address on October 28, 1887, and
was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, in Westch-
ester Co., NY. A 20th century USN torpedo boat
(TB-29) and three destroyers (DD-52, DD-442,
DD-982) were named in honor of the admiral
and his forbearers.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar;
Hamersly, 3rd ed.; DANFS; Friend, Jack, West Wind,
Flood Tide: The Battle of Mobile Bay; Robert B. Ely,
“This Filthy Ironpot (Manhattan)”; “Nicholson” Roots
Web, http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.
cgi?op=GET&db=brucen&id=I1787 (accessed Sep-
tember 12, 2016); New York Tribune, April 9, 1883; New
York Times, July 14, 1882, November 1, 1887; Chicago
Daily Tribune, October 27, 1887.
Owen, Elias Kane (1834–1877, USN)
The third and last child of Indian agent
Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, Sr. (1801–1835),
and Emeline Hochkiss Owen (1807–1882), Elias
Kane was born in Chicago, IL, on November 21,
1834. Sponsored by Abraham Lincoln, Kane was
appointed a USN midshipman on December 7,
1848, and attended the USNA in 1849, then
joined the Mediterranean Squadron flagship, the
razee Independence, until 1852. For two years, he
served aboard the Africa Squadron sloop-of-war
Marion, becoming a passed midshipman on
June 15, 1854. Owen was attached to the U.S.
Coast Survey late that year and was advanced to
master and lieutenant in September 1855. Briefly
aboard the West Indies Squadron sloop-of-war
Jamestown during 1858, he transferred to the
Africa Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga for two
more years of antislavery patrol. On April 11,
1860, while on leave, Owen married Sarah Jane
Reily (1836–1910) in Kaskaskia, Randolph
County, IL. Having returned to the Saratoga late
in the year, he returned with his wife to Philadel-
phia in August 1861. They had no children.
Owen 2

Active on the East Coast blockade, Lt. Cmdr. Elias K. Owen, USN, became captain of the Mississippi
Squadron ironclad Louisville in December 862, joining in the Yazoo River Expedition. In January
86 his command participated in the capture of Arkansas Post, and thereafter Owen was in all of the
important fights of the Vicksburg campaign as well as the 86 Red River operation. This 86 Currier
& Ives print shows the Louisville (third from left) in action at Arkansas Post (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).

During September–December 1861 Owen was
aboard the steam gunboat James Adger, which
unsuccessfully sought the Confederate ocean
raider Nashville off Ireland, returning to join the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
blockade off Georgetown, SC, and in March
1862 Charleston, SC. Promoted lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, he assumed command of the
Mississippi Squadron ironclad gunboat Louis-
ville in late December, participating in the Yazoo
River campaign against Chickasaw Bayou and
the assault on Snyder’s Bluff, north of Vicksburg.
In 1863 Owen and the Louisville participated in
the capture of Arkansas Post in January, the
Steele’s Bayou expedition in March, passage by
the Vicksburg batteries on April 14, and the Bat-
tle of Grand Gulf on April 29. Following Vicks-
burg’s July 4 surrender, Owen took charge of the
squadron’s 5th Division and, in addition to over-
seeing the initial salvage of the sunken ironclad
Cairo, spent the remainder of the year battling
Confederate irregular forces along the river-
banks. In February 1864 he led the naval com-
ponent of the Coates Expedition to Liverpool
Heights, on the Yazoo. In March–May he par-
ticipated in the Red River Expedition and in
June engaged the enemy in an action off Colum-
bia, LA.
Posted aboard the New York receiving ship
in spring 1865, Owen became a commander on
July 25, 1866, and returned to the Western waters
that fall for two years of special duty at the
Mound City naval station overseeing the salvage
of sunken naval vessels, the disposition of the
river monitors, and the continuing demobiliza-
tion of naval affairs on the inland rivers. He
commanded the steam sloop Seminole of the
North Atlantic Squadron in 1868 and 1869, join-
ing in the hunt for the pirate steamer Telegrafo
off Hispaniola. From September 1870 to Sep-
tember 1873 he was captain of the Norfolk re-
ceiving ship and was thereafter unemployed
until he retired on June 9, 1876.
Owen died on April 8, 1877, at Kaskaskia, IL,
  Page
and was buried in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery
in Randolph. One 20th century USN destroyer
(DD-536) was named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; DANFS;
Callahan; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Robert W. Nesser, “Ships
of the United States Navy: New Hampshire”; Smith,
Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith,
Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo;
“Capt. Elias Kane Owen,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=3881&
GSvcid=266131&GRid=97207210& (accessed Novem-
ber 3, 2012); Mark F. Jenkins,” Elias Kane Owen,”
RootsWeb, http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/
read/OWEN/2001–08/0998590348 (accessed Novem-
ber 3, 2012).

Page, Thomas Jefferson “The

Commodore” (1808–1899, CSN)
The fourth of 14th children of Mann Page
(1766–1813) and Elizabeth Nelson Page (1770–
1853), whose father signed the Declaration of
Independence, Thomas was born at Shelley
Plantation, Rosewell, VA, on January 4, 1808.
Locally schooled, he was appointed a USN mid-
shipman on October 1, 1827, and sent to the
Norfolk naval school. Upon his graduation, he
joined the West Indies Squadron sloop-of-war
Erie on a four-year cruise. Following a period of
shore duty, during which he became a passed
midshipman on June 10, 1833, Page rejoined the
Erie, now part of the Brazil Squadron, from June
1834 to 1837. Seconded to the USCS, he ad-
vanced to lieutenant on December 20, 1839, and
served at the USNO from 1844 to 1848 honing
his hydrographic skills under Lt. Matthew Fon-
taine Maury (1806–1873). During this deploy-
ment, he married Benjamina Price Page (1818–
1904); the couple would have five children. From
February 13, 1848 until January 1851, Page
cruised in the Orient aboard the East Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Plymouth and on No-
vember 4, 1852, he became commander of the
paddle-wheel gunboat Water Witch. From Feb-
ruary 1853 to May 1856, the steamer surveyed
along the east coast of South America and its
tributary rivers and in February 1855, while on
the Rio de la Plata, was fired upon by Paraguay’s
Fort Itapiru in an unprovoked attack that killed
a crewman and forced the steamer out of the
river. Page, who became a commander on Sep-
tember 15, spent the next four years preparing
A noted prewar explorer, Capt. Thomas Jefferson
Page, CSN, commanded Confederate James
River batteries until sent in 86 to Europe,
where he became captain of the oceangoing iron-
clad Stonewall in January 86. The Civil War
being over when he arrived at Havana in May, he
turned his vessel over to the Spanish and moved
to Argentina (courtesy Naval History and Her-
itage Command).
reports of his explorations. However, his work
was interrupted between October 1858 and April
1859 when he served as fleet captain of the
Paraguay Expedition, a U.S. naval force sent to
obtain redress for the Water Witch incident.
From summer 1859 through early 1861, Page re-
turned to his South American explorations, vis-
iting rivers in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.
When the Civil War erupted on April 12, 1861,
Page, though offered a commission in the Italian
Navy, declared for the South and was dismissed
from the USN on April 22. He joined the Vir-
ginia state navy, taking command of a battery at
Gloucester Point on the York River. Becoming
a CSN commander on June 10 and an ACS ar-
tillery colonel on June 12, he retained command
Parrott
of the Gloucester Point battery while adding re-
sponsibility for the James River batteries at
Chaffin’s and Ball’s bluffs in the defense of Rich-
mond. In March 1863 he went to France to assist
in the acquisition of ocean raiders, being pro-
moted to the rank of Provisional Navy captain
on May 13. In February 1864 one of those se-
cretly contracted, the Sphynx, was under U.S.
pressure sold to the Danish government, which
refused—upon her completion and trials—to
accept delivery, ordering her returned to her
Bordeaux builders. Prior to sailing in December,
the ironclad was secretly sold to the Confed-
eracy. Page was named captain and having
boarded a crew departed Copenhagen, rechris-
tening his ship CSS Stonewall on January 6,
1865. Caught in a Bay of Biscay storm, she put
into Spanish ports for repair, being blockaded
by two USN sloops-of-war. Scaring the block-
aders away, the ironclad steamed to Lisbon and
then to Nassau and Havana, at which latter port
Page learned, on May 6, that the Civil War was
over. Handing the Stonewall over to Spanish au-
thorities in exchange for escape funds for him-
self and his crew, Page, his wife, and two sons
traveled to Argentina, where he had powerful
acquaintances who gave him a cattle farm in
Entre Rios as sanctuary.
Also commissioned an Argentine Navy cap-
tain, Page proposed a naval defense for his
adopted land, the leaders of which accepted his
plan and sent him to Great Britain to oversee
construction on their behalf of two monitors
and two gunboats. In 1873 he convinced the Ar-
gentine government to establish a torpedo sta-
tion and was on hand in 1881 when the British-
built warships were delivered. In 1882 he unsuc-
cessfully lobbied his government for a torpedo
boat designed by John Erickson (1803–1889), fa-
ther of the USS Monitor. In 1894 Page became
secretary to the Argentine diplomatic mission
to Italy and relocated his entire family to Rome.
Nicknamed “The Commodore,” he became pop-
ular in the American community.
Page died on October 23, 1899, and was
buried at Campo Cestio, the Protestant cemetery
at Rome.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Driver, Confederate Sailors, Marines, and Sig-
nalmen from Virginia and Maryland; Foenander; Cod-
dington; DANFS; NOW, pseud., “Cdr. Thomas Jeffer-

son Page,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=40867417 (accessed
September 19, 2016); “Captain Thomas Jefferson
Page”; Page, La Plata, the Argentine Confederation,
and Paraguay; Page, “Autobiographical Sketch of
Thomas Jefferson Page; Submitted by Commander
R.S. Crenshaw”; Page, “The Career of the Confederate
Cruiser Stonewall”; Hyde, “The Two Stonewalls”; Ed-
uardo C. Gerding, “The Confederate Navy and the
Argentine Hydrographic Survey: The Time of the Spar
Torpedo,” Buenos Aires Herald (December 14, 2003);
Portland Morning Oregonian, December 1, 1899.
Parrott, Enoch Greenleafe
(1815–1879, USN)
The third of six children of sea captain Enoch
Greenleafe Parrott, Sr. (1780–1828), and Susan
Parker Parrott (1780–1852) and a cousin of
Robert Parker Parrott (1804–1877), the cannon
inventor, Enoch was born at Portsmouth, NH,
on November 27, 1815. Appointed a USN mid-
shipman on December 10, 1831, he served aboard
the Brazil Squadron brig Boxer and then the
sloop-of-war Natchez until October 1835. Briefly
at the Boston navy yard and the New York naval
school, he graduated on June 15, 1837, becoming
a passed midshipman. In 1838 and 1839 he
served at the New York naval rendezvous (re-
cruiting station), the Boston navy yard, and a
training ship, the paddle-wheel steamer Fulton
II. Parrott participated in the Southern coastal
survey of the brig Consort after December, was
seconded to the USCS in 1840, and became a
lieutenant on September 8, 1841. On Africa
Squadron anti-piracy patrol from December
1842 until July 1845 aboard the sloop-of-war
Saratoga, he joined the Pacific Squadron flagship
Congress, participated in the Monterey to Los
Angeles expedition of John C. Fremont (1813–
1890), and in the Mexican War captures of Guay-
mas and Mazatlan. On leave and then aboard
the Boston receiving ship from September 1849
to December 1850, he sailed aboard the Pacific
Squadron frigate St. Lawrence (February–
August 1851), transporting U.S. exhibits to the
London Exhibition prior to taking station. Be-
tween July 1852 and May 1853, Parrott served
aboard the Mediterranean Squadron sloop-of-
war St. Louis and the Pacific Squadron sloop-
of-war St. Mary’s. Following leave, he was twice
posted to the USNO (February 1856–February
 
1858 and April 1859–April 1861). Between those
tours, he commanded the sloop-of-war Despatch
on a special antislavery patrol of the southern
U.S. coast, March 1858–March 1859.
After the Civil War began on April 12, 1861,
Parrott participated in the failed USN effort to
destroy the Gosport [VA] Navy Yard prior to his
promotion to commander on April 24. Captain
of the brig Perry on the Atlantic blockade, he
captured two blockade runners before his trans-
fer up the Potomac River to guard the ap-
proaches to Alexandria, VA, during the after-
Cousin of the cannon inventor Robert Parker
Parrott, Cmdr. Enoch G. Parrott, USN, took
command in September 86 of the monitor
Canonicus, which began James River service
in 86 and dueled with Confederate batteries
at Howlett’s Farm in June and December. Also,
in December and in January 86, Parrott’s
ironclad participated in the battles at Fort Fisher,
NC. He commanded the double-turreted moni-
tor Miantonomoh at New York from February
to May and the double-turreted monitor Age-
menticus at Boston from May to October (cour-
tesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Parrott
math of the July Battle of First Bull Run. In Au-
gust Parrott took command of the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) paddle-
wheel gunboat Augusta, which participated in
the November capture of Port Royal, SC, and
the blockade of Charleston. He commanded the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
monitor Canonicus, from September to 1863–
January 1865, overseeing her June 21 and De-
cember 5–6 engagements with Confederate
batteries at Howlett’s Farm and two fights with
Fort Fisher, NC, on December 24–25 and Janu-
ary 13–15, 1865. Detached, he commanded the
double-turreted monitor Miantonomoh at New
York from February to May and the double-
turreted monitor Agementicus at Boston from
May to October.
Parrott commanded the Boston receiving ship
from October 1865 through September 1868,
being promoted to the rank of captain on July 25,
1866. After leave, he served on several boards
and took leave, being advanced to commodore
on April 22, 1870. The bachelor was comman-
dant of the Mare Island navy yard (April 1871–
September 1872) and the Boston navy yard (Au-
gust 1872–October 1873), became rear admiral
on November 8, 1873, and commanded the Asi-
atic Station (November to March 1874), flying
his flag aboard the screw sloop-of-war Hartford.
Forced to take sick leave, he was placed on the
Retired List on April 4.
Living alone at a NYC hotel, he died of a heart
attack during the early evening of May 10, 1879,
and was buried at St. John’s Church in Ports-
mouth. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar,
I; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; DANFS; “Enoch Greenleafe Par-
rott,” The Parrot Family of Parrott Gun Fame, http://
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~parrott/
Parrott%20Gun.shtml (accessed June 27, 2016); Sandy,
pseud., “Adm. Enoch Greenleafe Parrott,” FindaGrave,
http:// www. findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page=
gr&GRid=53104855 (accessed June 27, 2016); Foster,
“Rear Admiral Enoch Greenleafe Parrott, USN of
Portsmouth, NH, 1815–1879”; Vallejo Chronicle, Sep-
tember 16, 1870; San Francisco Chronicle, Septem-
ber 21, 1870; San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, No-
vember 1, 1873; New York Times, May 11, 1879; Boston
Daily Advertiser, May 12, 1879; Hartford Daily
Courant, May 13, 1879; Baltimore Sun, May 13, 1879.
Paulding
Paulding, Leonard (1826–1867,
USN)
The son of George Paulding (1791–1855) and
Abigail Brower Paulding (1793–1826), Leonard
Paulding was born in NYC on February 16, 1826. .
He moved to Erie County, PA, with his parents,
and was appointed a USN midshipman on De-
cember 19, 1840, serving aboard the Mediter-
ranean Squadron sloop-of-war Preble upon her
return to the U.S. in 1843. Transferred to the
Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war Boston for a three-
year cruise, he became a passed midshipman in
July 1846, was seconded to the USCS late in the
decade, and had USNO duty in the early 1850s.
He married Helen Jane Offley (1828–1910) in
1852 (the couple would have four children).
Paulding advanced to lieutenant on September
14, 1855, and spent three years at the Portsmouth
navy yard. Executive officer of the Brazil Squad -
ron brig Dolphin after 1858, he was forced in
May 1861 to help scuttle her to prevent capture
by the Confederates when they occupied the
Gosport Navy Yard.
In late summer 1861 Paulding was detailed to
join the Western Flotilla and was immediately
dispatched to Chicago on recruiting duty. In
early September he assumed command of the
newly finished ironclad St. Louis and in Decem-
ber guided her down a treacherous stretch of the
Mississippi River to the unit’s Cairo, IL, base.
On January 11, 1862, Paulding’s new vessel and
another pursued Confederate gunboats from
just below Cairo to their base at Columbus, KY.
The St. Louis participated in the capture of Fort
Henry on the Tennessee River in early February
1862, while she was flotilla flagboat during the
attack on Fort Donelson. The vessel’s pilothouse
was hit during the February 14 bombardment,
and the pilot killed and three men were wounded.
In March-April the St. Louis joined in the Island
No. 10 and Fort Pillow campaigns. During the
bombardment of the latter Confederate posi-
tion, Paulding and others were wounded when
a 100-pdr. smoothbore exploded his boat. Al-
ready suffering from dysentery, the captain was
taken to Alton, IL, for medical treatment and
placed on sick leave, being promoted to the rank
of lieutenant commander on July 16. Upon his
recovery he was briefly New York navy yard ex-
ecutive officer then became captain of the pio-
6
Having commanded the Western Flotilla iron-
clad St. Louis at the Battles of Fort Henry and
Fort Donelson in February 862 as well as the
following contests at Island No.  and Fort Pil-
low, Lt. Cmdr. Leonard Paulding, USN,
wounded at the latter, took sick leave until late
summer, when he assumed command of the pio-
neer ironclad Galena, from which he was
detached in May 86 (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).
neer ironclad Galena, which served on the
James River from October to February 1863. He
was then on independent patrol off Hampton
Roads, VA. After briefly overseeing construction
detail on the abuilding paddle-wheel gunboat
Monocacy, he was captain of the James River
double-ender Eutaw from March 30 to April
1865.
Paulding became a commander on December
24, 1865, and captain of the Pacific Squadron
paddle-wheel gunboat Wateree early in 1866.
Ill for several weeks before arriving at Panama
Bay from Callao on April 23, 1867, he was diag-
nosed with a severe case of dysentery and or-
dered home on the next California steamer. Be-
fore he could leave, he died onboard his ship in
Panama Bay on April 29. His remains, buried
locally, were exhumed and placed in Arlington
National Cemetery on November 20, 1911. No
USN ships have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western
Waters; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War;
  Pegram
Biller, “From the Drafting Table to the Front Lines: executive officer of the Gosport Navy Yard at
Designing, Building, and Utilizing the Ironclad USS Norfolk. Detached in October 1858, he com-
Galena”; Ethier, “De-evolution of a Warship (Ga- manded the steamer Water Witch, which par-
lena)”; Hackemer, “The Other Union Ironclad: The
USS Galena and the Critical Summer of 1862”; Apple- ticipated in the seven-month Paraguay Expedi-
tons’, IV; Tom Painter, “Cmdr. Leonard Paulding,” tion, a U.S. naval force sent to obtain redress for
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg. an 1855 incident. Pegram was seconded to the
cgi?page=gr&GRid=41695875 (accessed May 21, 2012); USCS in October 1860 and commanded its
North American and United States Gazette, May 13,
steamer Bibb during a hydrographic survey in
1867; Daily National Intelligencer, May 18, 1867.
New York waters.
Declaring for Virginia when civil war erupted,
Pegram, Robert Baker (1811–1894, Pegram’s name was stricken from USN rolls on
April 17, 1861, and he was appointed a Virginia
CSN)
navy captain a day later. He briefly commanded
The second of 11 children of Gen. John Pe- the Gosport Navy Yard when the Federals evac-
gram (1773–1831) and Martha Ward Gregory Pe- uated, but on April 22 he took command of the
gram (1781–1836), Robert Baker Pegram was Pig Point Battery at the mouth of the Nanse-
born at “Bonneville,” Dinwiddie County, VA, on
December 10, 1811. He eventually attended the
Dinwiddie Academy. Appointed a USN mid-
shipman on February 2, 1829, he served in the
Mediterranean Squadron sloop-of-war Boston
and the frigate United States until 1834. Becom-
ing a passed midshipman on July 3, 1835, he
married Lucy Cargill (?–1870) on November 26;
the couple would have six children. Pegram
joined the East Indies Squadron frigate John
Adams, which between May 5, 1838 and June
1840 made a world cruise in company with the
squadron flagship Columbia. Assigned to the
USNO, he was advanced to lieutenant on Sep-
tember 8, 1841, and spent two years on “Old
Ironsides,” the frigate Constitution, flagship of
the Home Squadron. From 1843 to 1846, he was
East India Squadron flag lieutenant, serving on
the flagship Brandywine. Pegram was first lieu-
tenant of the sloop-of-war Saratoga off Vera
Cruz during the 1847–1848 Mexican War and in
1848 and 1849 he held the same position aboard
the Africa Squadron’s John Adams. In 1850 and
1851, he served on a U.S.-UK commission that
established the boundaries of the Newfoundland
fisheries. During 1852–1855 he served aboard the
East Indies Squadron frigate Powhatan during Captain of the CSS Nashville, the first successful
the opening of Japan. On August 4, 1855, he led Confederate ocean raider, Cmdr. Robert B.
a landing party from his vessel, in coordination Pegram, CSN, was given command of the iron-
with one from a British warship, in an attack on clad Richmond in July 862. He served as acting
Chinese pirates at Kulan, capturing a war junk. James River Squadron commander from Sep-
tember to May 86, when he took over the new
Suffering a case of heat stroke, Pegram, praised
ironclad Virginia II. During the late summer he
by a British admiral for his leadership and given was sent to England to acquire naval vessels
a ceremonial sword by the Commonwealth of (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
Virginia, recovered while serving after 1856 as mand).
Pelot
mond River. On June 10 he became a CSN lieu-
tenant and during the summer outfitted the
ocean cruiser Nashville at Charleston, SC. Es-
caping the Atlantic blockade on October 21, Pe-
gram steamed to England, capturing the U.S.
merchantman Harvey Birch on November 19,
the first success by a Confederate commerce
raider. The first Confederate warship in British
waters, the Nashville returned to the South on
February 18, 1862, and Pegram was briefly de-
tailed back to the Pig Point Battery. Pegram be-
came captain of the ironclad ram Richmond on
July 6, was promoted to commander, Provisional
Navy, on September 13, and served as acting
James River Squadron commander until May
1864, when he took over the new ironclad ram
Virginia II. During the late summer he was sent
to England as representative of the stock com-
pany Virginia Volunteer Navy Association to ac-
quire naval vessels. One was purchased before
the end of the conflict, but it was returned to its
owners.
Pegram resided in Nova Scotia from July to
November 1865, when he returned to Peters-
burg, VA, and signed a U.S. oath of allegiance.
Pardoned by President Andrew Johnson (1808–
1875) on October 21, he moved with his family
to Petersburg, VA, where in 1866 he was ap-
pointed superintendent of the Petersburg and
S.C. Weldon Railroad until 1870, after which
date he worked in the insurance industry. He
died on October 24, 1894, and was buried in the
st Lt. Thomas P. Pelot, CSN, served as captain of the ironclad Georgia, rerated a floating battery and
anchored in the Savannah River abreast of the city and Fort Jackson, from June 86 until June 86,
when he was killed leading a boat expedition against the USS Water Witch (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).
8
Cedar Grove section of Elmwood Cemetery,
Norfolk.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; CSN
Register; Foenander; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;
“Captain Robert Baker Pegram and Descendants,” Pe-
gram Family Album, https://www.patch.net/simmons/
sim12.html (accessed October 1, 2015); Coski, Capital
Navy; “Rubbings,” pseud., “Capt. Robert Baker Pe-
gram,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=93764917 (accessed Octo-
ber 1, 2015); DANFS; “R.P. Pegram,” Office of Coast
Survey, http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/history/
CivilWar/people.php?person=24 (accessed October 1
2015); Fleming, “Robert Baker Pegram,” in The South
in the Building of the Nation, XII; Eminent and Repre-
sentative Men of Virginia and the District of Columbia
of the 19th Century; Heite, “Captain Robert B. Pegram:
Hero Under Four Flags”; Baltimore Sun, October 25–
26, 1894; Atlanta Constitution, October 25, 1894; Nor-
folk Virginian, October 25, 1894.
Pelot, Thomas Postell
(ca. 1835–1864, CSN)
The only son of teacher Charles Moore Pelot
(1791–1863) and Margaret Ann Ford Pelot (1795–
1843), Thomas was born in Charleston, SC, on
June 28, 1835. He was appointed a USN midship-
man on June 2, 1849, and graduated as a passed
midshipman from the USNA in June 1853. From
1854 until the time she became the Mare Island
receiving ship in October 1857, the Pacific
Squadron flagship, the razee Independence, was
  Perkins
Pelot’s billet. He became a master on Septem- ton, NH, on October 20, 1836. Educated at Hop-
ber 1, 1855, and a lieutenant on January 1, 1857. kinton and Gilmanton academies, he was ap-
While awaiting orders in 1858 he married Clara pointed a USN acting midshipman in Octo-
Theresa Freeman (1841–1907); the couple would ber 1, 1851, and graduated as a midshipman with
have five children. He joined the Home Squad- the USNA class of 1856. Joining the Pacific
ron frigate Savannah in late 1858 for a three-year Squadron sloop-of-war Cyane, until January
cruise off the east coast of Mexico. 1858, he was transferred to the storeship Release,
Pelot resigned his USN commission on Jan- which replenished units of the Mediterranean
uary 7, 1861, and was appointed a CSN 1st lieu- and Brazil squadrons. Perkins was advanced to
tenant on March 26, even before the outbreak passed midshipman in late fall. Thereafter, he
of the Civil War on April 12. On May 12 he as- was aboard the Africa Squadron steamer Sump-
sumed command of the gunboat CSS Lady ter, becoming a lieutenant on February 2, 1861,
Davis at Savanna, GA, capturing the Union mer- and returning home in September.
chantman A.B. Thompson, for which he even- In early 1862 Perkins became executive officer
tually received $1,174.07 in prize money. In June of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS)
1863 Pelot took over the CSS Georgia, an iron- Unadilla-class gunboat Cayuga and performed
clad ram that, because of inadequate engines, distinguished service during the campaigns to
served as an ironclad floating battery anchored
in the Savannah River abreast of the city and
Fort Jackson. On January 6, 1864, Pelot was
reranked as a 1st lieutenant, Provisional Navy,
and in June tasked with leading a boat expedi-
tion against the Federal blockade steamer USS
Water Witch near Ossabaw Sound, GA.
Although his June 2 attack succeeded in
capturing the enemy vessel, Pelot was killed in
the scuffle. He was buried with full honors on
June 4 at Savannah’s Laurel Grove Cemetery. A
memorial to South Carolina Naval Heroes in
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC, honors
him.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; “Thomas Pelot,” My Heritage,
https:// www. myheritage. com/ names/ thomas_ pelot
(accessed October 3, 2015); Janice Brown, “Lieut.
Thomas Postell Pelot,” FindaGrave, http://www.find
agrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13031041
(accessed October 3, 2015); Douglas Featherstone,
“Thomas Postell Pelot, South Carolina Patriot,” State
(May 30, 1954); Harden, “The Capture of the U.S.
Steamer Water Witch in Ossabaw Sound, GA, June
2–3, 1864”; Murray, “The Condemnation of the CSS
Georgia”; DANFS; “With the Water Witch.”

Perkins, George Hamilton A veteran of the war in the Gulf of Mexico,

(1836–1899, USN)
The son of Merrimack County judge Hamil-
ton Eliot Perkins (1807–1886) and Clara Bartlett
George Perkins (1818–?) and eldest of eight chil-
dren, Perkins was born at the family home,
Perkins Manor, in Contoocook, near Hopkin-
Lt. Cmdr. George H. Perkins, USN, took com-
mand of the twin-turreted monitor Chickasaw
in June 86, participating in the August  Battle
of Mobile Bay. Her four -inch cannon fre-
quently bombarded Confederate Mobile fortifi-
cations prior to the city’s surrender in spring
86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Phelps
capture New Orleans, the advance to and above
Vicksburg, and the battle with the Confederate
ironclad Arkansas. In November he became
executive officer of the steam sloop-of-war Pen-
sacola, receiving promotion to lieutenant com-
mander on December 2. In June 1863 he as-
sumed command of the gunboat New London,
continuing to see action on the lower Mississippi
River, including Port Hudson and Whitehall’s
River. Taking over the Unadilla-class gunboat
Scioto in December, he participated in the block-
ade of the Texas coast. In New Orleans on leave
in May 1864, Perkins volunteered to join the up-
coming USN offensive against Mobile, AL, and
was given command of the twin-turreted Mil-
waukee-class monitor Chickasaw. His aggres-
sive and effective actions in the August 4 Battle
of Mobile Bay were a major factor in the capture
of the Confederate ironclad ram Tennessee. Dur-
ing the remainder of the war, the Chickasaw’s
11-inch cannon frequently bombarded Mobile
fortifications.
from May 1866 to 1869 Perkins was executive
officer of the Pacific Station steam sloop-of-war
Lackawanna during her three-year cruise and
afterwards became Boston navy yard ordnance
officer. On September 12, 1870, he married
wealthy socialite Anna Minot Weld (1835–1924)
of Boston; the couple had a daughter, Isabella,
who when she was just 4 inherited $17 million
from her grandfather, becoming the wealthiest
woman in America. Perkins became a com-
mander on March 19, 1871, and in May was cap-
tain of the storeship Relief, which transported
relief goods to French refugees of the Franco-
Prussian War. Lighthouse inspector of the 1st
District at Boston until January 1876 and unem-
ployed until March 1877, Perkins commanded
the Asiatic Squadron sloop-of-war Ashuelot for
three years. During her Far Eastern deployment,
during April–June 1879, she provided transport
for ex–President Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)
then on a world tour. Promoted captain on
March 10, 1882, Perkins was captain of the Pa-
cific Station flagship, the Hartford, from March
1884 until January 1887, served on court-martial
boards, and was transferred to the retired list on
October 1, 1891.
On May 9, 1896, Perkins received a congres-
sionally authorized promotion to the retired
rank of commodore in recognition of his gal-
6
lantry and skill during the Battle of Mobile Bay
three decades earlier. Following a short illness,
he died of a heart attack on October 28, 1899,
and was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery. A
bronze portrait statute was erected in his mem-
ory on the statehouse grounds at Concord, NH,
in April 1902. Three 20th century USN destroy-
ers (DD-26, DD-377, DD-877) were named in
his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, IV; DANFS; Hamersley, 3rd ed.; Smith, CSS
Arkansas; Belknap, “Captain George Hamilton Per-
kins, USN”; Belknap, ed., Letters of Capt. George Ham-
ilton Perkins, USN; Alden, George Hamilton Perkins,
Commodore, USN: His Life and Letters; “K,” pseud.,
“Como. George Hamilton Perkins,” FindaGrave,
http:// www. findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page=
gr&GRid=124885486 (accessed October 1, 2015);
Lord, Life and Times in Hopkinville, NH; Anderson,
Under the Black Horse Flag; New York Tribune, Oc-
tober 29, 1899; New York Times, October 29, 1899,
April 26, 1902; Boston Daily Globe, February 10, 1896,
October 29, 1899; April 25, 1902, August 9, 1914, Oc-
tober 21, 1935.
Phelps, Seth Ledyard (1824–1885,
USN)
The eldest of the three children of Judge Al-
fred Phelps (1772–1861) and Anna B. Towsley
Phelps (1803–1882), Seth was born at Parkman,
Granger County, OH, on January 13, 1824. He
was appointed a USN midshipman on Octo-
ber 19, 1841, and participated in the 1842–1845
cruise of the ship-of-the-line Columbus with the
Mediterranean and Brazil squadrons and the
Africa Squadron sloop-of-war Jamestown. He
was aboard the schooner Bonita, which partic-
ipated in eastern Gulf in-shore operations
during the 1846–1847 Mexican War, and follow-
ing sick leave he studied at the Annapolis naval
school from October 1848 to August 1849. Hav-
ing passed his examinations, he became a passed
midshipman. Seconded to the USCS, he was de-
tailed in early 1850 to accompany a scientific
party to Santiago, Chile, where he remained two
years and upon his return was retained at Wash-
ington, working up his observations, until
1856—his longest period of shore duty. During
this assignment, on October 3, 1853, he married
Miss Eliza “Lizzie” Maynadier (1833–1897); the
couple would have a daughter. Phelps advanced
to master in June 1855 and lieutenant that Sep-
 6 Phelps
tember 1. After service aboard the Mediterra-
nean Squadron flagship, the paddle-wheel frig-
ate Susquehanna, from July 1856 until April 1858
he was on the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war St.
Mary’s.
On June 19, 1861, two months after the Civil
War began, Phelps proceeded west and joined
Cmdr. John Rodgers’ (1812–1882) new Western
Flotilla at Cincinnati, OH. The appointment
came with some pleasure to both Phelps and
Rodgers; the two men were friends because the
former was a cousin of the latter’s wife. From
this time on, Phelps was involved in one signifi-
cant Western Flotilla/Mississippi Squadron role
after another, winning acclaim from its com-
manders. One of the original timberclad (Con-
estoga) commanders, Phelps engaged in numer-
ous small-scale reconnaissance missions and
patrols on the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers
between September and February 1862. Follow-
ing the Battle of Fort Henry, he guided the first
Union raids down the Tennessee River. Captain One of the original timberclad commanders, Lt.
of the ironclad Benton from March to Septem- Cmdr. Seth Ledyard Phelps, USN, became cap-
tain of the Western Flotilla ironclad Benton in
ber, he became a lieutenant commander on July
June 862 and the captured and refitted ironclad
16, a day after battling the CSS Arkansas above Eastport in September. Frustrated in his contin-
Vicksburg, MS. In August Phelps made the first ued inability to achieve greater authority in the
USN reconnaissance up the Yazoo River and in Mississippi Squadron, he resigned in November
September was given command of the captured 86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
and rebuilt ironclad Eastport, which he skip- mand).
pered up the Red River, where she was scuttled
Family in America and Their English Ancestors; Pear-
in the spring of 1864. He also served as acting son, “Great Expectations for an Ill-Fated Ironclad
fleet captain, was in command of the second di- (Eastport)”; DANFS; Smith, Civil War Biographies
vision of ironclads off Vicksburg, and held di- from the Western Waters; Slagle, Ironclad Captain: Seth
visional commands on the Tennessee and White Ledyard Phelps and the U.S. Navy; Robert W. Neeser,
rivers. Held responsible for that loss of the East- “Historic Ships of the Navy: Benton”; “Sketches of the
Officers of the Fort Donelson Fleet,” Philadelphia In-
port and frustrated in his continued inability to quirer, February 18, 1862; Smith, Le Roy Fitch; Smith,
achieve greater authority in the Mississippi The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, CSS Arkan-
Squadron, he resigned in November. sas; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Joiner and Tucker,
Accepting a position with the Pacific Mail “Seth Ledyard Phelps,” in Tucker, II; Pearson and
Steam Ship Company, Phelps captained its liners Birchett, Two Civil War Steamboat Wrecks on Red
River: The History and Archaeology of the Ironclad USS
to China and Japan until 1873. Later he became Eastport and the Steamer Ed. F. Dix; “Capt. Seth Led-
involved with activities surrounding a possible yard Phelps,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
Nicaraguan canal, and, in 1883 he was appointed cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37224690 (accessed
minister to Peru by President Chester A. Arthur July 19, 2012); Washington Evening Star, June 25, 1885;
(1829–1886). He died at Lima on June 24, 1885, New York Times, August 26, 1885.
and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, in Wash-
ington, D.C., that October. One 20th century USN Phelps, Thomas Stowell, Sr.
destroyer (DD-360) was named in his honor.
(1822–1901, USN)
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; “Cap-
tain Seth Ledyard Phelps,” in History of Geauga and The son of merchant Stephen Phelps (1783–
Lake Counties, Ohio; Phelps and Servin, The Phelps 1829) and his wife Catherine Nixon Phelps
Phelps 62

Active on the Atlantic blockade since 862, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Stowell Phelps, Sr., USN, became captain
of the depicted James River monitor Saugus in November 86. While helping to guard against a
sortee by rams of the James River Squadron, she engaged the Southern Howlett’s Battery on December
 and then participated in the unsuccessful Christmas attacks on Fort Fisher, the protector of Wilm-
ington, NC (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

(1785–1832), Thomas Stowell, Sr., was born at
Bucksfield, ME, on November 2, 1822. Ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on January 7, 1840,
he served aboard the Mediterranean Squadron
sloop-of-war Preble for a three-year cruise and
the Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war Boston from
October 1843 to February 1846. Sent to the An-
napolis naval school in March, he graduated on
July 11, advanced to passed midshipman, and
joined the Boston, en route to the Mexican War.
The ship was caught in a squall and wrecked on
Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, on November 15. All
aboard survived, and in February 1847 Phelps
was seconded to the USCS, with which he
served until June 1849. During this deployment,
he married Margaret R. Sevy (1830–1901) on Jan-
uary 25, 1848; the couple had three children.
From July 1849 to December 1850 he was aboard
the Mediterranean Squadron flagship, the razee
Independence, and then joined that fleet’s most
famous vessel, the frigate Constitution (“Old
Ironsides”) until May 1851. With the USCS from
June 1852 until December 1853, he joined the Pa-
cific Squadron sloop-of-war Decatur, being ad-
vanced to master on March 1, 1855, and lieuten-
ant on September 14. After visiting Hawaii, the
Constitution hit the Restoration Point rocks at
Bainbridge Island, Washington Territory, on De-
cember 7; freed, she supported Seattle settlers
during the January 1856 Native American at-
tacks. Reaching Panama in March 1857, Phelps
crossed over and joined the chartered Brazil
Squadron steamer Western Port (later USS
Wyandotte) in October 1858, participating in the
Paraguay Expedition. He then served aboard the
Home Squadron steamer Crusader until August
1859, when he was seconded back to the USCS
as captain of its steamer Vixen until September
1861.
Taking command of the transferred USCS
steamer Corwin in October 1861, Phelps, who
would spend much of the Civil War on special
survey duties, began surveying and marking lo-
cations in Virginia and North Carolina waters,
repulsing a November 14 attack by CSS Curlew
in Hatteras Inlet, NC. Assigned to blockade duty
 6
in April 1862, Phelps engaged Southern batteries
at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, VA, sank a
pair of vessels, and prevented the enemy from
destroying White House Bridge. Becoming a
lieutenant commander on July 16, he was trans-
ferred to the Potomac Flotilla, where he re-
marked many channels where navigational aids
had been destroyed. At the end of November
1864 Phelps became commander of the Canon-
icus-class monitor Saugus, then in the James
River supporting Federal operations designed
to capture Richmond. While helping to guard
against a sortee by rams of the Confederate James
River squadron, the Saugus engaged Howlett’s
Battery on December 5. Saugus was temporarily
transferred to the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) and participated in the un-
successful Christmas attacks on Fort Fisher, pro-
tector of Wilmington, NC. After that engagement,
Phelps took over the steam sloop-of-war Juniata,
which participated in the January 13–15, 1865,
capture of the citadel. Transferred to the South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) on Janu-
ary 18, the warship provided support during the
remainder of the month and into February to
the Army of the Tennessee as it slogged toward
Charleston, SC. At this point, Phelps was ordered
aboard the NABS double-ender gunboat Lena-
pee to assist with the assault on Wilmington’s
Fort Anderson, which fell on February 8.
Phelps’s Lenapee remained off Wilmington
until April 1867, and during this deployment, he
became commander on August 5, 1865. Execu-
tive officer of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard,
CA, from October 1867 to November 1870 and
following his promotion to captain on January
19, 1871, he was captain of that facility’s receiving
ship until that September. Commander of the
North Pacific Squadron (NPS) sloop-of-war
Sarnac until October 1873, he returned to the
Mare Island yard as its executive officer until
April 1877. Switched back to the receiving ship
from September to February 1879, he became a
commodore on January 13, 1879. Phelps was
Mare Island navy yard commandant during Jan-
uary 1880–March 1883, after which he served as
captain of the South Atlantic Squadron flagship,
the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, until October 1884.
Having been promoted to rear admiral on
March 1, 1884, he was placed on the retired list
on November 2.
Phythian
Following his retirement, Phelps and his wife
resided in Washington, D.C. Late in 1900 Mrs.
Phelps, visiting NYC, was sent to New York Hos-
pital with nervous prostration; traveling up to
visit her, the admiral contracted pneumonia and
was also taken to New York Hospital, where he
died on January 10. Phelps was buried at Arling-
ton National Cemetery on January 14 and Mrs.
Phelps joined him there on February 21, fol-
lowed by a son, RAdm. Thomas Stowell Phelps,
Jr., USN, on November 5, 1915. One 20th century
USN destroyer (DD-360) was named in Phelps’s
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
Hamersly, 4th ed.; Cogar, I; DANFS; Putnam, A His-
tory of the Putnam Family in England and America, I;
“Adm. Thomas Stowell Phelps,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
12655 (accessed April 13, 2015); Phelps, Reminiscences
of Seattle: Washington Territory and the U.S. Sloop-of-
War “Decatur” During the Indian War of 1855–56; Cole
and Whitman, A History of Buckfield, Oxford County,
Maine; Washington Post, January 11, 14, 1901; Thomas
Stowell Phelps, Sr., Arlington National Cemetery,
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/tsphelps.htm (ac-
cessed April 13, 2015).
Phythian, Robert Lees (1835–1917,
USN)
One of five children of Dr. Charles Glover
Phythian (ca. 1808–1859) and Eliza Linton Phy-
thian (?–1855), Robert was born in Johnstown,
PA, on July 31, 1835. He was appointed a USN
midshipman on January 28, 1853, and graduated
as a passed midshipman from the USNA in June
1856. Attached to the Brazil Squadron frigate St.
Lawrence from 1857 to 1859, he became a master
in 1859 and a lieutenant on December 25, 1860.
Phythian joined the Atlantic Blockading
Squadron sloop-of-war Jamestown off Florida
in June 1861, taking five blockade runners prior
to her recall in May 1862. Promoted to lieutenant
commander on July 16, he was on USNA in-
structor duty until late 1863. From January to
May 1864 Phythian was executive officer of the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
monitor Lehigh, then on picket duty off Charles-
ton, SC, during which service she frequently
bombarded fortifications ringing the har-
bor. From late May into the fall, Phythian
commanded the SABS gunboat Commodore
Phythian 6

Having gained ironclad experience as executive officer of the monitor Lehigh, Lt. Cmdr. Robert L.
Phythian, USN, became executive officer of the giant casemate New Ironsides in fall 86 and her cap-
tain in January 86. During Phythian’s time aboard, the vessel participated in both campaigns against
Fort Fisher, NC, after which she finished the war in the James River. In this 886 photo he is shown
seated third from left (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

McDonough on the Charleston blockade and
was then transferred as executive officer aboard
the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
ironclad New Ironsides, where in December he
participated in the unsuccessful effort by her
unit to capture Fort Fisher, at Wilmington. On
January 6, 1865, Phythian became captain of the
giant vessel and participated in the reduction of
that citadel in mid-month. His command was
thereafter transferred to the James River to sup-
port the Union advance on Richmond, where
she remained until withdrawn on April 6.
A USNA instructor from 1866 to 1869 and ad-
vanced to commander on July 13, 1870, Phythian
married Cordelia Broadhead Phythian (1839–
1917) during this time; the couple had three
daughters. Pacific Squadron chief of staff in 1871
and 1872 and Boston navy yard ordnance
through 1873, he was transferred to the New
York Nautical School (now SUNY Maritime
College) in 1874 as superintendent and captain
of the school ship St. Mary’s. A torpedo instruc-
tor in 1880, he was promoted to captain on No-
vember 15, 1881, and returned to the Boston navy
yard until September 1883, when he assumed
command of the sloop-of-war Trenton, taking
her on a three-year Asiatic Station cruise. In
June 1886 Phythian was USNO superintendent
of the U.S. Naval Observatory from June 1886
to June 1890 and USNA superintendent until
June 1894, chairing a special 1891 board named
for him that studied imbalances in the officer
corps and the career path. Commissioned a
commodore on September 7, 1894, he resumed
the USNO superintendency until placed on the
retired list on July 21, 1897.
 6
Phythian lived a quiet Annapolis retirement
until suffering a massive stroke on January 16,
1917. He died four days later and was buried in
the USNA Cemetery. No USN vessels have been
named in his honor, though his memory lives
at SUNY Maritime.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly,4th ed.; The National Cyclopedia of American Bi-
ography, XIII; ORN, I, 15; Neeser, “Historic Ships of
the Navy: New Ironsides”; Washington Post, Janu-
ary 17, 21, 1917; “Robert Lees Phythian,” FindaGrave,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&
GRid=57745050 (accessed October 9, 2016); Washing-
ton Post, January 17, 21, 1917.
Picking, Henry Forry (1840–1899,
USN)
The oldest of five children of William Henry
Picking (1816–1881) and Angeline Forry Picking,
Henry was born in Jenner Township, Somerset
County, PA, on January 28,1840. Being ap-
pointed a USN acting midshipman on Septem-
ber 28,1857, and graduating from the USNA on
June 1, 1861, he was commissioned a midship-
man.
The Civil War having begun, he joined the
Picking
Atlantic blockade off North Carolina in July as
acting master of the frigate St. Lawrence, which
on the 28th engaged and sank the Confederate
privateer Petrel. In early 1862 Picking was briefly
attached to the Sewell’s Point batteries and was
present in March during the duel between the
CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor. Promoted to
lieutenant on July 16, he served as a USNA in-
structor until June 1864, when he was ordered
onboard the South Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (SABS) Passaic-class monitor Nahant, then
on blockade and fire support duty off Charles-
ton, SC. In December Picking became Nahant’s
commander, continued to engage Confederate
batteries on Sullivan’s Island, and served as her
captain until August 1865.
Picking served aboard the screw sloop-of-war
Swatara from October 1865 until November, her
time being split between the West Indies and
European squadrons. Advanced to lieutenant
commander on July 15, 1866, Picking resumed
USNA instructor duties from January 1869 to
January 1870. He then joined the Asiatic Squad-
ron flagship, the steam frigate Colorado, for a
three-year cruise and during that deployment
participated in the June 1871 punitive expedition
against aggressive forts on Korea’s Salee River.

Lt. Henry F. Picking, USN, became executive officer of the monitor Nahant off Charleston in June
86 and her captain in late December. The vessel continued blockade duty off the South Carolina
city until the end of the war. Retained, she saw service in New York Harbor, as depicted, during the
Spanish American War of 88 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Pinkney
During 1873–June 1874 he was on ordnance duty
at the Washington Navy Yard and also at the
Newport, RI, torpedo station before taking
charge of the New York naval rendezvous (re-
cruiting station) until February 1875. Having be-
come a commander on January 25, he was in-
spector of the 1st Lighthouse District (Bangor,
ME) until November 1878, when he took leave
and married Laura Sherwood Picking (1856–
1933) on May 2, 1879; the couple had a son. Pick-
ing was captain of the North Atlantic Station
(NAS) flagship, the steam sloop-of-war Kear-
sarge, from May 1879 through May 1881 then re-
turned to his previous 1st Lighthouse District
post until October 1882. Picking was secretary
to the U.S. Lighthouse Board, in Washington,
D.C., until September 1887, when he became
commander of naval forces on the Great Lakes
as captain of the gunboat Michigan. Advanced
to captain on August 4,1889, he commanded the
USN Hydrographic Office until September 1890,
when he took over the 3rd Lighthouse District
at Tompkinsville, NY, through March 1892. He
commanded the armored cruiser Charleston
(C-2) from April 1892 until February 1894, in
both the Pacific and South Atlantic and at the
April 1893 International Naval Review at New
York. On board duty for most of 1894, he was
captain of the training ship Minnesota in 1895,
on board duty in 1896 and 1897, and commander
of the Boston receiving ship until April 1898.
Advanced to commodore on November 25,
Picking had board duty for six months and be-
came a rear admiral on March 3, 1899, being si-
multaneously named Boston navy commandant.
He died of a sudden heart attack on Septem-
ber 8 and after initial interment at Forest Hill
Cemetery, Boston, was later buried at Union
Cemetery, Somerset, PA. No USN vessels have
been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-2; Cogar, I; Hamersly, 4th
ed.; Appletons’, VII; The New International Encyclo-
pedia, XV; DANFS; U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee
on Pensions, Laura S. Picking: Report; Linda Marker,
“Henry Forry Picking,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid=
64454313 (accessed January 3, 2016); Baltimore Sun,
September 9, 1899; New York Tribune, September 9,
1899; New York Times, September 9, 1899; Boston Daily
Advertiser, September 12, 1899.
66
Pinkney, Robert F. (ca. 1812–1878,
CSN)
Born in Maryland ca. 1812, Pinkney was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on December 1,
1827. During the antebellum period, he under-
took the normal mix of shore and sea duty of
U.S. naval officers and was promoted: passed
midshipman, June 1833; lieutenant, February
1838; commander, September 1855. Among the
highlights of those years was his participa-
tion during 1838–1842 in what was called the
“Great United States Exploring Expedition” to
the South Seas. Upon the mission’s comple-
tion, he was court-martialed for duty infrac-
tions and suspended from service for six
months.
Pinkney resigned from Federal service on
April 23, 1861, was appointed a CSN commander
on June 24 and posted first to Norfolk; he then
was sent to Jackson, MS, and command of the
CSS Livingston. Second in command of Confed-
erate naval forces at the March-April 1862 battles
for Island No. 10 and Fort Pillow, Pinkney de-
parted the latter point when it was abandoned
in May 1862, withdrew south to Fort Randolph,
and, just before the June 6 Battle of Memphis,
to Liverpool Landing on the Yazoo River. There
he was joined within days by two other gun-
boats. At the end of the month and in response
to a reconnaissance by two AUS rams, Pinkney
ordered his fleet burned. When he was subse-
quently ordered east it was widely believed that
he faced court-martial, but instead he was
posted to Savannah, GA, and given command
of the Savannah River paddle-wheel gunboat
CSS Resolute. Promoted to captain in May 1863,
he assumed command of the Richmond-class
ironclad ram CSS Savannah in July. Detached
from that vessel in April 1864, Pinkney was or-
dered to Halifax, NC, to take over the naval de-
fenses of North Carolina and oversee the de-
ployment of another noted armorclad, the
Albemarle. He would finish the war as a flag offi-
cer at Fort Fisher in December and January 1865
and as a colonel in the naval brigade organized
by RAdm. Rafael Semmes (1809–1877). Pinkney
was captured and paroled at Greensboro, NC,
on April 26, 1865. He took the oath of allegiance
at Baltimore, MD, on June 20 and filed for a par-
don on September 22.
 6 Porter

Promoted to the rank of captain in May 86, Robert F. Pinkney, CSN, commanded the ironclad
Savannah at Savannah, GA, from July until April 86, seeing no action. He afterwards took over the
naval defenses of North Carolina and oversaw the deployment of another noted armorclad, the Albe-
marle. He would finish the war as a flag officer at Fort Fisher in December and January 86 (courtesy
Naval History and Heritage Command).

Pinkney died at Baltimore on March 14, 1878,
and was buried in Green Mount Cemetery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; Driver, Confederate Sailors, Marines, and
Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland; DANFS;
ORN, 2, 1; CSN Register; Callahan; Smith, CSS Arkan-
sas; JCC, IV; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, Civil
War Biographies from the Western Waters; Bennett,
“The Albemarle in Albemarle Sound.”
Porter, William David (“Dirty
Bill”) (1813–1864, USN)
Born at New Orleans, LA, on March 10, 1808,
William David was the son of Com. David
Porter (1780–1843) and Evelina Anderson Porter
(1790–1871). Among his six siblings was David
Dixon Porter (1813–1891) and, later, his step-
brother, David Glasgow Farragut (1801–1870).
Spending his childhood at Chester, PA, at the
age of 12 Porter unsuccessfully attempted to stow
away aboard the ship-of-the-line Franklin but
had to wait until January 1, 1823, to be appointed
a USN midshipman—and then from Massachu-
setts. He was promoted to the rank of passed
midshipman on March 23, 1829, and lieutenant
on the last day of 1833. Four years later he be-
came the lighthouse inspector for the East Coast
District between New York and Norfolk, VA. He
became ordnance officer at the Washington
Navy Yard in 1840, but in 1845 he began a series
of deployments supervising the outfitting of
naval steamers and commanding supply vessels.
Before 1854 he had served aboard the following
vessels: Brandywine, Guerriere, Natchez, Gram-
pus, Experiment, United States, Mississippi, Erie,
and Water Witch. Court-martialed on a variety
of charges, he was placed on the retired list in
Porter 68

September 1855 but was reinstated in January

1859 and returned to active duty with the rank
of commander and an assignment to patrol the
Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central America
in command of the sloop-of-war St. Mary’s.
When the Southern states began to secede in
December 1860 the St. Mary’s was recalled and
Porter was ordered to Washington, D.C.
Posted to St. Louis, MO, he spent October in
command of the timberclad New Era—a former
ferryboat patrolling the Ohio and Cumberland
rivers—seeking Confederate defenses. The tim-
berclad having been converted into an ironclad
at St. Louis during November and December,
Porter commissioned her Essex in January 1862
in honor of his father’s famous ship. On Janu-
ary 10 and 14, she, together with the Pook turtle
St. Louis, twice engaged three Confederate gun-
boats on the Mississippi River below Cairo, IL,
forcing them to retreat to the protection of
Southern shore batteries at Columbus, KY.
While joined with three other ironclads in at-
tacking Fort Henry on the Tennessee River on
February 6, Essex took a 32-pound shot through
her bow shield, which pierced her boilers, re-
leasing steam that severely scalded 28 men, in-
cluding Porter. Though blinded and scalded, he Having converted the Western Flotilla ironclad
directed the extensive repair and renovation of Essex, Cmdr. William D. “Dirty Bill” Porter,
the ironclad from his St. Louis sick bed while si- USN, led her into action in September 86
multaneously superintending conversion into against Fort Henry, where he was wounded.
ironclads of two other warships, Lafayette and Recovered, he participated in actions against the
CSS Arkansas in July and Port Hudson in August
Choctaw. The expensive renovation of Essex was
and September. Detached, he was ordered east
finished in early July just in time to allow her to where he died of a heart attack on May , 86
rejoin the Western Flotilla above Vicksburg, MS. (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
On the 22nd Porter took his ironclad down mand).
under the guns of the Confederate citadel to en-
gage the Arkansas. Although the Essex struck sumed their fire caused her demise. Eleven
the Rebel vessel, her oblique blow did little dam- months later the U.S. Congress recognized the
age and, running aground under fire from the role played by Porter and his ship and awarded
Arkansas and shore batteries, it was only with the Essex crew $25,000 in prize money. In
great difficulty that Porter was able to back out August and September the Essex, now based at
his ship and escape. Maintaining station be- New Orleans, came up the river to bombard
tween Vicksburg and Baton Rouge over the next Natchez, MS, and harass the former Arkansas
several weeks, Porter’s ironclad assisted in the gunners as they established the batteries guard-
Union defense of the latter town on August 5 ing the river from the heights of Port Hudson,
and the next day caught the Arkansas attempting LA. Advanced to commodore on July 16, Porter
to come to Confederate relief. The Essex bom- was ordered to report to New York to answer
barded her enemy from range and soon saw her charges against him by RAdm. Charles H. Davis
catch fire and blow up. Although the Arkansas (1807–1877), placed as a result of press com-
was, in fact, scuttled by her own crew to prevent ments. While engaged in this legal combat,
capture after her engines failed, the Federals as- Porter was assigned miscellaneous shore duty.
 6 Potter
He was hospitalized with heart disease in
April 1864 and died at St. Luke’s Hospital on
May 1, leaving a wife and three children. First
buried at Greenwood Cemetery, he was moved
to a final resting place at Woodlands Cemetery,
Philadelphia, PA. A USN destroyer (DD-579)
was christened in his honor in 1942.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; DANFS;
Callahan; Thompson; Boatner; Wegner, “Commodore
William D. ‘Dirty Bill’ Porter”; Joiner, “William David
Porter,” in Tucker, II; Wright; Smith, CSS Arkansas;
Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight
for the Yazoo; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; “William Davidson Porter,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GSsr=4081&GSvcid=266131&GRid=6000&
(accessed September 21, 2010); Chicago Daily Tribune,
May 5, 1864; New York Times, May 5, 1864; Milwaukee
Daily Sentinel, May 6, 1864; New Haven Daily Palla-
dium, May 3, 1864.

Potter, Edward Eells (1833–1902,

USN)
The oldest of four siblings of merchant Elea-
zer Hubbell Potter (1806–1861) and Adeline Eells
Potter (1806–1839), Edward was born in Medina,
NY, on May 9, 1833, moving with his family to
Rockford, IL, four years later. Appointed a USN
midshipman on February 5, 1850, he served
aboard the Home Squadron sloop-of-war De-
catur for a three-year cruise and was on the
Africa Squadron flagship, the frigate Constitu-
tion (“Old Ironsides”), until detached in late
1855. After USNA studies and exam, Potter be-
came a passed midshipman on June 20, 1856,
and, after a three-year deployment with the Bra-
zil Squadron frigate St. Lawrence, during which
he became lieutenant on July 9, 1858, he joined
the complement of the steam frigate Niagara on
May 9, 1860. The first Japanese embassy to the
U.S. having concluded, its members went home
by his vessel, which returned to America in
April 1861 to find the Civil War had begun.
The Niagara was part of the Atlantic Blockad-
ing Squadron from May to August and patrolled
off Charleston, SC, Fort Pickens, FL, and Mo-
bile, AL. Detached in September, Potter married
Harriett Raymond Black (1833–1873) at Claren-
don, NY, on October 1 and the following month
was ordered to the new Unadilla-class gunboat
Wissahicken, part of the West Gulf Blockading
After two years in the Gulf of Mexico, Lt. Cmdr.
Edward E. Potter, USN, assumed command of
the James River monitor Mahopac in November
86. After participating in duels with Confed-
erate batteries at Howlett’s Farm on November
2 and December , he fought in the Christmas
and January 86 campaigns against Fort Fisher,
NC, remaining thereafter in the James River
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Squadron (WGBS). The Wissahicken partici-
pated in the April 1862 capture of New Orleans
and the May–July squadron sojourn up the Mis-
sissippi River to Vicksburg, MS, and back. Dur-
ing this deployment, she engaged the batteries
at Grand Gulf, MS, on June 9 and fought the CSS
Arkansas on July 15. Potter became a lieutenant
commander on July 16 and joined the East Gulf
Blockading Squadron (EGBS) steamer De Soto.
Early in 1863 he transferred to the WGBS sloop-
of-war Lackawana for duty on the blockade off
Mobile, participating in the August 1864 Battle
of Mobile Bay. When the new single-turreted
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
Canonicus-class monitor Mahopac was com-
pleted in September, Potter was sent to join her
in the James River, VA. While protecting Union
army positions, she went into action against bat-
teries at Howlett Farm on November 24 and De-
cember 5–6. Potter, who had assumed command
Price
of the monitor in mid–November, also partici-
pated in the unsuccessful NABS Christmas at-
tack on Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, and the
successful capture of the citadel in mid–January
1865. On February 18 Potter’s craft helped to
bombard Fort Anderson. Thereafter, his iron-
clad remained in the James River until the end
of the conflict in April.
Potter was captain of the North Atlantic
Squadron (NAS) paddle-wheel steamer Rhode
Island from April 1866 to summer 1867 and then
cruised to Europe aboard the screw frigate
Franklin with RAdm. David G. Farragut (1801–
1870) embarked. Commissioned commander on
June 3, 1869, Potter was at the Boston navy yard
until 1871, becoming captain of the NAS steam
gunboat Shawmut late in the year and ascending
Venezuela’s Orinoco River to recapture two
American civilian steamers seized by revolu-
tionaries. The Shawmut thus became the first
U.S. man-of-war to visit Ciudad Bolivar. From
1872 to 1879 Potter was on shore duty, being
commissioned captain on July 11 of the latter
year. During that period, his first wife having
died, he married Harriett L. Grant (1849–1897)
on March 18, 1875, his family growing to include
three children. Potter commanded the sloop-of-
war Constellation during her voyage to Ireland
in 1880 with relief stores for victims of the potato
famine. After his 1881–August 1883 tour at the
New York navy yard, he assumed command
in November of the screw sloop-of-war Lan-
caster, cruising to Europe and in the South At-
lantic until December 1885. From September
1886 to March 1891 he was commandant of the
League Island, PA, navy yard and of the
Philadelphia Naval Home. From April to early
1893 he was captain of the Newport naval base
receiving ship and at the Norfolk navy yard,
being promoted to commodore on September
27 and again in charge of the Philadelphia Naval
Home.
Potter was placed on the retired list in May
1895 and relocated to Belvidere, IL. He suffered
a stroke in 1899 that affected his body but not
his mind. He died on January 8, 1902, and is
buried in Cedar Bluff Cemetery, Rockford,
IL. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Appletons’, V; Michael Potter, “Edward

Eells Potter,” Genealogy Forum, http://www.genealogy.
com/forum/surnames/topics/potter/5760/ (accessed
October 2, 2016); DANFS; Freeport (IL) Journal Stan-
dard, June 17, 2015; J. Nicholson-Turbide, “Edward
Eells Potter,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63739977 (accessed
October 2, 2016); New York Times, April 21, May 9,
1895.
Price, Joseph (1835–1895, CSN)
The eldest of three children of physician Wil-
liam J. Price (1804–1868) and Sarah McIntire
McGowan Price (1817–1836), Joseph was born
at Kenansville, NC, on October 26, 1835. On
March 17, 1856, he was appointed a USRCS lieu-
tenant and sent aboard the cutter Joseph Lane
for service in the Columbia River area.
With the onset of the Civil War on April 12,
1861, Price resigned his Federal commission and
five days later enlisted in the 40th Regiment, NC
Volunteers, becoming a lieutenant within a
month. He resigned from the ACS on Septem-
ber 16, was commissioned a CSN lieutenant on
May 5, 1863, and was ordered to Savannah, GA,
to become executive officer under Lt. Thomas
Pelot (ca. 1835–1864), of the CSS Georgia, an
ironclad ram that, because of inadequate en-
gines, served as an ironclad floating battery an-
chored in the Savannah River abreast of the city
and Fort Jackson. On January 6, 1864, Price was
re-ranked as a 1st lieutenant, Provisional Navy,
and on May 1 transferred to the CSS Sampson.
On June 3 he joined with Pelot in a boat expe-
dition against the Federal blockade steamer USS
Water Witch near Ossabaw Sound, GA, and after
the loss of Lt. Pelot early on, Price took over the
CSN attack and succeeded in capturing the en-
emy vessel. Becoming a commander on July 12
in recognition of his victory, Price became
acting captain of the CSS Sampson but in August
was named commander of the CSS ironclad ram
Neuse. Having run aground near Kinston, NC,
the vessel, like the Georgia, was employed as a
floating battery and, after covering the retreat
of nearby Confederate soldiers on March 12,
Price ordered his ironclad scuttled.
Price settled in Wilmington, NC, after the
war, working as a railroad conductor and after
1880 as the city’s harbormaster. He married
Mary Eliza Jones Price (1846–1934) and had two
  Quakenbush
children, the first in 1861. He died at home on
May 15, 1895, and is buried in Wilmington’s
Oakdale Cemetery.
Sources: CSN Register; Foenander; Duppstadt,
“Joseph Price,” in Tucker, II; Wayne Carver, “Cdr.
Joseph Price,” FindaGrave, http://findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/ fg. cgi/ http%22// trees. ancestry. com/ tree/ 1980
7769/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7219918 (accessed Octo-
ber 12, 2016); DANFS; Murray, “The Condemnation
of the CSS Georgia”; Still, “The Career of the Confed-
erate Ironclad Neuse”; Bright, Rowland, and Bardon,
C.S.S. Neuse: A Question of Iron and Time.

Quakenbush, Stephen Platt

(1823–1890; USN)
The eighth of eleven children of John N.
Quakenbush (1775–1846) and Nancy Smith
Quakenbush (?–1866), Stephen was born at Al-
bany, NY, on January 23, 1823. Appointed a USN
midshipman on February 15, 1840, he served
aboard the sloop-of-war Boston, participating
in her around-the-world voyage. Upon her re-
turn in August 1843, he was on the Brazil
Squadron frigate Raritan until July 1845 and at-
tended the Annapolis naval school from Oc-
tober until July 11, 1846, when he passed his ex-
aminations and became a passed midshipman.
Quakenbush served in the Mexican War from
November 1846 to July 1847 aboard the sloop-
of-war Albany, participating in the Vera Cruz,
Tuxpan River, and Tabasco River operations.
Transferred to the storeship Supply, he sailed in
the Mediterranean until December 1848. After-
ward on leave, he married Cynthia Herrick
Wright (1828–1911) on January 18, 1849; the cou-
ple would have three children. Seconded to the
USCS for much of 1849 into 1850, he took leave
to captain the mail steamers Pacific and Illinois
in 1851 and 1852 and served on the Africa Squad-
ron brig Perry on antislavery patrol until April
1854. Advanced to master on March 1, 1855, and
lieutenant on September 14, Quakenbush was
on the Home Squadron flagship, the frigate Po-
tomac, until August 1856, when he transferred
to the Home Squadron flagship, the screw frigate
Wabash, which helped foil the Nicaraguan
scheme of filibusterer William Walker (1824–
1860). After April 1858–June 1859 service aboard
the Philadelphia receiving ship, he returned to
sea aboard the Home Squadron flagship, the
frigate Congress, which returned from overseas
After Atlantic Coast blockade duty, Lt. Cmdr.
Stephen P. Quakenbush, USN, took charge of the
monitor Patapsco, then off Charleston, SC, in
December 86. In January 86 he participated
in a reconnaissance of the Wilmington River and
thereafter served on the blockades off the coasts
of both South Carolina and Georgia. While
assisting in the removal of obstacles near
Charleston on January , 86, Patapsco struck
a Confederate underwater mine (“torpedo”) and
sank. A survivor, Quakenbush was given another
ship (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
deployment in August 1861, America meanwhile
having descended into civil war.
Following shore duty, Quakenbush com-
manded the North Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (NABS) gunboat Delaware from November
1861 to August 1862, during which time the
vessel participated in the February capture of
Roanoke Island and the March attack on Eliza-
beth City, NC, and capture of New Bern, NC. A
lieutenant commander as of July 16, he became
captain of the South Atlantic Blockading Squad-
Radford 2

ron (SABS) gunboat Unadilla, namesake of her America; Thompson, The U.S. Monitor Patapsco; Bal-
class, in September and joined the blockade off timore Sun, February 6, 1890; Chicago Daily Tribune,
Charleston, SC, undertaking reconnaissance of February 6, 1890.
shores and streams and guarding Wassaw
Sound, GA. Quakenbush took over the NABS Radford, William (1809–1890,
screw gunboat Pequot in November 1863 and
served on the blockade off Beaufort, NC, until
USN)
May 1864 and in the James River until Decem- The eldest of three siblings of physician John
ber. Detached, Quakenbush briefly held com- Radford (1785–1817) and Harriet Kennerly Rad-
mand of the SABS Passaic-class monitor Pa- ford (1788–1831), William was born on March 1,
tapsco, then off Charleston, SC. While assisting 1809, in Fincastle, VA. Shortly thereafter, the
in the removal of obstacles near Charleston on family relocated to Kentucky, near Maysville, in
January 14, 1865, she struck a Confederate un- Lewis County. Following the death of John Rad-
derwater mine (“torpedo”) and sank. Surviving ford in 1817, the family moved to St. Louis, MO,
that ordeal, Quakenbush was given command where Harriet married explorer William Clark
of the SABS double-ender gunboat Mingoe, in 1821. Radford was appointed a USN midship-
which remained off Charleston until June. man on March 1, 1825, by petition of his stepfa-
At the New York navy yard until January 1866, ther to President John Quincy Adams (1767–
Quakenbush was captain of the North Atlantic
Station (NAS) paddle-wheel gunboat Cone-
maugh from February to July 1867, being mean-
while advanced to commander. At the Norfolk
navy yard from September 1867 to November
1870, he commanded the NAS hospital ship
Pawnee at Pensacola, FL, and the monitor Terror,
formerly the Agamenticus, until September 1873,
advancing to captain on July 25, 1871. Com-
mander of the Norfolk receiving ship until Au-
gust 1875, he was unemployed thereafter but was
commissioned commodore on March 13, 1880,
and commanded the Pensacola naval station
from January 1881 until May 1882. Advanced to
rear admiral on July 28, 1894, he was placed on
the retired list on January 23, 1885.
Active in veterans’ activities following his re-
tirement, Quakenbush died on February 3, 1890,
and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery two days
later. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Cogar, I; Powell and Shippen; “Stephen
Platt Quakenbush,” RootsWeb, http://freepages. Com. William Radford, USN, became captain of
genealogy. rootsweb. ancestry. com/~ghosthunter/ the casemate New Ironsides in August 86 and
fam01816.html (accessed October 21, 2016); SLGMSD, led the Ironclad Division of the North Atlantic
pseud., “Adm. Stephen Platt Quakenbush,” Finda- Blockading Squadron in the unsuccessful De-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi? cember attack on Fort Fisher, near Wilming-
page=gr&GRid=37191307 (accessed October 21, 2016); ton, NC, and the January 86 capture of that
DANFS; Will Quakenbush, “A True Old Salt: Admiral citadel. At the end of January, Radford’s iron-
Stephen Platt Quakenbush,” All Things Quakenbush, clad steamed up the James River to protect the
http://allthingsquackenbush.blogspot.com/2016/08/ Union supply depot at Bermuda Hundred. Her
a-true-old-salt-admiral-stephen-platt.html (accessed captain was detached to other duties in February
October 21, 2016); Quackenbush, “Admiral Stephen (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
Platt Quakenbush,” in The Quakenbush Family in mand).
 
1848) and joined the European cruise of the
frigate Brandywine, which returned the Marquis
de Lafayette (1757–1834) to France from his
American visit. In February 1826 Radford trans-
ferred to the Mediterranean Squadron frigate
Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) until July 1828.
Following leave and New York navy yard duty,
he was on the West Indies Squadron sloop-of-
war Erie for a two-year cruise, after which he
was unemployed until February 1834, when he
joined the Philadelphia receiving ship. In June
he deployed aboard the Mediterranean Squad-
ron sloop-of-war John Adams but was stricken
with cholera in November, necessitating sick
leave. Commissioned a lieutenant on Febru-
ary 9, 1837, he was able to join the West Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Preble and participate
in the Second Seminole War. On leave from Oc-
tober 1838 until December 1840, Radford re-
turned to the Preble for a cruise to Labrador be-
fore transferring to the Mediterranean Squadron
Brandywine. After Norfolk navy yard duty, he
was captain of the New Orleans receiving ship
sloop-of-war Ontario and the Crescent City
naval rendezvous (recruiting station) from De-
cember 20, 1841 to July 1843. Spending a year
aboard the Pacific Squadron flagship, the frigate
Savannah, he joined the same unit’s sloop-of-
war Warren, visited the Hawaiian Islands, and
cruised the West Coast of North America during
the Mexican War until September 1847. While
on blockade duty off Mazatlán on September 7,
1847, Radford led the boat attack that captured
the Mexican warship Malek Adhel in the harbor.
Unemployed until January 1849, he met and
then married Mary Elizabeth (“Minnie”) Lovell
(1829–1903), at Morristown, NJ, on Novem-
ber 21, 1848; the couple would have six children.
After a tour as captain of the Home Squadron
sloop-of-war Lexington through September 1852
and three years of shore duty, mostly at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, until September 1858, he
became a commander on September 14, 1855,
and served as 3rd Lighthouse District Inspector
from fall 1858 through October 1859. Unem-
ployed until May 1860, he became commander
of the East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Dako-
tah in April 1860, visiting the Far East until July
1861, when he was returned to his old 3rd Light-
house District post.
Radford became captain of the North Atlantic
Radford
Blockading Squadron (NABS) frigate Cumber-
land at Hampton Roads, VA, in February 1862
but was away on official duty on March 8 when
she was sunk by CSS Virginia. In June, after two
months of board duty, he became executive offi-
cer of the New York navy yard, where he
equipped and outfitted hundreds of naval con-
versions. Advanced to captain on July 16, and
commodore on April 24, 1863, he became com-
mander in May 1864 of the NABS casemate
ironclad New Ironsides, although he was not
able to join her at Hampton Roads until August
16. When the NABS passed to RAdm. David
Dixon Porter (1813–1891), Radford became com-
mander of its six-vessel Ironclad Division. The
New Ironsides and her consorts were heavily in-
volved in the unsuccessful December attack on
Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, NC, and the Jan-
uary 1865 capture of that citadel. At the end of
January, Radford’s ironclad steamed up the
James River to protect the Union supply depot
at Bermuda Hundred. Continuing to coordinate
naval support with Federal generals ashore, Rad-
ford transferred his flag to the gunboat Dumb-
arton when the New Ironsides was withdrawn
for repairs in February. The following month,
he again shifted, this time to the gunboat Phlox,
which he employed to transport Vice President
Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) between DC and
Richmond, VA, on April 5–8. On April 28, Rad-
ford was appointed an acting rear admiral and
was given command of the North Atlantic
Squadron (NAS) with his flag in the paddle-
wheel gunboat Malvern.
After service as commandant of the Wash-
ington Navy Yard from October 1865 to Decem-
ber 1868, during which time his admiral rank
was made permanent on July 25, 1866, Radford
was commander of the European Squadron
from January 1869 to July 1870, wearing his flag
in the screw frigate Franklin. Detached in
August 1870, he and his family were caught in
Paris when it surrendered to Prussia on Septem-
ber 2. They fled to Le Havre and a commercial
voyage home. Finding himself officially on the
retired list as of March 1, the admiral continued
to serve on naval boards from October through
June 1872.
A resident of Georgetown who summered on
Cape Cod, MA, Radford, then the second most
senior USN officer, died on January 8, 1890, and
Ramsay 

was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Two 20th cen-
tury USN destroyers (DD-120 and DD-446)
were named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Tucker, “William Radford,” in Tucker,
II; Cogar, I; SLGMSD, pseud., “Adm. William Rad-
ford,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37273917 (accessed April 19,
2016); Radford de Meissner, Old Naval Days: Sketches
from the Life of Rear Admiral William Radford, U.S.
Navy; Roberts, New Ironsides in the Civil War; Neeser,
“Historic Ships of the Navy: New Ironsides”; Tommie
Flattery Baskins, “Documenting the Historic Town of
Oakland, KY, Circa 1859 and Admiral William Rad-
ford,” LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/
documenting-historic-town-oakland-ky-circa-1859-
admiral-baskis?articleId=6176535105461321728 (ac-
cessed October 21, 2016); New York Times, January 9,
1890; Washington Post, January 9, 1890.
on scows in exposed positions before the city
from June 19 until its July 4 capture, when he
took over the squadron’s 3rd Division. On No-
vember 18, while lying off Point Coupe on the
Mississippi River, Choctaw rescued the light-
draught gunboat Signal (Tinclad No. 8) from in-
terdicting Confederate horse artillery. During
February and March 1864 Ramsay led expedi-
tions up the Black and Ouachita rivers and from
March 7 to May 15 participated in the Federal
combined arms expedition up the Red River of
Louisiana, concentrating on the capture of Fort
DeRussy. On September 28 he transferred to the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
gunboat Unadilla on the blockade off New Inlet,
NC. His ship participated in amphibious assaults
on Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC, in Decem-

Ramsay, Francis Munroe

“Frank” (1835–1914, USN)
The eldest of four children of Brig. Gen.
George Douglas Ramsay (1802–1882) and Eliza
H. Gales Ramsay (1815–1891), Frank was born
in Washington, D.C., on April 5,1835. He was
appointed a USN midshipman on October 5,
1850, was sent to the USNA and then to the Pa-
cific Squadron flagship, the frigate St. Lawrence,
for a three-and-one-half year cruise. Made a
passed midshipman upon his June 20, 1856,
graduation, he was aboard the Brazil Squadron
sloop-of-war Falmouth for a year and then
joined the Pacific Squadron screw frigate Mer-
rimack until February 1860, becoming a master
on January 22, 1858, and lieutenant the next day.
Following Washington Navy Yard ordnance
duty, Ramsay sailed aboard Africa Squadron
sloop-of-war Saratoga on a two-year antislavery
patrol, during which he was advanced to lieu-
tenant commander on July 16, 1862.
Following leave, Ramsay assumed command
After assuming command of the Mississippi
on March 23, 1863, of the Mississippi Squadron
Squadron ironclad Choctaw in March 86, Lt.
ironclad Choctaw in the waters above Vicks- Cmdr. Francis “Frank” Ramsay, USN, partici-
burg, MS. His gunboat participated in the May pated in the river campaign leading to the fall of
18–23 destruction of the Haynes’ Bluff defenses Vicksburg, MS, including the defense of a Union
on the Yazoo River as well as the burning of CSN garrison at Milliken’s Bend, LA, against some
facilities at Yazoo City, MS. June 6–7 Ramsay , Confederate troops in June. In February
and March 86 he led expeditions up the Black
supported a Union garrison at Milliken’s Bend,
and Ouachita rivers and then participated in the
LA, in holding off some 4,000 Confederate March-May Red River campaign, concentrating
troops. Moving on to Vicksburg, he commanded on the capture of Fort DeRussy (courtesy Naval
a bombarding battery of heavy guns mounted History and Heritage Command).
  Rhind
ber and January 1865, as well as subsequent Feb- cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42924816 (accessed
ruary attacks against Fort Anderson and other July 16, 2010); New York Times, April 5, 1897, July 21,
Southern outposts along the Cape Fear River. In 1914; Washington Post, April 2, 5, 1897, July 21,1914.
April he assisted in removing torpedoes (mines)
from the James River and was present at the cap- Rhind, Alexander Colden
ture of Richmond.
Ramsay was posted to the USNA from May (1821–1897, USN)
1865 to August 1866, becoming a commander A lifelong bachelor, Rhind was born in New
on July 25 of the latter year and the Washington York City on October 21, 1821, one of ten chil-
Navy Yard until April 1867. In May he became dren of wealthy ship owner Alexander Rhind
fleet captain and chief of staff for the South At- (1779–1857) and his wife Susan Fell Rhind (1785–
lantic Squadron (SAS) aboard the flagship, the 1865). Having been appointed U.S. minister to
frigate Guerriere. He married Anna Josephine Turkey in 1827, Charles, upon his 1831 return,
McMahon (1842–1908) at Buenos Aires, Argen- moved his family to Alabama, where Alexander
tina, on June 8, 1869; the couple would have two was appointed a USN midshipman on Septem-
children. New York navy yard inspector of ord- ber 3, 1838. Following service with the Mediter-
nance from July 1869 to September 1872, Ramsay ranean Squadron ship-of-the-line Ohio and
was U.S. naval attaché at London until Septem- sloop-of-war Cyane until June 1841, Rhind
ber 1873, served at the Bureau of Ordnance until joined the West Indies Squadron sloop-of-war
January 1874, and commanded the NAS screw Warren until April 1842, was on the Norfolk, VA,
sloop-of-war Ossipee until January 1875. Be- receiving ship Pennsylvania until June 1843, and,
tween April and January 1881 he spent a year at after a year with the Africa Squadron frigate
the Philadelphia Naval Asylum and had ord-
nance duty at New York navy yard and the New-
port Torpedo Station, becoming a captain on
December 1, 1877. Commander of the European
Squadron screw steamer Trenton in 1881, Ram-
say was thereafter USNA superintendent until
September 1886, had board duty until April 1887,
and then served as captain of the protected
cruiser Boston during her shakedown and
cruises to strife-torn Haiti and Guatemala. Ad-
vanced to commodore on March 26, 1889, he
was commandant of the Washington Navy Yard
and, having become a rear admiral on April 11,
1894, served as chief of the Bureau of Navigation
until April 5, 1897, when he was placed on the
retired list.
Socially active during his retirement, Ramsay
died on July 19, 1914, and was buried at Arling-
ton National Cemetery on July 22. One 20th
century USN destroyer (DD-124) was named in
his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla- After service on the South Carolina blockade,
han; Appletons’, V; ANB, XVIII; Cogar, I; The National Cmdr. Alexander C. Rhind, USN, was given
Cyclopedia of American Biography, XV; DANFS; command of the experimental casemate iron-
Hamersly, 4th ed.; DeVries, “The Union Ironclad Ram clad ram Keokuk. She was riddled and sunk
Choctaw”; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, Tinclads during the April , 86, attack on Fort Sumter,
in the Civil War; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil Charleston, SC. Uninjured, Rhind returned to
War; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western the blockade in command of another ship. He
Waters; SLGMSD, pseud., “Adm. Francis Munroe retired as a rear admiral in 88 (courtesy Naval
Ramsay,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/ History and Heritage Command).
Rhind
Macedonian, served in the Second Seminole
War aboard the sloop-of-war Falmouth and the
schooner Phoenix. Graduating from the Phila-
delphia naval school as a passed midshipman
on July 2, 1845, he was seconded aboard the
USCS brig Washington until April 1846, when
he was assigned to the Home Squadron in the
Gulf serving aboard the frigate Potomac until
August 1846, the sloop-of-war Albany until Feb-
ruary 1847, the steamer Scorpion until April, and
the steamer Water Witch until July 1848. During
these deployments, he participated in the Mex-
ican War battles at Alvarado and Tabasco. Trav-
eling to California between November and mid–
1849 aboard the USCS schooner Ewing, he was
aboard the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war St.
Mary’s for a year and then returned to USCS
duty until July 1854. During his detached activ-
ities, Rhind became a master on April 30, 1853,
and a lieutenant on February 17, 1854. Trans-
ferred to the Pacific Squadron frigate John Ad-
ams, he found himself in a dispute with her cap-
tain, was court-martialed in May 1855, and was
dismissed from the service on September 13.
The proceedings of the action were later pub-
lished in a 94-page book. Rhind was generally
regarded as profane, abusive, and insubordinate,
and this was the most serious of three occasions
on which he was disciplined in his prewar
career. Reinstated without loss of rank on Janu-
ary 6, 1859, he was aboard the Africa Squadron
sloop-of-war Constellation until October 1861.
The Civil War having erupted in his absence,
Rhind was given command of the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) screw steamer
Crusader on December 14, 1861, and joined the
South Carolina coastal blockade in January 1862.
With a Navy Department commendation for an
April raid up the South Edisto River, Rhind was
advanced to lieutenant commander on July 16
and simultaneously transferred to command of
the Unadilla-class SABS Seneca, which patrolled
off Wilmington, NC, until October. Detached,
he was ordered to New York to take command
and complete the outfitting of the experimental
casemate ironclad ram Keokuk, which joined
the SABS at Port Royal, SC, on March 26, 1863,
Rhind having become a commander on January
2. While participating in the squadron’s unsuc-
cessful ironclad attack on Fort Sumter, Charles-
ton, SC, on April 7, the Keokuk was struck 90
6
times at a range of 600 yards. Riddled, the vessel
withdrew and anchored but sank the next day
without loss of life. Rhind was given command
of the paddle-wheel SABS gunboat Paul Jones
in May and commanded the SABS flagship, the
steam frigate Wabash, during July–September.
Having overseen her completion, he put the North
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) double-
ender gunboat Agawam into James River service
on May 11, 1864, and on August 13 won praise for
the manner in which he fought his ship in an en-
gagement with three Confederate batteries at
Deep Bottom Sound, VA. While the Agawam was
under repair in November, Rhind took tempo-
rary command of the steamer Louisiana, which
was outfitted as a giant bomb and employed in
an unsuccessful December 23/24 attempt to blow
up the magazines of Fort Fisher, near Wilming-
ton, NC, winning another commendation. After
the Agawam returned to service on February 18,
she blockaded the waters of Pamlico Sound, NC,
until the end of the war in May.
Following leave, Rhind was captain com-
manding the New York receiving ship and naval
rendezvous (recruiting station from May 1867
to December 1868. Unemployed until August
1872 but having advanced to captain on March 2,
1870, he commanded the Mediterranean Squad-
ron screw sloop-of-war Congress and the 3rd
Lighthouse District at Tompkinsville, NY, from
September to April 1878, becoming a commo-
dore on September 30, 1876. He was unemployed
until May 1880, after which he had board duty
and was governor of the Philadelphia Naval Asy-
lum until October 1883, being promoted to the
rank of rear admiral on October 30 and placed
on the retired list November 1.
Socially active the first part of his NYC retire-
ment, Rhind suffered a long illness, was con-
fined to bed in early October 1897, and died on
November 8. He was buried at the Colden Fam-
ily Cemetery, Montgomery, NY, two days later.
One 20th century USN destroyer (DD-404) was
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
Hamersly, Colgar, I; “Alexander Colden Rhind, 1821–
1897),” Aztec Club Original Members, http://www.
aztecclub.com/bios/rhind.htm (accessed Septem-
ber 22, 2016); DANFS; “Laurie,” pseud., “Adm. Alex-
ander Colden Rhind,” FindaGrave, http://www.finda
grave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12676248
(accessed September 22, 2016); Trial of Lieut. A.C.
  Rochelle
Rhind Before a Naval Court Martial in the Pacific Gray Rochelle (1791–1870), James Henry was
Ocean in May 1855); Harding, “The Guns of the born at the Rochelle House in Jerusalem, VA,
Keokuk”; Smith, “Guns of the Keokuk”; Alexander on November 1, 1826. He was appointed a USN
Colden Rhind, “Keokuk Against Sumter,” New York
Times, February 5, 1893; Colden Family Cemetery Al- midshipman on September 9, 1841. After time
phabetical List, Colden Preservation Organization, on shore duty aboard the Home Squadron
http://www.coldenpreservation.org/colden_family_ sloop-of-war Falmouth and aboard the receiving
cemetery.htm (accessed September 22, 2016); DAB, ship at Norfolk, VA, he was ordered aboard the
XV; New York Times, April 12, 1863, November 10, 12
Home Squadron sloop-of-war Decatur in Octo-
1897; New York Tribune, November 9, 1897; Milwaukee
Journal, November 9, 1897; Washington Post, March 10, ber1846 and participated in the Mexican War
1889; November 10, 1897; Baltimore Sun, November 10, until September 1847, taking part in the Tuxpan
1897; Chicago Daily Tribune, November 10, 1897. and Tabasco campaigns and the Mexican coastal
blockade. Graduating from the USNA in June
1848, he became a passed midshipman on Au-
Riley, Robert K. (1830–1883, USN) gust 10 and following leave was aboard the
Riley was born in Bridgeport, PA, on Octo- Mediterranean Squadron flagship “Old Iron-
ber 11, 1830. During the late 1840s he entered sides,” the frigate Constitution, until 1851. With
into the steamboat business on the Mononga- the Pacific Squadron and Far Eastern Squadron
hela River. Volunteering his services to the West- supply vessel Southampton until March 1855,
ern Flotilla in October 1861, he became first Rochelle participated in the “opening” of Japan.
master/executive officer of the Union ironclad He was seconded to the USCS steamer Corwin
Essex. He remained aboard that vessel from the in April for a three-year surveying deployment,
Battle of Fort Henry in February 1862 into the
fall, a period that included the vessel’s encoun-
ters with the Confederate ironclad Arkansas off
Vicksburg in July. Becoming an acting volunteer
lieutenant on October 1, and after briefly serving
as acting captain of the ironclad Louisville, Riley
became first captain of the light-draught Silver
Lake (Tinclad No. 23) on December 24. He re-
mained aboard only a short time after she en-
tered Cumberland River service, resigning on
February 16, 1863, to become master of the mail
steamer Platte Valley.
He remained a civilian steamboat captain
until 1880 and during his last decade commanded
the City of Vicksburg. He moved to NYC upon
his retirement, where he died in August 1883.
Sources: Callahan; ORN, I, 22; Smith, Civil War
Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith, Le Roy
Fitch; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight
for the Yazoo; “Robert K. Riley,” Riverboat Dave’s
Riverboat Captains, http://www.riverboatdaves.com/
captains/r.html#RRILE (accessed May 3, 2012); Jeffrey,
ed., Two Civil Wars: The Curious Shared Journal of a
Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a Union Sailor on the USS A long-time executive officer of the training
Essex. ship Patrick Henry, st Lt. James H. Rochelle,
CSN, assumed command of the ironclad Pal-
metto State in Charleston Harbor, SC, in April
Rochelle, James Henry 86 but saw no significant action. When the
(1826–1889, CSN) decision was taken to evacuate the city, he was
forced to destroy his ship on the night of Febru-
The son of Southampton County clerk James ary /8, 86 (Scharf, History of the Confeder-
Rochelle (1786–1835) and Martha “Fanny” Hines ate Navy).
Rodgers
during which he advanced to master on Septem-
ber 14 and lieutenant a day later. In October 1858
he joined the chartered steamer Southern Star
at Norfolk and participated in the winter Para-
guay Expedition, a naval expedition sent to re-
dress 1855 grievances against the government of
the South American nation. When the craft re-
turned to Norfolk in August 1859, Rochelle was
transferred to navy yard duties and was aboard
the frigate Cumberland when the Civil War
erupted on April 12, 1861.
Declaring for the Confederacy, Rochelle re-
signed (his name being stricken from USN rolls
on April 17), became a Virginia state navy lieu-
tenant on April 13, 1861, and became captain of
its two-gun warship Teaser. Transferred to the
CSN on June 6, he was rated as 1st lieutenant
and sent to the New Orleans station, from which
he returned later in the year as executive officer
of the CSS Patrick Henry in the James River. An
observer of the March 1862 battle between CSS
Virginia and USS Monitor, he oversaw the em-
placement and use of one of his vessel’s cannon
during the May 15 Battle of Drewry’s Bluff.
When his ship became the CSNA, Rochelle cap-
tained the two-gun gunboat Nansemond before
he was sent to the Charleston, SC, naval station
a year later. He returned to Richmond, VA, on
recruiting duty in August-September 1863 and
in October assumed command of the Charles-
ton receiving ship. Appointed a Provisional
Navy 1st lieutenant to rank from January 6, 1864,
Rochelle assumed command of the ironclad Pal-
metto State in Charleston Harbor in April but
saw no significant action. When the decision
was taken to evacuate the city, the ironclad was
blown up at the Cooper City docks on the night
of February 17/18, 1865. Rochelle then returned
to the James River and his old slot as executive
officer of the Patrick Henry.
Captured and paroled in April 1865, Rochelle
retired to Rochelle House. There in 1871 he be-
came a member of the Peruvian Hydrographic
Commission as second in command over a
group of contract American naval officers and
engineers engaged in a three-year exploration
of the upper Amazon River and its tributaries.
Upon the completion of this enterprise, Rochelle
returned home, where he died on March 3, 1889,
and was buried at St. Luke’s Episcopal Cemetery
in Courtland.
8
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; JCC, IV; DANFS; “The History
of the Rochelle-Prince House,” RootsWeb, http://www.
rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaschs/rph.htm (accessed
October 13, 2016); Norfolk Virginian, March 21, 1870;
Steedman, “The Ladies Build a Gunboat (Palmetto
State)”; Rochelle, Life of Rear Admiral John Randolph
Tucker; Rochelle and Tucker, “Report of the Hydro-
graphic Commission of Peru on the Amazon River”;
Werlich, Admiral of the Amazon: John Randolph
Tucker, His Confederate Colleagues, and Peru.
Rodgers, George Washington, II
(1822–1863, USN)
The second of three sons of War of 1812 com-
modore George Washington Rodgers (1787–
1832) and Anna Maria Perry Rodgers (1797–
1858), George was born in Brooklyn, NY, on
October 30, 1822. He was warranted a USN mid-
shipman on April 30, 1836, three years after his
brother, Christopher Raymond Perry “C.R.P.”
Rodgers (1819–1892). His uncles included RAdm.
John Rodgers, II (1812–1882), and Com. Mat-
thew C. Perry (1794–1858) and Oliver Hazard
Perry (1785–1819). Rodgers was advanced to the
rank of passed midshipman on July 1, 1842, by
which time he had completed deployments with
the West Indies, Africa, and Mediterranean
Squadrons. When the Mexican War erupted in
1846 he was appointed captain of the troop
steamer Colonel and upon arrival in the war
zone transferred to the frigate John Adams. Fol-
lowing the May 8 Battle of Palo Alto, near
Brownsville, TX, his vessel remained on block-
ade off the Mexican east coast until the conclu-
sion of the conflict in 1848. Rodgers was sec-
onded to the USCS from 1849 and 1850 being
promoted to lieutenant on June 4 of the latter
year and aboard the Africa Squadron flagship,
the sloop-of-war Germantown from January
1851 to March 1853. On New York recruiting
duty until 1857, he was on the Brazil Squadron
sloop-of- war Falmouth, which participated in
the 1858 Paraguay Expedition before returning
to New York in May 1859. On New York navy
yard ordnance duty until September 1860,
Rodgers became USNA commandant of mid-
shipmen and senior officer aboard the training
ship “Old Ironsides,” the frigate Constitution,
succeeding his brother, C.R.P. Rodgers.
George Rodgers helped to facilitate the USNA
 
transfer to Newport, RI, after the outbreak of
Civil War in April 1861 and upon her completion
became captain of the North Atlantic Block-
ading Squadron (NABS) double-ender gunboat
Tioga, which saw James River service in July
(Rodgers became a commander on the 16th)
helping to protect the AUS during its peninsula
withdrawal. From late August to November the
Tioga served as part of the West India Squadron
seeking Confederate ocean raiders in the
Caribbean. Thereafter detached, Rodgers be-
came captain and oversaw completion of the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS)
Captain of the frigate Constitution during her
transfer to Newport, RI, in 86, Cmdr. George
Washington Rodgers, 2nd, USN, was given com-
mand of the monitor Catskill in December 862
and was aboard when she joined the Federal
attack on Charleston, SC, in April 86. After
briefly serving as his squadron’s chief of staff, he
returned to the Catskill but was killed in action
during a bombardment of Fort Wagner on
August  (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
Rodgers
Passaic-class monitor Catskill, which arrived at
the Federal Port Royal, SC, base in March 1863
and participated in the unsuccessful April 7 at-
tack on Confederate forts ringing Charleston
Harbor. Returning to the blockade line, Rodgers
became squadron chief of staff on July 4. A com-
bined bombardment of Fort Sumter with AUS
artillery was laid on for August 17 and Rodgers
was allowed to reassume the Catskill’s captaincy.
On the appointed morning. as she attacked
Wagner, a large Confederate shell pierced the
monitor’s pilothouse, a metal splinter from
which struck Rodgers in the head, instantly
killing him. After the fight, Rodgers’ body was
transferred from Port Royal to New London, CT,
where he was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery
in the presence of his wife, Kate Margaret
Rodgers (?–1886). The former blockade-running
schooner Shark, captured in 1861, was renamed
in his honor later in 1863, but no other USN ves-
sels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Trumbull, “Four Naval Officers That I Have
Known”; Irma, pseud., “Cmdr. George Washington
Rodgers,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=93850414 (accessed
August 12, 2016); Johnson, ed., The 20th Century Bi-
ographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, IX;
DANFS.
Rodgers, John, II (1812–1882,
USN)
The third of eleven children of Com. John
Rodgers (1772–1838) and Minerva Denison
Rodgers (1784–1877), Rodgers II was born near
Havre de Grace, MD, on August 8, 1812. He en-
tered the USN as a midshipman on April 18.
1828, and served in the Mediterranean Squadron
aboard the frigate Constellation in 1829 and
sloop-of-war Concord during 1830–1832. In 1833
and 1834 he studied at the Norfolk naval school,
becoming a passed midshipman on June 24,
1834. Following a year at the University of Vir-
ginia, he cruised on the USCS schooner Jersey
and was acting master of the Brazil Squadron
brig Dolphin from September 1836 to May 1839.
He commanded the USCS schooners Jefferson
and Wave during 1839–1842, participating in the
Second Seminole War, and was promoted Lieu-
tenant on January 28, 1840. He undertook his
Rodgers 8

first USN command, the Home Squadron

schooner Boxer, during 1842–1844. Rodgers as-
sisted in construction of the experimental
Hunter-wheel steam gunboat Allegheny at Pitts-
burgh, PA, from May 1844 to April 1846. Through
February 1849 he cruised with the Mediter-
ranean and Africa Squadrons aboard the frigate
United States and the sloop-of-war Marion, re-
spectively. He returned to the USCS through
October 1852, commanding the schooners Retzel
and Legare, and from 1852 to 1858 he partici-
pated in, then commanded, the North Pacific
Exploring and Surveying Expedition. Advanced
to commander on September 14, 1858, he was
on duty in Washington, D.C., preparing his ex-
pedition report when the Civil War began on
April 12, 1861.
Rodgers was captured while joining with
other officers in an April 20, 1861, effort to with-
draw vessels, ordnance, and stores from the
Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, VA, but was re-
leased. In May he was ordered to Cincinnati,
OH, to consult with salvage expert James B. Eads
(1820–1887), who had recently presented the
Lincoln cabinet with a plan for the use of gun-
boats to help reclaim those portions of the West-
ern rivers seized by the Confederacy. Given that
A noted prewar Pacific explorer, Com. John
the nation’s interior automatically gave Federal Rodgers, 2nd, USN, served as first commander
command structure to the AUS, Rodgers, upon of the Western Flotilla in 86, captain of the
his arrival, was placed on the staff of area com- ironclad Galena during April-October 862, and
mander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan (1826– commanded the monitor Weehawken before
1885). The latter authorized the naval officer to Charleston, SC, beginning in November. On June
find and convert three passenger river steamers , 86, he captured the Confederate ironclad
Atlanta, for which he received the “Thanks of
into men-of-war (“timberclads”). To assist Congress.” Rodgers was captain of the monitor
Rodgers, several other naval officers were also Canonicus until November and thereafter until
sent west and together these men organized the the end of the war the monitor Dictator (courtesy
beginnings of the Western Flotilla. Rodgers was Naval History and Heritage Command).
also ordered to supervise construction of the
first ironclad river gunboats, Eads’s “City Series” Galena in April 1862. Supporting Maj. Gen. Mc-
vessels. Meanwhile, his timberclads, including Clellan’s Peninsular Campaign, the Galena par-
his flagboat Tyler, successfully reached the for- ticipated in the unsuccessful May gunboat op-
ward operating base in Cairo, IL, in August and eration up the James River that halted at
undertook limited operations. When he was Drewry’s Bluff, below Richmond. Rodgers be-
succeeded on September 6 by Flag Officer An- came a captain on July 16 and in November took
drew Hull Foote (1806–1863), a more senior offi- over the monitor Weehawken, aboard which he
cer, Rodgers returned to the Navy Department distinguished himself during the April 1863 at-
for two months of special duty. He then took tack on Fort Sumter and by capturing the Con-
command of the South Atlantic Blockading federate ironclad ram Atlanta on June 17 The
Squadron (SABS) screw steamer Flag off Savan- latter achievement won him the “Thanks of
nah, GA, until March 1862, before becoming Congress” and promotion to the rank of com-
captain of the small but revolutionary ironclad modore the following March, backdated to the
 8
day of his triumph. In June Rodgers assumed
command of the monitor Canonicus and in No-
vember the monitor Dictator, in which he
cruised the Atlantic coast as a unit of the North
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) until the
end of the war.
Briely on the USNA board of visitors in 1865,
he was ordered in September to sail the monitor
Monadnock from the East Coast to San Fran-
cisco, where he would command the Special
Squadron. While en route in March 1866 his
double-turreted ironclad demonstrated off Val-
paraiso, Chile, during a Spanish bombardment
but averted conflict with the ironclad flagship,
the frigate Numancia. Detached in June, he was
Mare Island navy yard commandant until De-
cember and then Boston navy yard comman-
dant until 1869, being promoted to rear admiral
on December 31. In February 1870 he took com-
mand of the Asiatic Squadron, handling both
naval and diplomatic duties from his flagship,
the steam frigate Colorado. The veteran led the
June 10–11, 1871, Korean Punitive Expedition,
which captured several forts and many cannon
in response to attacks on American shipping.
Detached in February 1872, Rodgers was com-
mandant of the Mare Island navy yard from 1873
until 1877 and then USNO superintendent from
1877 to 1882. He was also president of the Naval
Advisory Board (1881–1882), first president of
the U.S. Naval Institute (1879–1882), and a mem-
ber of the Lighthouse Board (1878–1882).
Rodgers, who was ill for some time while
performing his duties, died in Georgetown on
May 5, 1882, and was buried at Oak Hill Ceme-
tery three days later. Three 20th century U.S.
naval destroyers (DD-254, DD-574, DD-893)
were named in his honor, along with a torpedo
boat (TB-4) and a lighthouse tender.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, V; Thompson; Cogar, I; Reynolds; ANB, XVIII;
DANFS; Tucker, “John Rodgers,” in Tucker, II; John-
son, Rear Admiral John Rodgers, 1812–1882; Johnson,
“John Rodgers: The Quintessential Nineteenth Cen-
tury Naval Officer,” in Bradford, ed., Captains of the
Old Steam Navy; Hall, Biographical Memoir of John
Rodgers, 1812–1882; Smith, The Timberclads in the
Civil War; Soley, “Rear Admiral John Rodgers, Presi-
dent of the Naval Institute, 1879–82”; Heitzmann,
“The Ironclad Weehawken in the Civil War”; Loring,
“The Monitor Weehawken in the Civil War”; Merrill,
“USS Weehawken: Gallant Ironship”; Neeser, “Historic
Ships of the Navy: Monadnock”; Garver Graver, “John
Rogers
Rodgers,” FindaGrave, < http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=4281&GSvcid=266131&
GRid=7050871&> (accessed August 15, 2008); Smith,
The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, USS Caron-
delet; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western
Waters; Fuller, “Chilean Standoff: Ironclad Monitor
Monadnock, Naval Power-Politics, and the Spanish
Bombardment of Valparaiso, 1866,”; Washington Post,
February 20, 1882; April 25, May 8–9, 1882; Boston
Daily Advertiser, May 6, 1882.
Rogers, George Washington
(1811–1885, USN)
Born in Pennsylvania in 1811, Rogers traveled
west to Paducah, KY, before the war, established
a boatbuilding yard, and constructed steam-
boats, also publishing a technical book on the
subject in 1845. In September 1861 when military
forces of the United States occupied his town,
Rogers was forced to abandon his yard, which,
together with the equipment and lumber stock,
was appropriated for Federal use. Unable to ef-
fect change in the status of his business, he chose
to enlist in the USN on January 8, 1862, and was
sent aboard the new ironclad Pittsburg as her
carpenter.
Rogers participated in the Battles at Fort
Henry (February), Island No. 10 (March-April),
and Plum Point Bend, above Fort Pillow (May),
rendering significant damage control service to
his vessel and others during those fights. Having
been promoted as the boat’s 4th master on Au-
gust 16, he was a USN Mississippi Squadron act-
ing ensign on October 1 and was present as the
Pittsburg saw action in the Chickasaw Bayou ex-
pedition (December) and the slough through
Steele’s Bayou (March 1863). Promoted to acting
master on April 16, he became the ironclad’s ex-
ecutive officer and participated in her run past
Vicksburg’s batteries that night and also in the
Battle of Grand Gulf on April 29, during which
he was rendered partially deaf. On July 24 Rog-
ers was injured and his hands were badly burned
while fighting the after effect of a naphtha ex-
plosion in the Pittsburg’s yeoman’s storeroom.
Sent to the hospital, he returned to duty on De-
cember 18 with one arm in a sling. He partici-
pated in the March–May 1864 Red River Expe-
dition and dramatically employed his carpentry
expertise in damage control activities aboard the
ironclads Louisville and Eastport. As a result of
Rogers
A boat builder before the conflict, Acting Volunteer Lt. George Washington Rogers, USN, commanded,
from July 86 to December , 86, the Mississippi Squadron monitor Osage, depicted in this F.
Muller painting. During the war, Rogers’ services were much in demand as a salvage expert (courtesy
Naval History and Heritage Command).
his labors, Rogers was promoted to acting vol-
unteer lieutenant on July 9 and captain of the
monitor Osage the next day, finding her
grounded four miles above Helena, AR. During
an inspection of repair timber preparation
ashore in late September, he was bitten on his
right ankle by a poisonous spider, leaving him
with a wound that would bother him for years.
Diligent work and higher water allowed the
monitor to be refloated in early November, with
Rogers retaining her command until January
1865, when she was transferred to the West Gulf
Blockading Squadron (WGBS). He was then
given the light-draught Kate (Tinclad No. 55),
which beginning in June raised the cannon
aboard the tinclads sunk at Johnsonville, TN,
the previous November. Detached in August,
Rogers was reassigned to the staff of the Mound
City, IL, naval station until October, when he
was transferred to the League Island navy yard
near his home in Philadelphia to oversee laid-
up monitors. He was honorably discharged on
December 15, 1868.
Rogers worked at the Brooklyn navy yard
from 1870 to 1877 and the Washington Navy
Yard until 1881, his leg problems intensifying,
82
with swelling reaching his knee. He moved to
De Soto, MO, with his daughter that July and
worked through 1884 to secure a government
pension. He died at home on January 8, 1885.
Sources: Callahan; ORN, I, 27; “Landlocked
Sailors: U.S. Navy Civil War Volunteer Officers from
Midwestern States,” St. Louis Public Library Premier
Library Sources 2000, http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/libsrc/
ldsailor.htm (accessed September 30, 2011); ORN, I,
26; ORN, I, 27; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Me-
morial of George W Rogers; Rogers, The Shipwright’s
Own Book: Being a Key to the Most of the Different
Kinds of Lines Made Use of by Ship Builders; Smith,
Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters.
Rogers, John (In USN Service
1862–1865)
Little is known of this volunteer officer. Rog-
sers was appointed an acting ensign in October
1862 and became an acting master on August 21,
1863. Thereafter, he skippered the light-draught
Queen City (Tinclad No. 26) and the Naumkeag
(Tinclad No. 37) on the White River, AR. In May
1864 his tinclad materially aided a fleet of trans-
ports that were under attack below Jacksonport,
winning commendation from the local AUS
 8
Acting Volunteer Lt. John Rogers, USN, a noted White River tinclad commander from August 86
to January 86, was captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad Carondelet from February 86
until May. The 28-pound skipper was praised for his kindness to his crews (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).
commander as well as the Mississippi Squadron
commander. As of July 16, 1864, he was an acting
volunteer lieutenant on July 16, 1864, and be-
came captain of the Pook turtle Carondelet on
February 2, 1865, commanding the veteran iron-
clad until May. Honorably discharged on De-
cember 4, one of his subordinates praised the
238-pound skipper for his kindnesses to his
crews, though mentioning that he was a bit
rough in his conversation.
Sources: Callahan; Smith, USS Carondelet;
Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, The Timber-
clads in the Civil War; Smith, Civil War Biographies
from the Western Waters.
Rootes, Thomas Reade “Old
Tom” (1809–1885, CSN)
The second of four sons and a daughter of
Thomas Reade Rootes (1785–1824) and Sarah
Ryng Battaile (1760–1811), Thomas was born in
Portsmouth, VA, on December 10, 1809. Ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on March 1, 1827,
he was aboard the West Indies Squadron sloop-
of-war Natchez for two cruises through August
1831. Deployed on the Mediterranean Squadron
frigate Constellation until late 1832, he was sent
to the Norfolk naval school, from which he
Rootes
graduated and was warranted a passed midship-
man on June 10, 1833. Following a two-year
leave, he was acting master of the schooner En-
terprise during her four-year Far Eastern cruise.
Rootes married Mary Overton Minor at Brayn-
ville, VA, on January 24, 1838. The couple would
have five children, including two sons, both of
whom would serve with him in the CSN. Ad-
vanced to lieutenant on February 28,1838, he re-
joined his schooner, now with the Brazil Squad-
ron, until 1844, then served three years in the
Home Squadron flagship, the frigate Raritan.
During the Mexican War, he and men from his
ship participated in the landings at Vera Cruz
in March 1847 and at Tuxpan and Tabasco in
April and June. After serving a year on the
Africa Squadron sloop-of-war Yorktown, Rootes
commanded the unit’s brig Porpoise until De-
cember 1851. During this deployment, he took
special interest in the Episcopal Church mis-
sions in Liberia and made every effort to see
them outfitted with hymnals and copies of the
Book of Common Prayer. Taking leave in 1852,
Rootes was appointed 1st lieutenant of the sloop-
of-war Vandalia and participated in the 1853–
1855 opening of Japan under Com. Matthew C.
Perry (1794–1858), being advanced to com-
mander on September 14, 1855. Rootes was at
Rowan 8

the New York navy yard in 1857 and from 1858

to 1861 was in charge of the vessels in ordinary
at the Norfolk (Gosport) navy yard.
When the Civil War began on April 12, 1861,
Rootes sided with his native state and resigned
his commission; his name was stricken from the
rolls of the USN on April 19. He participated in
the capture of the Norfolk yard by the Confed-
erates, becoming a commander on June 10 and
captain of the captured frigate United States, a
1797 veteran turned into a receiving ship. A year
later Rootes was placed in charge of the Office
of Special Services, which oversaw the navy yard
and facilities at Richmond. In May 1864 he as-
sumed command of the James River Squadron
ironclad ram CSS Fredericksburg. The warship,
in company with another ironclad, engaged
the U.S. monitor Onondaga in the inconclusive
June 21 Battle of Trent’s Reach. During the re-
mainder of the year, particularly in August, Oc-
tober, and December, as well as January 1865,
the Fredericksburg engaged Federal naval craft Active in the fighting off North Carolina, Com.
and shore batteries on the James River in sup- Stephen C. Rowan, USN, oversaw completion
port of Southern military movements, although of the monitor Roanoke between August 862
Rootes was ashore on sick leave during the latter and July 86, when he became captain of the
fight and was detached in February 1865. casemate ironclad New Ironsides. He com-
manded the giant vessel off Charleston, SC, until
Following the war Rootes and his family September 86, when he was detached due to
moved to Bowling Green, MO, where his son- illness (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
in-law was a judge. Falling ill during the sum- Command).
mer of 1885, Rootes made a special request, sub-
sequently granted, that he be buried in his old ther when his family immigrated to Pennsylva-
USN uniform, which had been carefully pre- nia. Eight years later he was able to cross the At-
served since April 1861. Rootes died on Octo- lantic and join his relatives, who by now had re-
ber 7, 1885, and was buried in Bowling Green. located to Piqua, OH. There he clerked in a local
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla- store until 1825, when he travelled to Oxford,
han; CSN Register; Driver, Confederate Sailors, OH, to enroll in Miami University. On Febru-
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland; ary 1, 1826, he was appointed a USN midship-
DANFS; Wilcox, History of the Mexican War; Coski,
Capital Navy; Army and Navy Journal, VI (Septem- man and joined the sloop-of-war Vincennes on
ber 15, 1838), 80; XXIII (October 10, 1885), 208; New her three-year and 10-month circumnavigation
York Times, October 8, 1885; “Obituary for Thomas of the globe. Furloughed for 18 months but pro-
Reade Rootes,” Ancestry Message Board, http://boards. moted to passed midshipman on April 28, 1832,
ancestry.com/surnames.rootes/72.1/mb.ashx (ac-
Rowan, in August, went aboard the USCS ship
cessed October 31, 2016).
Rush for a year-long cruise off New York, after
which, during 1834–1836, he sailed as acting
Rowan, Stephen Clegg master on the West Indies Squadron schooner
Shark and the larger sloop-of-war Vandalia.
(1808–1890, USN) Rowan participated in the Second Seminole
The son of John Rowan and his wife was born War, leading part of a large March 1836 raid in-
in Downpatrick, Ireland (near Dublin), on De- land of Charlotte Harbor, FL. Advanced to lieu-
cember 25, 1808. Scalded by a teakettle in 1810, tenant on March 8, 1837, while aboard the store-
Stephen was forced to remain with his grandfa- ship Relief, he was seconded to the USCS from
 8
April 1838 to March 1841 and served aboard the
ship-of-the-line Delaware while she was at-
tached to the Brazil Squadron (1841–1843) and
Mediterranean Squadron (1843–1844). Follow-
ing leave an shore duty, Rowan became execu-
tive officer of the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war
Cyane in July 1845 and, following the outbreak
of the Mexican War in April 1846, he and men
from his ship occupied Monterey and San Diego
in July and fought in the January1847 battles of
San Gabriel and La Mesa. After participating in
the Mexican coastal blockade, later, in Novem-
ber and December, he joined in attacks near
Mazatlan and San Jose. Detached in October
1848 and granted leave, he was New York navy
yard ordnance inspector from February 1849 to
December 1852. Rowan received his first com-
mand, the storeship Relief, in February 1853 and
serviced the Brazil Squadron until November
1855, becoming a commander that Septem-
ber 14. In command of the New York receiving
ship until May 1857, assistant ordnance in-
spector at the New York navy yard until Feb-
ruary 1860, and on leave for the next 11 months,
Rowan became commander of the screw sloop-
of-war Pawnee in January 1861, completing his
orders to sail her from New York to Washington,
D.C., where she was the only major USN war-
ship available to defend the city during the in-
auguration of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–
1865) in March.
In April 1861 the Pawnee was unsuccessfully
dispatched to assist the garrison at Fort Sumter,
SC, and, later in the month following the onset
of the Civil War, aided in the evacuation of the
Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, VA, saving the
frigate Cumberland. On patrol in the Potomac
River, Rowan accepted the surrender of Alexan-
dria, VA, on May 24 and attacked Rebel batteries
at Aquia Creek the next day, firing the first shots
of the Civil War in the East from a naval vessel.
He later became commander of the Potomac
Flotilla. In August his vessel joined in the North
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) capture
of Forts Hatteras and Clark, NC. Briefly captain
of the steam sloop-of-war Brooklyn, which he
delivered to Hampton Roads, VA, in January
1862, he commanded the paddle-wheel gunboat
Delaware, from which he led a small flotilla dur-
ing the February capture of Roanoke Island,
combat with Confederate gunboats in the Pas-
Rowan
quotank River, and attacks on Elizabeth City and
Winton, NC; in March the assault on New Bern,
NC; and in April the naval portion of a joint ex-
pedition against the Dismal Swamp Canal.
These activities were recognized with the thanks
of Congress on July 11. Five days later Rowan
was advanced to captain (early in 1864 he was
advanced to commodore, effective back to July
16, 1862). In August Rowan became captain of,
and completed, a twin-turreted monitor, the
Roanoke, converted from a screw frigate. The
vessel was accepted in April 1863 but commis-
sioning was delayed. Consequently, in July
Rowan assumed command of the South Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (SABS) flagship New
Ironsides, the most powerful USN ironclad,
which was then lying off the harbor of Charles-
ton, SC. Her mission was to provide gunfire sup-
port in the continuing battle against the Con-
federate forts. Thousands of rounds would be
fired by the broadside vessel, which would be
hit hundreds of time without significant damage
or casualties. The target of a failed spar-torpedo
attack (August 21), she was assaulted by the
semi-submersible CSS David on October 5/6;
the Rebel strike caused only minor damage.
Rowan was acting SABS commander during
February–June 1864. On May 18, while visiting
New York, he was presented an elegant sword
by the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Appointed
commander of USN forces in the NC sounds in
August, he was detached due to illness in Sep-
tember and saw no further service in the con-
flict.
Unemployed until June 1866, Rowan became
a rear admiral on July 25, 1866, and was Norfolk
navy yard commandant until August 1867.
Flying his flag in the steamer Piscataqua (re-
named Delaware in 1869), he commanded the
Asiatic Squadron from September to November
1870, taking a prominent role in the protection
of American interests during the Japanese civil
war (1868–1869). Promoted to the rank of vice
admiral on August 15, 1871, Rowan was the last
officer to hold that rank prior to World War I.
He served on various boards, was New York
naval station and navy yard commandant from
May 1872 until October 1876, governor of the
Philadelphia Naval Asylum (September 1881–
June 1882), superintendent of the USNO (July
1882–May 1883), and chairman of the Lighthouse
Rutledge
Board (May 1883–April 1889). His wife, Mary
Basset Rowan (b. 1819), died on May 14, 1876,
but Rowan remained steadfastly on duty until
placed on the retired list on April 26, 1889.
Nearly every evening of his short Washington,
D.C., retirement, Rowan entertained friends and
retired naval officers. He died of a heart attack
during the night of March 31/April 1, 1890, and
was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. A monument
to the admiral in the form of a 10-inch Rodman-
type Columbiad with attendant cannonballs and
a plaque was presented to the city of Piqua, OH,
by J.G. Schmidlapp on October 13, 1909. Four
20th century USN warships were named in his
honor (TB-8, DD-64, DD-405, and DD-782).
Rowan Hall at Miami University was con-
structed in 1949
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar,
I; Reynolds; Dorothy Goodwin Rowan, “Comment:
Rowans of Bradford,” Ancestry Message Board, http://
boards. ancestr y. com/ thread. aspx?mv= flat&m=
154&p=surnames.rowan (accessed June 1, 2016);
Zemke, “Stephen C. Rowan and the U.S. Navy: Sixty
Years of Service”; DAB, XVI; “Rubbings,” pseud.,
“Adm. Stephen Clegg Rowan,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
37280108 (accessed June 1, 2016); DANFS; Tucker,”
Stephen Clegg Rowan,” in Tucker, I; Roberts, New
Ironsides in the Civil War; Stewart; Grimmett, St.
John’s Church, Lafayette Square: The History and Her-
itage of the Church of the Presidents, Washington, D.
C.; Piqua Daily Call, July 21, 1973; “Vice Admiral
Stephen Clegg Rowan,” Historical Marker Database,
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=19195 (ac-
When the engines of his ship were transferred into the depicted ironclad Palmetto State, st Lt. John
Rutledge, CSN, was transferred aboard as her captain. From September 862 through February
86, when she was destroyed to prevent capture, the vessel, shown in this wash drawing by Clary
Ray, participated in the defense of Charleston, SC (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
86
cessed June 1, 2016); Washington Post, January 20,
1889, April 3, 1890; New York Times, September 12,
1870, April 3, 1890.
Rutledge, John (1820–1894 CSN)
The grandson of South Carolina governor
John Rutledge, who had signed the Declaration
of Independence and also served on the U.S.
Supreme Court, was born at Charleston, SC, on
October 4, 1820, one of eight children of John
Rutledge and Maria Rose Rutledge (1801–1881).
Appointed a USN midshipman on August 9,
1835, he served at sea and ashore, being ad-
vanced to passed midshipman on June 22, 1841.
Rutledge was on duty at the Norfolk, VA, navy
yard from June 1842 to March 1845, after which
he served aboard the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-
war Warren during the Mexican War. Promoted
to lieutenant on January 7, 1849, he joined the
Mediterranean Squadron flagship, the paddle-
wheel frigate Mississippi, for a three-year cruise.
On leave until October 1852, Rutledge was sec-
onded for two years to the USCS, and from De-
cember 1854 until August 1858 he was on the
steam sloop-of-war San Jacinto in the Home,
West Indies, and East Indies squadrons. Unem-
ployed until June 1860, he joined the Africa
Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga.
Rutledge resigned his USN commission on
February 23, 1861, and become ordnance inspec-
 8
tor on the staff of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard (1818–
1893), commander of Southern defenses at
Charleston, SC. Following the April 12 attack on
Fort Sumter and the opening of the Civil War,
Rutledge, who became a CSN 1st lieutenant on
March 26, was assigned to the Savannah, GA,
naval station. Captain of the CSS Lady Davis
that fall, he participated in the unsuccessful de-
fense of Port Royal, SC, on November 7 and be-
came commander of the gunboat Nansemond
on the James River near Richmond, VA, in May
1862. He patrolled the stream during the Penin-
sula Campaign into the summer, when the CSN
decided to transfer the Lady Davis’s engines to
the new ironclad ram Palmetto State, then
under construction in Charleston Harbor. Per-
haps given that he was familiar with that power
plant, the lieutenant became her captain in Sep-
tember. On January 31, 1863, together with the
ironclad Chicora, the Palmetto State attacked the
unarmored vessels of the offshore Union block-
ade, capturing one and disabling another. Rut-
ledge’s ship also participated in the defense of
Charleston Harbor on April 7 when a number
of Union ironclads made a concentrated, but un-
successful assault upon its fortifications. Ap-
pointed 1st lieutenant in the Provisional Navy,
to rank from January 6, 1864, the South Carolin-
ian remained in command of his ironclad until
she was destroyed to prevent capture on Febru-
ary 18, 1865.
Rutledge, a Charleston resident after the con-
flict, died on May 6, 1894, and was buried at the
cemetery of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke
and St. Paul.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; Steedman, “The Ladies Build
a Gunboat (Palmetto State)”; Saratoga,” pseud., “Capt.
John Rutledge,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=99669057 (ac-
cessed November 8, 2016); DANFS.
Sands
sloop-of-war Vandalia until December 1831, fol-
lowed by the sloop-of-war St. Louis until July
1833. On leave or shore duty, he became a passed
midshipman in July 1834 and in November 1835
was seconded to the USCS, engaging in map-
ping and hydrographic activities. A year after
beginning that assignment, he was married at
Baltimore, MD, to Henietta Maria French (1817–
1893); the couple would have eight children, one
of whom, James Hoban Sands (1845–1911), also
became a rear admiral. Advanced to lieutenant
on March 16, 1840, Sands was on the Mediter-
ranean Squadron frigate Columbus for two years
then served at the USNO Depot of Charts and
Instruments until December 1846. Posted
aboard the Home Squadron brig Washington
and sent to the Gulf of Mexico to participate in
the Mexican War, he participated in the 1847
fighting off Tabasco and Tuxpan. From Decem-
ber until April 1850 he commanded the Africa
Squadron brigantine Porpoise and in May was
re-seconded to the USCS, taking command of
the steamer Walker in the Gulf of Mexico. While
on this service, he invented a new deep-sea
sounding instrument. Becoming a commander

Sands, Benjamin Franklin

(1811–1883, USN)
The son of Benjamin and Rebecca Hooks
Sands of Baltimore, MD, Benjamin was born on
Remembered for his oceanographic work, Cmdr.
February 11, 1811, raised in Louisville, KY, and
Benjamin F. Sands, USN, was also the first com-
warranted a USN Midshipman on April 1, 1828. mander of the large, three-turret monitor
After completing study at the New York naval Roanoke. He retired a rear admiral (courtesy
school in October, he joined the Brazil Squadron Naval History and Heritage Command).
Selfridge
on September 14, 1855, Sands served at the Bu-
reau of Construction, Equipment and Repair
and the Bureau of Ordnance from September
1858 until April 1861. He returned to the USCS
in May, a month after the opening of the Civil
War, as captain of the Active, performing West
Coast surveys.
Promoted to the rank of captain on July 16,
1862, Sands returned East in November and took
command of the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (NABS) steam sloop-of-war Dakotah.
After service in and around Hampton Roads,
VA, until April 1863, the Dakotah undertook a
mission to New Orleans in May and June car-
rying dispatches to and from West Gulf Block-
ading Squadron (WGBS) commander RAdm.
David G. Farragut (1801–1870). Detached, Sands
became captain of the monitor Roanoke, the
first ironclad with three turrets, but found her a
bad ocean-keeping ship during her initial
voyage from New York to Hampton Roads. She
also suffered damage during the first firing of
her guns. Sands arranged a transfer to command
of the NABS paddle-wheel gunboat Fort Jackson,
aboard which he remained through the end of
the war. He remained off the coast of Texas
through spring 1865, officially accepting the sur-
render of Galveston on June 2.
At the Boston navy yard from August 1865–
April 1867, where he became a commodore on
July 25, 1866, Sands became USNO in May 1867,
advanced to rear admiral on April 27, 1871, and
was placed on the retired list on February 11,
1874. An 1850 convert to Catholicism, he devoted
his retirement to service as a member of the
Catholic Indian Bureau. He died on June 30,
1883, and was buried in Mount Olive Cemetery
and reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery.
Both a 20th century USN destroyer (DD-243)
and an oceanographic research ship (T-AGOR-6)
were named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Co-
gar, I; Sands, From Reefer to Rear-Admiral: Reminis-
cences and Journal Jottings of Nearly Half a Century of
Naval Life; “Benjamin Franklin Sands,” FindaGrave,
https:// www. findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page=
gr&GRid=6611 (accessed May 3, 2017); “Benjamin F.
Sands, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy,” Arlington National
Cemetery, http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/bfsands.
htm (accessed May 3, 2017); Washington Post, July
1,1883; John F. Coyle, “The Diary of an Admiral,”
Washington Post, March 10, 1895.
88
Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr.
(1836–1924, USN)
Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Jr., the eldest son of
RAdm. Thomas O. Selfridge, Sr. (1804–1902),
and Louisa Cary Soley Selfridge (1810–1896),
was born on the Boston receiving ship on Feb-
ruary 6, 1836. He was appointed a USN acting
midshipman on October 3, 1851, and was posted
to the USNA, from which he graduated on
June 10, 1854, at the head of his class, becoming
the first to receive a diploma under the perma-
nent USNA education system and the first to
have his rank made permanent. Sent immedi-
ately aboard the Pacific Squadron razee Inde-
pendence for a two-year cruise, he was advanced
to the rank of passed midshipman on Novem-
ber 22, 1856. In January 1857 Selfridge was sec-
onded to the USCS schooner Nautilus to partic-
ipate in her surveys of the Rappahannock River,
VA, and Hudson River, NY, becoming her acting
master in June. In October he became master of
the Africa Squadron sloop-of-war Vincennes
and was promoted to master on January 22,
1858. Becoming ill, he took leave in April 1860;
but that October, having become a lieutenant on
February 15, he was sent aboard the Home
Squadron flagship, the frigate Cumberland, based
at the Gosport Navy Yard, Norfolk, VA.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War on
April 12, 1861, Selfridge joined in efforts to de-
stroy the untenable Gosport yard before escap-
ing the burning and beleaguered base aboard
the paddle-wheel tug Yankee. Outfitted with two
cannon, the Yankee began Potomac River recon-
naissance at month’s end and on May 3 engaged
Confederate batteries at Gloucester Point. Self-
ridge participated in the capture of the Hatteras
forts in September and, as second lieutenant in
charge of the forward battery, was on board
when Cumberland was sunk by the Confederate
ironclad Virginia on March 8, 1862. After watch-
ing the engagement between the Southern ram
and USS Monitor the next day, he was sent to
command the latter ship after her captain was
wounded He was detached on March 12. After
a brief leave, he became flag lieutenant of the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
and, promoted to lieutenant commander on
July 16, volunteered to command the Alligator,
an experimental submarine, in testing opera-
 8 Selfridge
tions based at the Washington Navy Yard that
July and August.
During August Selfridge joined the Missis-
sippi Squadron as commander of the Pook turtle
Cairo. On December 3, while leading a mine-
sweeping operation in the Yazoo River, the iron-
clad was sunk by a Confederate torpedo, becom-
ing the first warship sunk by an underwater
mine. Selfridge subsequently became captain of
the timberclad gunboat Conestoga and in May
1863 spent two months as skipper of the new
light-draught Manitou, later renamed Fort Hind-
man (Tinclad No. 13), before commanding a
naval land battery bombarding Vicksburg in
June and July. After the surrender of the Con-
federate citadel on July 4, Selfridge returned to
the Conestoga, which he commanded until she
was lost in a March 1864 collision—the third
vessel sunk out from under him during the war.
Assigned command of the river monitor Osage,
he accompanied the Union expedition up the
Red River of Louisiana during March–May and Captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad
upon his return became captain of the Federal Cairo, which was sunk in December 862, Lt.
ram Vindicator and the squadron’s 5th District, Cmdr. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr., USN, also com-
manded the timberclad Conestoga and from
retaining command of both through October.
March to May 86 the monitor Osage during
Returning East, he commanded the North At- the Red River Campaign. He retired a rear admi-
lantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) Unadilla- ral in 88 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
class gunboat Huron in the December-January Command).
1865 attacks on Fort Fisher, participating in the
ensuing bombardment of Fort Anderson and after which he was at the Newport Torpedo Sta-
the capture of Wilmington. He was on duty in tion. In April 1878 he became captain of the
the James River when the war ended. screw sloop-of-war Enterprise, and after a survey
Selfridge married Ellen F. Shepley (1846– of the mouth of the Mississippi River undertook
1905) in August 1865; the couple would have four a similar mission covering 1,300 miles on the
children. A month later he began a three-year Amazon and Madeira rivers. That December,
posting to the USNA and as captain of the train- the Enterprise was assigned to the European Sta-
ing frigate Macedonian on summer cruises. tion. While on that deployment, Selfridge par-
From 1868 until June 1870 he commanded the ticipated in the International Canal Conference
West Indies Squadron gunboat Nipsic during her at Paris in May 1879 as a special delegate chosen
mission to locate a naval base site. Promoted to by its promoter, Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805–
commander on December 31, 1869, Selfridge, 1894), and was simultaneously presented with
after duty at Washington, D.C., led the U.S. Sur- the Legion of Honor by the French government
veying Expedition to the Isthmus of Darien and made an honorary member of the Royal Ge-
(Panama) during November 1870–December ographic Society of Belgium. Following an 1880
1871, was Inspector of the 1st Lighthouse District tour at the Bureau of Navigation, he was pro-
at Portland, ME, until August 1872, and assistant moted to captain on February 24, 1881, and com-
executive officer of the Boston navy Yard until manded the Newport Torpedo Station until No-
that December, when he returned to the Darien vember 1884. Selfridge served as captain of the
task from December 1872 to May 1873, complet- steam sloop-of-war Omaha on the Asiatic Sta-
ing his report in May 1874. At the Boston yard tion from March 1885 to February 1888, prior to
until August 1875, he took leave until May 1877, his arrest in May on charges of dereliction and
Semmes 

negligence. In April 1887 his ship had conducted

target practice off the Japanese island of Ike-
shima and created an international incident
when four curious Japanese civilians handling
unexploded shells ashore were killed when one
blew up. Acquitted of wrongdoing by a June 1888
court-martial, Selfridge was on board duty and
Boston navy yard commandant from May 1890–
July 1893, becoming a commodore on April 11,
1894. Named an acting rear admiral on Novem-
ber 12, Selfridge commanded the European Sta-
tion, hoisting his flag aboard the armored
cruiser New York (ACR-2). While in Europe—
his rank being made permanent on February 28,
1896—he was American naval delegate to the
May coronation of Czar Nicholas II (for which
he received a commemorative gold metal), and
had an audience with Pope Leo XIII in March
1897. He was detached and placed on the retired
list on February 6, 1898.
Following the death of his first wife in 1905,
Selfridge married Gertrude Wildes (1848–1926),
in 1907. He died of heart disease on February 4, A cousin of CSN admiral Rafael Semmes, Lt.
1924, and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Cmdr. Alexander A. Semmes, USN, was cap-
Boston. Two 20th century USN destroyers (DD- tain of the monitor Lehigh off Charleston, SC,
320 and DD-357) were named in honor of Self- from April 86 to February 86, when that
ridge and his father. citadel surrendered. In March Semmes’ monitor
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
transferred to the James River, where she
tons’, V; ANB, XIX; Cogar, I; DANFS; Still, Ironclad engaged Confederate cannon at Howlett’s Bat-
Captains; Selfridge, Memoirs of Thomas O. Selfridge, tery and her captain was present at the fall of
Jr., Rear Admiral, U.S.N.; Selfridge, “Origin of the U.S. Richmond in April (Porter, Naval History of the
Ship Portsmouth”; Selfridge, “Plan of Selection”; Civil War).
Bolander, “The Alligator, First Federal Submarine of
the Civil War”; Quarstein, The Monitor Boys; Tucker, born at Georgetown, Washington, D.C., on Jan-
“Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Jr.,” in Tucker, II; Smith, uary 18, 1825, and was appointed a USN mid-
The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight for the shipman on October 27, 1841. This cousin of fu-
Yazoo; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Civil
War Biographies from the Western Waters; Hamersley, ture CSN admiral Rafael Semmes (1809–1877)
3rd ed.; Jen Snoots, “Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Jr.,” sailed aboard the Mediterranean Squadron flag-
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg. ship, the ship-of-the-line Columbus, for a three-
cgi?page= gr&GSsr= 4441&GSvcid= 266131&GRid= year cruise and late in 1844 transferred to the
23082470& (accessed October 3, 2008); Nicholson,
East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Vincennes.
T.O. Selfridge: A Finding Aid to the Papers in the Naval
Historical Foundation Collection, Library of Congress; Ordered to the Annapolis naval school, later the
New York Times, April 18, 1887, June 18, 1888, Octo- USNA, he graduated from his course of study
ber 12, 1895; Army and Navy Journal 25 (June 23, 1888); on August 10, 1847, became a passed midship-
Washington Post, January 20, 1896, April 25, 1898, Feb- man, and was on duty at the USNO until June
ruary 5, 1924.
1850, when he was posted aboard the Brazil
Squadron flagship, the frigate Congress, for a
Semmes, Alexander Alderman cruise that ended in June 1853. Seconded to the
USCS in 1853 and 1854, he was on the Pacific
(1825–1885, USN) Squadron paddle-wheel steamer Massachusetts,
The son of Alexander (?–1826) and Eleanor which departed Norfolk for the West Coast in
Harrison Beatty Semmes (1802–?), Semmes was July and arrived at Mare Island, CA, in May 1855.
 
He became a master on September 14 and a lieu-
tenant a day later. In February 1856 his steamer
was sent to patrol the Puget Sound area, guard-
ing against indigenous raiding parties. In No-
vember Semmes led a landing party ashore at
Port Gamble that attacked an encampment of
100 Russian-Native American fighters preparing
an assault. Her Pacific Northwest mission com-
pleted, the gunboat returned to Mare Island in
April 1857. Following leave, at San Francisco in
1859 Semmes joined the East India Squadron
steam sloop-of-war Powhatan, aboard which he
served until the outbreak of the Civil War in
April 1861.
In July 1861 Semmes was ordered aboard the
four-gun paddle-wheel steamer Rhode Island,
which served as a supply ship for the Federal
coastal blockades. On April 14, 1862, he became
captain of the South Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (SABS) screw gunboat Wamsutta, which
undertook blockade and reconnaissance duty in
St. Simon’s Sound, GA, and was damaged on
April 27 during a battle with dismounted Con-
federate cavalry on Woodville Island in the Rice-
boro River. While continuing patrols off Darien,
GA, Semmes was advanced to lieutenant com-
mander on July 16. On October 17 he assumed
command of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron
(EGBS) Unadilla-class gunboat Tohoma, which
began service off the coast of Florida in January
1863. Between that month and June 18, Semmes
captured or destroyed seven blockade runners,
taking time out on April 2 to bombard Southern
batteries at Tampa. He married Mary Mortimer
Dorsey (1835–?) at Baltimore, MD, on Febru-
ary 9, 1864; the couple would have one son. He
became captain of the SABS Passaic-class mon-
itor Lehigh off Charleston, SC, in April 1864 and
oversaw her shore bombardment missions
against the fortifications of the city’s harbor. A
particular target of interest was Fort Pringle, on
James Island, which she relentlessly shelled dur-
ing July 7–10. Continuing on picket duty during
the winter of 1864–65, the Lehigh participated
in renewed attacks against James Island in Feb-
ruary. In March Semmes’s monitor transferred
to the James River, where she engaged Confed-
erate cannon at Howlett’s Battery and her
captain was present at the fall of Richmond in
April.
Becoming a commander on July 25, 1866,
Shepperd
Semmes was on Philadelphia navy yard ord-
nance duty until the end of 1868. From 1869
until 1871 he was captain of the sloop-of-war
Portsmouth on the Brazil Station. Elevated to
captain on August 24, 1873, he served at the Pen-
sacola, FL, navy yard until summer 1875, when
he became captain of the European Squadron
sloop-of-war Alaska. He was executive officer of
the Washington Navy Yard from October 1876
until promoted to commodore on March 10,
1882, at which time he was named the yard’s
commandant.
On board duty after 1880, he departed Wash-
ington in September 1885 to join his family sum-
mering at Hamilton, in Loudon County, VA.
There he became ill and died of peritonitis on
September 22. No USN ships have been named
in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, V; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Newman, The Maryland
Semmes and Kindred Families; DANFS; Baltimore Sun,
September 23, 1885; Washington Post, September 23,
1885.
Shepperd, Francis Edgar
“Frank” (1834–1887, CSN)
A native of Germantown, NC, where he was
born in 1834, the third of four children of Con-
gressman Augustine Henry Shepperd (1792–
1864) and Martha Peyton Tabb Turner Shepperd
(1807–1858), Frank was appointed a USN acting
midshipman on October 16, 1849, and briefly
sent to the USNA. He joined the Africa Squad-
ron flagship, the sloop-of-war Germantown, in
1852 for his first cruise and in September 1853
was transferred to the unit’s sloop of war Dale.
Following his June 1855 USNA graduation, he
became a passed midshipman, moving up to
master on September 1. Assigned to the East
India Squadron sloop-of-war Portsmouth in Oc-
tober, Shepperd became a lieutenant on January
1, 1857, and was assigned as an instructor to the
USNA the following year and remained there
until the beginning of the Civil War. Following
the secession of his home state, he resigned from
Federal service and was officially dismissed from
the USN on July 8, 1861.
On July 15, 1861, Shepperd was commissioned
a CSN 1st lieutenant and sent to the New Or-
leans naval station. Following the loss of that
Shirk 2

city and base in April 1862, he was ordered to Jeannette Holland Austin, “Francis Edgar Shepperd
Yazoo City, MS, to take command of the small Lit the First Torpedo,” Old North Carolina Families
gunboat Mobile. After the departure of the West- Blogspot, http://oldnorthcarolinafamilies.blogspot.
com/ 2016/ 06/ francis- edgar- shepperd- lit- first. html
ern theater naval commander in the fall, he (accessed November 5, 2016).
earned the trust of, and provided sterling service
to, his de facto successor, Cmdr. Isaac Newton
Brown (1817–1889), who considered him “an ac- Shirk, James Whitehall
tive and intelligent officer.” In December Brown, (1832–1873, USN).
busy attempting to construct vessels, delegated
to Shepperd the supervision and inspection of Born in Erie County, PA, on July 16, 1832,
the torpedo project that resulted in the destruc- Shirk, who graduated from Erie Academy, was
tion of the U.S. ironclad Cairo. It was later said appointed a USN midshipman on March 26,
that Shepperd found the act cowardly and re- 1849. Attached to the Africa Squadron sloop-of-
fused to have anything further to do with so- war John Adams until transferred to the paddle-
called infernal machines. Employing the gun- wheel frigate Mississippi of the East India Squad-
boat St. Mary, it was Shepperd who organized ron in 1851, he participated in the 1853–1854
the work parties that initially attempted to block “opening” of Japan, during which he became a
the entrance of Federal forces into the Yazoo passed midshipman. Promoted to master in 1855
Pass in February 1863 and who assisted in the and lieutenant in 1856, Shirk was aboard the
defense of Fort Pemberton at Greenwood, MS, Home Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga from
in the following two months. After the loss of 1856 to 1858. During the latter year, he married
Yazoo City in July, he was briefly reassigned to Mary W. Marshall (1826–1894) in Erie, PA; the
command of the torpedo steamer Torch at
Charleston, SC, in the fall. Within weeks, how-
ever, he was named executive officer of the iron-
clad Palmetto State but saw no action before he
was sent to join the James River Squadron in sum-
mer 1864.There he served as executive officer
and sometimes commander of the ironclad ram
Virginia II, from September 24–December 28.
As 1865 began, he joined the ironclad ram Fred-
ericksburg as executive officer under the ill cap-
tain Cmdr. Thomas Reade “Old Tom” Rootes
(1809–1885). With Rootes ashore on sick leave,
Shepperd took command of the Fredericksburg
and enjoyed the only significant success by the
squadron’s ironclads during the January 24 Bat-
tle of Trent’s Reach. Detached from the vessel at
month’s end, he commanded the paddle-wheel
wooden gunboat CSS Hampton in February.
Shepperd resided in Georgetown, Washing-
ton, D.C., after the war, where he died in De-
cember 1887. He was buried at Philadelphia.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; CSN Register; “Children of Augustine H. Shep- The veteran Western Flotilla timberclad cap-
perd,” FamilyTreeMaker, http://familytreemaker. tain Lt. Cmdr. James W. Shirk, USN, served as
genealogy.com/users/m/o/o/Jackie-H-Moody-1/WEB captain of the ironclad Tuscumbia from March
SITE-0001/UHP-1343.html (accessed February 29, 86 through the close of the Vicksburg cam-
2012); Foenander; ORN, I, 23; DANFS; ORN, 2, 1; paign. He eventually became the longest-serv-
Charlotte News and Observer, December 30, 1887; ing junior officer in the Mississippi Squadron
Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, Civil War Biogra- (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
phies from the Western Waters; Coski, Capital Navy; mand).
 
couple would have three children. Later in the
year the lieutenant was ordered to the training
sloop-of-war Plymouth and, following her sum-
mer cruise of the Atlantic coast, was transferred
to the Great Lakes gunboat Michigan. In spring
1859 Shirk was ordered to the Pacific Squadron
sloop-of-war Saranac and was aboard at the out-
break of the Civil War in April 1861.
In late fall 1861 Shirk was among a group of
junior USN officers attached to the AUS West-
ern Flotilla where, early in 1862, he was given
command of the timberclad USS Lexington. He
skippered the Lexington during the February
campaign at Fort Henry and subsequent Ten-
nessee River sweep. More important, in concert
with a second timberclad, the Tyler, his vessel
offered spirited bombardment support to Fed-
eral troops in trouble during the first day of
April’s Battle of Shiloh. Following the Battle of
Memphis in June, Shirk participated in the
White River expedition, ably supporting em-
barked land troops in the capture of St. Charles,
AR, and providing succor and relief to the dam-
aged ironclad Mound City. Becoming a lieuten-
ant commander on July 16, he remained aboard
his wooden warrior through the December 1862
Chickasaw Bayou effort near Vicksburg and was
then detailed to command the ironclad Tus-
cumbia, which joined the campaign against
the Mississippi fortress in March 1863. Shirk
commanded the poorly designed vessel during
her run past Vicksburg’s guns on the night of
April 16–17 and in the April 29 Battle of Grand
Gulf, as well as the intense combat of May 22
against the citadel’s batteries. After the town’s
July 4 surrender, he was sent up theater to com-
mand the Mississippi Squadron’s 7th District of
the Mississippi Squadron and, beginning in Jan-
uary 1864, oversaw operations on the Tennessee
River and a portion of the Mississippi. Shirk’s
vessels participated in actions at Paducah, Fort
Pillow, and Johnsonville in the spring and late
fall, and he became the longest-serving junior
officer in the squadron’s history.
At the Philadelphia navy yard after the war,
Shirk became a commander on July 25, 1866,
and served as executive officer of the European
Squadron steam frigate Franklin in 1867 and
1868. In 1869 he was detailed to the Navy De-
partment as special assistant to Adm. David
Dixon Porter (1813–1891) in charge of appoint-
Simms
ments, after which he was transferred to the Naval
Hydrographic Office as Assistant Hydrographer.
He died at his Washington, D.C., residence of
pneumonia on February 10, 1873. One 20th cen-
tury USN destroyer (DD-318) was named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; The National Cyclopedia of American
Biography, V; Joiner, “James W. Shirk,” in Tucker, II;
Hamersley, 3rd ed.; New York Times, February 11, 1873;
U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Pensions. Mary
W. Shirk: Report; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War;
Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, The Timberclads in
the Civil War; Smith, Le Roy Fitch; Smith, Joseph
Brown and His Civil War Ironclads; Smith, Civil War
Biographies from the Western Waters; North American
and United States Gazette, February 11, 1873; Baltimore
Sun, February 12, 1873.
Simms, Charles Carroll
(1824–1884, CSN)
One of seven children of John Douglas Simms
(1788–1843) and Eleanor Carroll Brent Simms
(1787–1846), Charles Carroll was born in
Alexandria, VA, on March 30, 1824. He was ap-
pointed a USN midshipman on October 9, 1839,
and served on the Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war
Potomac for three years. From 1843 to 1844, he
was aboard the Africa Squadron brig Truxton
and upon completion of his Philadelphia naval
school studies became a passed midshipman on
July 2, 1845. Simms returned to the Africa
Squadron for a cruise aboard the sloop-of-war
Marion from 1846 to 1848, was seconded to the
USCS off the Pacific coast in 1849–1850, and
sailed on the Pacific Squadron steamer Massa-
chusetts in 1851 and 1852. During the latter year,
he married Elizabeth “Bet” James Nourse Simms
(1832–1907); the couple would have two chil-
dren. While at the Washington Navy Yard dur-
ing 1853–1855, Simms advanced to master on
January 15, 1854, and lieutenant on August 12;
he then helped operate the Philadelphia ren-
dezvous (recruiting station) in 1856 and 1857
and assumed his first command, the bark-rigged
storeship Release, in 1858. Briefly aboard the Pa-
cific Squadron steam frigate Merrimack in 1859,
he transferred to the East Indies Squadron steam
frigate Minnesota, where he was when the Civil
War erupted in April 1861.
Simms, whose family resided in Norfolk near
Simms
The captain of the bow guns of the ironclad CSS Virginia, st Lt. Charles C. Simms, CSN, assumed
command of the depicted ironclad gunboat Baltic in January 86. The deteriorated condition of the
warship, which he labeled a “mud scow,” prevented her participation in the defense of Mobile Bay
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
the Gosport Navy Yard, declared for the South
and was stricken from USN rolls on April 22.
He served as a Virginia state navy lieutenant
until June 10, when he accepted a CSN commis-
sion at the same rank, becoming captain of the
armed steam tug Empire, both at Gosport and
later in action off Elizabeth City, NC. At year’s
end he was sent aboard the Confederate ironclad
ram Virginia as captain of bow guns and, on
March 8, 1862, had the honor of opening the
Battle of Hampton Roads by firing on the USS
Cumberland and next day joining in the duel
with the USS Monitor. Transferred to the James
River Squadron gunboat Nansemond on April 12
and on promoted to 1st lieutenant on October 2,
Simms commanded the gunboat Florida (later
Selma) at Mobile, AL, from October 25 until
early 1863, when he was assigned to the Selma
naval cannon factory. Appointed 1st lieutenant
in the Provisional Navy effective January 2, 1864,
he was given command of the Mobile-based
ironclad gunboat Baltic shortly thereafter. The
deteriorated condition of the warship, which
Simms labeled a “mud scow,” prevented her par-

ticipation in the defense of Mobile Bay. The ves-
sel was dismantled in July and her armor was
sent to another ironclad, the Nashville, then out-
fitting at Mobile. Detached from the Baltic on
July 21, Simms became her captain but could not
outfit his craft in time to participate in the Au-
gust Battle of Mobile Bay. Relieved on Novem-
ber 26, he returned to the Selma cannon works
and surrendered at Nanna Hubba Bluff, AL, on
May 10, 1865, and was paroled.
Simms relocated to Norfolk and in 1874, hav-
ing returned with his wife to Georgetown, be-
came a clerk in the District of Columbia health
department. He died on December 18, 1884, and
was buried in Rock Creek Park.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;
Jay Kelly, “Charles Carroll Simms,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/page/gr/search.
ancestry. com/ Browse/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid= 4134
7516 (accessed October 12, 2016); DANFS; Hall,
comp., Record of the Descendents of John and Elizabeth
Bull, Early Settlers of Pennsylvania; Oxford, The War
on Hatteras.
 
Simpson, Edward (1824–1888,
USN)
The son of Edmund Shaw and Julia Elizabeth
(Jones) Simpson was born in NYC on March 3,
1824, and educated under private tutors until
February 11, 1840, when he was named a USN
midshipman. He served in the Brazil Squadron
frigates Decatur, Potomac, and Constitution until
November 1841, after which he was berthed
aboard the Home Squadron razee Independence,
in ordinary, until May 1842, when he was posted
aboard the Mediterranean and Brazil Squadron
frigate Congress until March 1845. Simpson was
detailed to the Annapolis naval school from the
New York receiving ship in September as a
member of the first class of what became the
USNA and advanced to passed midshipman
upon his June 11, 1846, graduation. He served
on the Home Squadron side-wheel gunboat
Vixen in the Mexican War and between July and
December 1847 participated in the Gulf cam-
A longtime instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy,
Lt. Cmdr. Edward Simpson, USN, was captain of
the monitor Passaic from July 86 until May
86. During the fall of 86 his ship was partic-
ularly active in the campaign against the harbor
forts of Charleston, SC (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).
Simpson
paigns at Alvarado, Tabasco, Tampico, Tuxpan,
Coatzacoalcos, Laguna de Terminos, and Vera
Cruz, as well as the blockade of Mexico’s east
coast. After leave, he was seconded to the USCS
(February 1848–January 1849) and then served
aboard the USRCS Service brig Washington,
then attached to the USN, until November. He
was acting master of the Brazil Squadron flag-
ship, the frigate Congress, from April 1850–July
1853. He married Mary Ann Ridgeley Simpson
(1826–1862) on August 27 of the latter year; the
couple would have five children. A USNA in-
structor until December 1854, having become a
master on July 10, he returned to the USCS
in 1855 and was promoted to lieutenant on
April 18, 1855. A year to the month later he
joined the East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war
Portsmouth for a two-year Far Eastern cruise
and participated in the November 1857 actions
against offending Chinese forts on the Pearl
River. He returned to the USNA in September
1858 and then served as a training officer aboard
the New York receiving ship until August 1861
while also writing and publishing a well-
received ordnance textbook. He returned to the
USNA as commandant of cadets until June 1863,
being promoted to lieutenant commander on
July 16, 1862.
Given temporary command of the South At-
lantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) screw
frigate Wabash off Charleston, SC, Simpson be-
came captain of the Passaic-class monitor Pas-
saic off Morris Island on July 25, 1863. Her mis-
sion over the next two months was to provide
frequent gunfire support against the forts
ringing Charleston Harbor. During the shoot on
September 8, Passaic provided covering fire that
allowed the rescue of her sister, the Weehawken,
which had grounded in a channel between
Cumming’s Point and Fort Sumter the day be-
fore. Detached in May 1864, Simpson became
captain of, and oversaw, the outfitting of the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
paddle-wheel gunboat USS Isonomia, which
joined the blockade off New Inlet, NC, in late
August. He became fleet captain of the West Gulf
Blockading Squadron (WGBS) and was pro-
moted to the rank of commander on March 3,
1865, participating in the final operations against
Mobile, AL, from March 27 to April 12.
Simpson was captain of the North Pacific
Sinclair 6

Station (NPS) steam sloop Mohican and then Sinclair, Arthur, III (1819–1865,
the paddle-wheel gunboat Mohongo from July CSN)
1866 to December 1868, when he returned to
Washington, taking charge of the Hydrographic The eldest of four children of USN Com.
Office until October 1869. Becoming a captain Arthur Sinclair II and Sarah Short Skipwith
on August 15, 1870, he served on special Euro- (Kennon) Sinclair (1791–1827), Arthur 3rd was
pean ordnance duty studying armaments of the born at Norfolk, VA, on November 29, 1810, was
great powers until September 1872, when he re- appointed a USN midshipman on March 4, 1823,
turned to the Bureau of Ordnance, where he and was on the West Indies Squadron flagship,
wrote a two-volume report on his findings. In the frigate Constellation, for a year, followed by
charge of the Newport Torpedo Station from a three-year cruise in the Pacific aboard the
1873 until mid-1875, he stepped out to command frigate Macedonian. Taking leave after his 1829
the North Atlantic Station (NAS) screw frigates Norfolk naval school attendance, he became a
Franklin and Wabash during January–April of passed midshipman on June 4, 1831, serving
the latter year. Captain of the NPS screw sloop- aboard the sloop-of-war Peacock in the Pacific
of-war Omaha (July 1875–March 1877), Simpson and Middle East until the spring of 1835. Sinclair
was New York navy yard captain-of-the-yard was promoted to lieutenant on March 3 and later
until September 1878, when, having become a that year married Lelia Imogen Dawley (1813–
commodore on April 26, he took over the New 1906). The couple would have three children,
London, CT, naval station until January 1881, including Arthur Sinclair IV (1837–1925), later
after which he was commandant of the Philadel-
phia (League Island) naval station and a mem-
ber of the Gun Foundry site selection board
until February 9, 1884, the day he was elevated
to rear admiral. After two years of board duty,
he was placed on the retired list on March 3,
1886.
Simpson, a widower suffering from Bright’s
disease, wrote to and received friends until his
death on December 1, 1888. He was interred at
Cypress Hills Cemetery, Long Island, next to his
wife. One 20th century USN destroyer (DD-221)
was named in his honor. His son and namesake,
Edward Simpson (1860–1930), became a rear ad-
miral, and a daughter married Charles Mitchell
Thomas (1846–1908), also a rear admiral.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; DANFS;
Cogar, I; Hamersly, 4th ed.; “Saratoga,” pseud., “Ad-
miral Edward Simpson,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7450
2928 (accessed December 12, 2015); Hurd, “Rear Ad-
miral Edward Simpson,” in History of the State of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Biographical;
Miller, “The Monitor’s Lucky Sister (Passaic)”; Powell
and Shippen; Reed and Simpson, Modern Ships of Cmdr. Arthur Sinclair, CSN, was unable to finish
War; Simpson, “The Monitor Passaic”; Simpson, A outfitting the ironclad Mississippi at New
Treatise on Ordnance and Naval Gunnery; Simpson, Orleans before that city was captured in April
Report on a Naval Mission to Europe; Simpson, “A Pro- 862. From February until May 86 he was cap-
posed Armament for the Navy”; Simpson, “The Navy tain of the ironclad Atlanta, being detached
and Its Prospects of Rehabilitation”; New York Times, before she was lost. Turning to blockade-
December 2, 1888; Washington Post, December 2, running, he was drowned when the swift Lelia
1888. foundered off Liverpool, England, on Janu-
ary , 86 (courtesy Naval History and Her-
itage Command).
 
an officer aboard the CSS Alabama. From 1836
to 1840 Sinclair was on the West Indies Squad-
ron sloop-of-war Natchez and was then sta-
tioned at the Norfolk navy yard or naval ren-
dezvous (recruiting station) until September
1849, when he became captain of the storeship
Supply. After cruising to California and back to
the West Indies during January 1850–1853, the
Supply was attached to the East Indies Squadron
until February 1855, participating in the “open-
ing” of Japan. Named a commander on Septem-
ber 15, 1855, Sinclair commanded the Norfolk
naval rendezvous until November 1857 and then
the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war Vandalia
until November 1860, when she was reassigned
to the West Indies Squadron.
When the Civil War began in 1861 Sinclair de-
clared for the South and resigned from the Fed-
eral service; he was formally dismissed from the
USN on April 18. Two weeks later he became a
Virginia State Navy commander, taking charge
of Fort Norfolk. He was appointed a CSN com-
mander on June 10 and captained the CSS Wins-
low during the Battle of Hatteras Inlet, NC, Au-
gust 28–29. This action was followed by shore
assignments at Norfolk, Charlotte, and Rich-
mond. Early in March 1862 Sinclair was ordered
to New Orleans to take command of the incom-
plete ironclad Mississippi. From April 3 to 25 he
valiantly attempted to either complete or defen-
sively position the vessel; but, frustrated on both
counts and leaving orders that she be scuttled,
he departed for Richmond the day after the U.S.
West Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS) began
its advance past Forts Jackson and St. Philip.
After serving in the Bureau of Orders and De-
tails, Sinclair was captain of the ironclad Atlanta
from February 18 to May 2, 1863. He then relin-
quished command to Lt. William Augustine
Webb (1824–1881), who subsequently lost the
ship. During the remainder of the year and into
1864, Sinclair was seconded to the department
charged with mine and torpedo experimenta-
tion and captained the armed launch Squib,
which would go on to successfully attack the
USS Minnesota. In September he took command
of the blockade runner Mary Celesteia, which
ran aground and sank off Bermuda.
He then traveled to Liverpool, England,
where he became captain of the blockade runner
Lelia. She foundered shortly after leaving port
Smith
on January 14, 1865, and Sinclair drowned. His
body was recovered and buried at Fleetwood
Cemetery, Lancashire, England. He was the
grandfather of literary giant Upton Sinclair
(1878–1968), author of The Jungle.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; ORN,
2, 1; CSN Register; Callahan; Driver, Confederate
Sailors, Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and
Maryland; Maclean, “The Short Cruise of the CSS At-
lanta”; Foenander; Hussey, Cruisers, Cotton and Con-
federates: Liverpool Waterfront in the Day of the Con-
federacy; J.V. Ward, “Cmdr. Arthur Sinclair, III,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=117467632 (accessed December 1,
2015); DANFS.
Smith, Watson (1825–1864, USN)
A native of Trenton, NJ, where he was born
on November 3, 1825, Smith was appointed a
USN midshipman on October 19, 1841. From
February 1845 to July 1847, he served aboard the
Home Squadron brig Porpoise, participating in
the Mexican War naval operations at Tampico,
Panuco, and Vera Cruz. Having earlier gradu-
ated from the Annapolis naval school and being
advanced to the rank of passed midshipman on
August 10, 1847, he joined the new European
Squadron frigate St. Lawrence until November
1850, when he took leave to captain the U.S. Mail
Steamship Company liner Illinois on her round-
trip route from New York to Chagres, on the
Isthmus of Panama. Rejoining the USN in early
1852, Smith served aboard the West Indies
Squadron paddle-wheel gunboat Fulton until
1855. Advanced to lieutenant that September 15,
he accompanied Capt. Henry Julius Hartstene
(1814–1868) on the polar expedition fitted out
by the Navy Department to search for Dr. Elisha
Kent Kane (1820–1857) of the Advance, a vessel
sent out in 1853 to discover, if possible, some
traces of the fate of Sir John Franklin (1786–
1847), who had been missing for over two years.
The unsuccessful Hartstene expedition con-
sisted of two vessels, the Release and the Arctic.
Smith was acting master on the latter. Upon his
return from this adventure, he again took leave.
Returning to duty during the summer of 1861
following the outbreak of the Civil War, Smith
was dispatched to New York to oversee conver-
sion of the civil schooner Norfolk Packet into a
bomb vessel, equipped with a giant 13-inch mor-
Stembel 8

tar. The vessel was commissioned on Febru- Smith,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-

ary 7, 1862, and joined the Mortar Flotilla, a di- bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19487580 (accessed No-
vision of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron vember 3, 2014).
(WGBS) assembled at the mouth of the Missis-
sippi River to capture New Orleans. On April 16 Stembel, Roger Nelson
she joined consort vessels in the bombardment
of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which guarded (1810–1900, USN)
the Crescent City. The city fell on April 25 and One of three children of the War of 1812 lieu-
Smith’s schooner accompanied elements of the tenant colonel Henry Stembel (1776–1829) and
squadron to Vicksburg during the May–July Christina Harmon Stembel (1768–1858), Roger
bombarding of the city as well as the Confed- Nelson was born in Middleton, MD, on Decem-
erte ironclad Arkansas, anchored there after ber 27, 1810. When Henry lost an 1817 election
July 15. Upon the formation of the Mississippi for the Maryland assembly, the family moved to
Squadron on October 1, Smith, promoted to Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and in 1823 they
lieutenant commander on July 16, was assigned moved on to Dayton, OH. After attending Day-
to supervise naval activities at Cincinnati, OH. ton Academy, Stembel enrolled in Miami Col-
Early in 1863 Smith was chosen to lead the naval lege (now Miami University), from which he
component of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, a graduated in 1831. He was appointed a USN
combined arms thrust designed to reach the
Yazoo River north of Vicksburg, MS. Smith—
who was seriously ill (perhaps from yellow fever)
aboard his flagboat Rattler (Tinclad No. 1) when
his task group reached Greenwood, MS, in late
March—had to be relieved and was invalided
home. He recovered in time to participate in the
Red River expedition in the spring of 1864, ar-
riving off the mouth of that stream just before
April 3, when Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Pitty Couthouy
(1808–1864) was killed aboard the ironclad
Chillicothe near Grand Ecore. Smith assumed
command of the ironclad four days later and
participated with her in the remainder of the
campaign, including the escape over the Bailey
dams.
At the end of May Smith again went on sick
leave but could not return. He died at his Tren-
ton, NJ, home on December 19 and was buried
in the local Riverview Cemetery. No USN ves-
sels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Stryker,
II; Samuel S. Armstrong, “Trenton in the Mexican,
Civil, and Spanish-American Wars,” in the Trenton
Historical Society, A History of Trenton, 1679–1929,” After serving as captain of the timberclad Lex-
http://trentonhistory.org/His/Wars.html (accessed ington, Cmdr. Roger N. Stembel, USN, was
January 11, 2012); “Officers of the United States Navy appointed captain of the Western Flotilla iron-
During the War Period Appointed from New Jersey,” clad Cincinnati in January 862, serving at Fort
New Jersey Civil War Record Page 1600, http://www. Henry, Island No. , and Fort Pillow. The cap-
njstatelib. org/ NJ_ Information/ Searchable_ Publica tain was severely injured when his ship was
tions/civilwar/NJCWn1600.html (accessed July 4, sunk by Confederate rams at Plum Point Bend
2008); Callahan; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, on May . Although he recovered, Stembel
Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Civil War Biographies served ashore for the remainder of the war
from the Western Waters; Smith, Joseph Brown and His (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
Civil War Ironclads; Russ Dodge, “LCDR Watson mand).
 
midshipman on March 27, 1832, was aboard
the West Indies Squadron schooner Porpoise
and sloop-of-war Vandalia (September 1832–
December 1837), and attended the New York
naval school until June 23, 1838, when he grad-
uated, becoming a passed midshipman. Work-
ing at the Charts and Instruments Depot at DC
until May 1839, Stembel served aboard the
Mediterranean Squadron frigate Brandywine for
three years then was unemployed until May
1843, taking advantage of the time to marry
Laura Clara McBride (1810–1900) of Hamilton,
OH, (the couple would have two children). Ad-
vanced to lieutenant on October 26, he was sec-
onded to the USCS until December 1847, was
posted aboard the sloop-of-war Plymouth at
New York in January-February 1848, and was
thereafter unemployed until November 1849,
when he was assigned to the Home Squadron
sloop-of-war Germantown until September
1850. Following leave, he was on antislavery pa-
trol off Africa (February 1851–October 1854)
aboard the Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war James-
town. Completing a tour of unspecific service
in Washington between November and June
1857, he joined the East Indies Squadron flag-
ship, the paddle-wheel frigate Mississippi until
January 1860.
Assigned to the Philadelphia Naval Asylum
from May 1860 to June 1861, Stembel advanced
to commander on July 1 of the latter year and
was sent west to Cincinnati to oversee prepara-
tion of the first Union warships on the Western
Waters, the timberclads Lexington, Conestoga,
and Tyler. Upon the activation of the AUS West-
ern Flotilla at Cairo, IL, in September, he became
captain of the Lexington, which he commanded
in the engagements at Lucas Bend (Septem-
ber 8) and Belmont (November 7). In January
1862 he became official building inspector for
the seven Pook turtle ironclads and received
command of the Cincinnati. Thereafter, he ac-
companied the flotilla up the Tennessee River,
personally securing, as captain of the squadron
flagboat, the surrender on February 6 of Fort
Henry, TN. The Cincinnati participated in the
bombardment and capture of Island No. 10 in
the Mississippi River in March and April. On
May 10 the Cincinnati was attacked by units of
the Confederate River Defense Force at Plum
Point Bend, above Fort Pillow, TN, and was
Stevens
badly damaged. Cmdr. Stembel was hit in the
throat by a rifle bullet and severely wounded.
Invalided to the hospital, he was officially on
sick leave from August 1862 through January
1863. The recovering gunboat captain spent the
remainder of the war and several months
beyond engaged on various shore assignments,
including serving as commander of the
Philadelphia naval rendezvous (recruiting sta-
tion).
From October 1865 until December 1866
Stembel commanded the European Squadron
sloop-of-war Canandaigua, being promoted to
captain on July 25. Unemployed until August
1869, he commanded the Boston naval ren-
dezvous until January 1871, having been elevated
to commodore on July 1, 1870. He commanded
the North Pacific Station (NPS) from February
1871 through October 1872, flying his flag aboard
the sloop-of-war Saranac and upon his detach-
ment was placed on the retired list on Decem-
ber 27.
By act of Congress on June 5, 1874, Stembel
was advanced to the rank of rear admiral on the
retired list. Having caught pneumonia while vis-
iting NYC in October 1900, he died on Novem-
ber 20 and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.
His wife died on December 19. One 20th century
USN destroyer (DD-644) was named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Cogar, I; DANFS; Tucker, “Roger Nelson Stem-
bel,” in Tucker, II; New York Times, November 21, 1900;
Oren “Skip” Stembel, “Roger Nelson Stembel,” Stembel
Family History Project, http://familyhistory.stembel.
org (accessed August 28, 2012); Smith, The Timber-
clads in the Civil War; Smith, Civil War Biographies
from the Western Waters; “Roger Nelson Stembel, Rear
Admiral, United States Navy,” Arlington National
Cemetery Website, http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/
rnstembel.htm (accessed August 28, 2012); Washing-
ton Post, January 20, 1889, November 21, 1900; New
York Times, November 21, December 20, 1900.
Stevens, Henry Kennedy
“Harry” or “Hal” (1824–1863,
CSN)
The second of four children of USN lieuten-
ant Clement William Stevens (1792–1836) and
Sarah J. Fayssoux Stevens (1795–1864), Stevens
was born in Norwich, CT, on October 17, 1824.
Stevens 2

While in command of the auxiliary steamer Capitol (here depicted on the left), Lt. Henry K. Stevens,
CSN, was invited to become executive officer of the CSS Arkansas. With that commander ill, Stevens
became the ironclad’s captain and had the unhappy duty of scuttling the famous ship above Baton
Rouge when her engines failed in August 862. He was killed in action near Patterson, LA, on January
, 86 (Battles and Leaders, vol. ).

Educated in the public schools of Pendleton, SC,
he was appointed a USN midshipman from
Florida on March 2, 1839, and advanced to
passed midshipman on July 2, 1845. From Jan-
uary 1847 until September 1850 he served
aboard the Pacific Squadron paddle-wheel store-
ship Southampton, largely off the coast of Cali-
fornia. On leave until October 1852, he became
captain of the schooner Fenimore Cooper, which
participated in the 1853–1856 North Sea Explor-
ing and Surveying Expedition. He was on duty
at Washington, D.C., in connection with the ex-
pedition report until ordered aboard the Africa
Squadron sloop-of-war Portsmouth in Novem-
ber 1859 for a three-year antislavery patrol.
Stevens was aboard the USS Portsmouth at
London, England, in March 1861, when, with
civil war looming in the U.S., he elected to resign
from the Union navy. Following the return of
the Federal warship to Portsmouth, NH, on Sep-
tember 24 he was arrested after refusing to take
the oath of allegiance and was confined in Fort
Lafayette, NY, and then Fort Warren, MA, prior
to his official dismissal on September 30. Held
as a POW for eight weeks, he was exchanged,
became a CSN lieutenant in November, and was
posted to Charleston, SC, where he participated
in various small unit activities near Edisto. On
March 31, 1862, he journeyed to Memphis, TN,
to participate in the building of two ironclads
under the supervision of Cmdr. Charles McBlair
(1809–1890). When the time arrived in late April
1862 to transfer the one most nearly complete,
the ram Arkansas, out of harm’s way, Stevens
participated in her removal to Greenwood, MS,
as acting captain of the steamer Capitol. When
Lt. Isaac Newton Brown (1817–1889) displaced
McBlair, Brown took over the warship and
moved her to Yazoo City to complete outfitting
in early May and invited Stevens to serve as his
 2
executive officer. Stevens would remain with the
Arkansas throughout her brief life. When, at the
end of July, it was required that she support
Confederate military forces moving on Baton
Rouge, Stevens, temporarily in command of the
Arkansas while Brown was on sick leave, was
unable to convince his superiors that the engines
of the vessel were not up to the mission. When
her power plant failed on August 6 a few miles
above the Louisiana town, it was Stevens who
was forced to order her destruction. Following
his escape ashore with most of the crew, the offi-
cer escorted his men to the Jackson naval sta-
tion, from which the majority were ordered tem-
porarily to help establish the river batteries at
Port Hudson, LA, a few miles below Vicksburg.
In December Stevens was detached from this
duty and ordered to Alexandria, LA, to confer
with ACS officers regarding how best to provide
naval assistance.
He simultaneously assumed command of the
CSS J.A. Cotton and several small vessels. Before
arrangements could be executed, he was killed
in action aboard that vessel at the Battle of Cor-
ney’s Bridge in Bayou Teche, near Patterson, LA,
on January 14, 1863. He was buried at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church Cemetery, Pendleton, SC.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; DANFS; CSN Register; Mosely, “The Naval Ca-
reer of Henry Kennedy Stevens as Revealed in His
Letters, 1839–1863”; Carr, “Lieutenant Henry Kennedy
Stevens, CSN: Warrior of the CSS Arkansas”; Capers,
South Carolina, Vol. 5 of Clement Anslem Evans, ed.,
Confederate Military History; Smith, CSS Arkansas;
Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Fight
for the Yazoo; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the
Western Waters; Shannon Dobbins, “Lieutenant
Henry Kennedy Stevens,” FindaGrave, http://www.
findagrave. com/ cgi- bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GRid=
19582748 (accessed April 10, 2010).
Stevens, Thomas Holdup
(1819–1896, USN)
The son of USN Com. Thomas Holdup Stev-
ens (1795–1841), captain of the USS Trippe in the
War of 1812 Battle of Lake Erie, and his wife Eliz-
abeth Sage Stevens (?–1848), Stevens Jr. was born
in Middletown, CT. on May 27, 1819. During his
youth, worked at the countinghouse of his
mother’s cousin, Gurdon Saltenstall Hubbard
(1802–1886), the pioneer Chicago fur trader.
Stevens
Stevens was appointed a USN midshipman on
December 14, 1836, served aboard the Brazil
Squadron razee Independence from February
1837 to April 1840, and graduated from the
Philadelphia naval school on July 1, 1842, as a
passed midshipman. After briefly serving as
naval aide to President John Tyler (1790–1862),
he was seconded to the USCS and participated
in a Gulf of Mexico examination until August
1843. Stevens served on the Great Lakes steam
gunboat Michigan from September 1843 to Sep-
tember 1844. At the Michigan’s Erie, PA, base,
he married Anna Marie Christie Stevens (1824–
1893) on November 2; the couple would have
nine children, including RAdm. Thomas Holdup
Stevens (1845–1914). Stevens, with his wife and
daughter, were relocated to Honolulu, Sandwich
Islands, where he was naval storekeeper until
December 1847. The Chilean ship Maria Helena,
aboard which they were returning home, was
wrecked on Christmas Island on January 4, 1848;
all of the survivors, including the Stevenses,
were marooned until rescued three months later.
Stevens returned to duty at the Sackets Harbor,
NY, navy yard in June 1849 but was transferred
back to the Michigan in September. Following a
brief January-February 1851 assignment aboard
the sloop-of-war Germantown, he commanded
the USCS schooner Ewing on a survey of the
California and Oregon coasts until January
1855.Unemployed, he was released from the
USN by ruling of the Naval Efficiency Board on
September 13 but was reinstated as a lieutenant
on May 10, 1857. Stevens joined the Home
Squadron steam frigate Colorado in March 1858
and that August transferred to the squadron’s
screw frigate Roanoke, where he served until
January 1861, when he returned to the Michigan
and remained with her until July after the out-
break of the Civil War.
From late July 1861 Stevens served on the Po-
tomac Flotilla steam gunboat Penguin and in
September oversaw completion, and took com-
mand, of the South Atlantic Blockading Squad-
ron (SABS) Unadilla-class gunboat Ottawa,
which participated in the November 7 capture
of Port Royal, SC, and in March-April 1862 led
the first expedition up Florida’s St. Johns River,
which occupied Jacksonville and other fortified
points, including Fernandia. In April Stevens
was transferred to command of the North
Stevens
Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) paddle-
wheel gunboat Maratanza, which supported the
Army of the Potomac advance on the Peninsula,
including the Battle of Eltham’s Landing. En
route to scouting Turkey Bend on July 4, the
steamer engaged and captured CSS Teaser at
Haxall’s on the James River. Becoming a com-
mander on July 16 and simultaneously captain
of the ironclad USS Monitor, Stevens assisted
the military during the withdrawal of Federal
troops from the Peninsula. An intemperate rep-
utation led to his reassignment on September 10
to the West Indies Squadron task group, or “Fly-
ing Squadron,” paddle-wheel gunboat Sonoma,
which was assigned to hunt the Confederate
After capturing CSS Teaser on the James River
in July 862, Cmdr. Thomas H. Stevens, USN,
then held command of the famous Monitor un-
til September. He was given command of the
monitor Patapsco off Charleston, SC, in August
86, keeping her in action against the fortifica-
tions at Charleston, SC, until May 86, when he
was detached. He returned to ironclad work
briefly in August when he served as acting cap-
tain of the Winnebago during the Battle of
Mobile and the actions against Forts Gaines and
Morgan (courtesy Naval History and Heritage
Command).
22
ocean cruisers Alabama and Florida as well as
to assist in the apprehension of blockade run-
ners. During her deployment Sonoma joined in
the capture of four runners between January 18
and April 14, 1863. That August, Stevens became
captain of the SABS Passaic-class monitor Pa-
tapsco, then cruising off Charleston, SC. In Au-
gust and September she was part of the ironclad
attack on the town’s harbor fortifications, includ-
ing Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, and Fort Wag-
ner. Patapsco remained on the gun line off
Charleston during the winter, and on Novem-
ber 2 an 8-inch Parrott rifle suffered a premature
cartridge explosion that killed two men and
wounded four others in her turret. Stevens was
given command of the West Gulf Blockading
Squadron (WGBS) screw sloop-of-war Oneida
on the blockade off Mobile in May 1864, and at
the beginning of August he was made temporary
captain of the double-turret monitor Winne-
bago, which participated in the Battle of Mobile
Bay on August 5. Winnebago intermittently
bombarded Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines until
they surrendered, on August 24 and 6, respec-
tively. Returning to the Oneida, Stevens cruised
off the Texas coast, from which duty he was de-
tached in August 1865.
Stevens was assigned to the New York naval
rendezvous (recruiting station) from November
1865 to March 1866 and became a captain on
July 25. In August he began a three-year tour as
inspector of the 11th Lighthouse District at De-
troit, MI, after which he served as captain of the
screw sloop-of-war Guerriere on the European
Station until September 1871. His cruise did not
go well, as the warship twice grounded. Court-
martialed and suspended for three years in Sep-
tember 1871, Stevens’ sentence was remitted on
November 26, 1872, and he was elevated to com-
modore on November 20. Unemployed until
July 1873, he was Commandant of the Washing-
ton navy yard from August to June 1876 and
chairman of the Norfolk, VA, harbor board until
August 1880, being promoted to rear admiral on
October 27, 1879. Stevens was commander of
the Pacific Station from October 1880 to July
1881, flying his flag in the sloop-of-war Pensa-
cola, and was placed on the retired list, effective
May 27, 1881.
Stevens’ Washington, D.C., retirement in-
cluded social activities, writing, including a
 2
recollection of his days on the monitor Patapsco
published in the Philadelphia Times in 1886, and
successful investments. He died as the result of
an acute case of indigestion on May 15, 1897, and
was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. One
20th century USN destroyer (DD- 479) was
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar,
I; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Still, Ironclad Captains; Quar-
stein, The Monitor Boys; DANFS; Morris, ed., Men of
the Century; Edgar K. Thompson, “The U.S. Monitor
Patapsco”; Carol Stevens, “Admiral Thomas Holdup
Stevens, Jr.,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/
cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20599662 (accessed
December 2, 2015); “Thomas Holdup Stevens, Jr.,” Ar-
lington National Cemetery Homepage, http://www.
arlingtoncemetery.net/tstevens.htm (accessed De-
cember 2, 2015); Stevens, Narrative of the Wreck of the
Chilean Ship Maria Helena on Christmas Island, Jan-
uary 4, 1848; Stevens, “The Boat Attack on Sumter,”
B&L, IV; Philadelphia Times, January 10, 1886; Denver
Evening Post, May 15, 1896; New York Tribune, May
16, 1896; New York Times, May 16, 1896; Washington
Post, May 16, 1896; Milwaukee Sentinel, May 16, 1896;
Chicago Daily Tribune, May 16, 1896.
Stone
Stone, Edward Erastus “E.E.”
(1826–1892, USN)
The son of merchant Jeremy Stone (1798–
1837) and Ann Green Mitchell Stone (1800–
1861), E.E. Stone was born in Savannah, GA, on
January 26, 1826. He matriculated at George-
town University in 1840 but on October 19, 1841,
was appointed a USN midshipman and served
aboard the Home Squadron brig Bainbridge
from 1842 to 1844, after which he joined the East
Indies Squadron brig Perry on her circumnavi-
gation of the globe. He was on the Home Squad-
ron flagship, the frigate Cumberland, during the
Mexican War in the fall of 1846 and thereafter
sent to the Annapolis naval school, from which
he graduated in June 1847, becoming a passed
midshipman on August 10, 1847. Stone married
Fannie Leonide de Montalant Stone (1848–1877)
of Norfolk, VA, in Philadelphia, PA, on Febru-
ary 23, 1848; the couple had two daughters. After
leave, he participated in a two-year antislavery
cruise aboard the Africa Squadron brig Perry,
joining the same unit’s sloop-of-war Portsmouth
in 1851. With the USCS in 1852 and during 1854–

Lt. Cmdr. Edward E. Stone, USN, a veteran of the Atlantic blockade, became captain of the monitor
Montauk in October 86 and participated in the December 86 and January 86 campaign against
Fort Fisher, NC, and the capture of Fort Anderson in February. At the Washington Navy Yard in April,
the monitor served as a bier for the Lincoln assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and a temporary prison for
six of his accomplices. The laid-up ironclad (shown on the left) is at the Philadelphia navy yard in
 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Tattnall
1856, he was aboard the Pacific Squadron store-
ship Fredonia in 1853, being promoted to lieu-
tenant on September 15, 1855. In 1857 he served
aboard the rescued Royal Navy bark Resolute,
which was refurbished by act of Congress and
returned to England in an act of good will. In
1858 and 1859 he was on the Africa Squadron
sloop-of-war Marion and thereafter in the East
Indies Squadron sloop-of-war John Adams. His
ship was at Siam when word was received in
July 1861 that the Civil War had begun. The
John Adams returned to New York in January
1862.
From spring 1862 to March 1863 Stone com-
manded the frigate Macedonian on patrol in the
West Indies, protecting American commerce
while being on the lookout for blockade runners
and Confederate ocean cruisers. Advanced to
lieutenant commander on July 16, 1862, he be-
came captain of the converted North Atlantic
Blockading Squadron (NABS) steam gunboat
Iron Age in April 1863, undertook a short fruit-
less search for the CSS Tacony, patrolled off the
New England coast on fisheries protection duty
until September 7, and shifted to the Wilming-
ton, NC, blockade. While on a January 9, 1864,
coastal mission, Stone’s vessel grounded herself
and could not be gotten off; she was destroyed
on January 11. Over the next nine months Stone
served as temporary captain of a number of
blockade gunboats, but at the end of September
he was given command of the SABS Passaic-
class monitor Montauk, a veteran of the cam-
paign against Charleston, SC. In addition to fir-
ing upon Fort Sumter and the other harbor
bastions, the monitor was detailed, in late fall,
to join with several other loaned vessels in the
assault upon Fort Fisher, NC. Temporarily trans-
ferred to the NABS, the ironclads participated
in both the unsuccessful December attacks and
the successful campaign that led to the fall of
Wilmington’s guardian on January 15, 1865. The
Montauk, the only SABS monitor not returned,
joined in the Federal campaign against Fort An-
derson, which fell on February 19.
Not long before the end of the conflict in
April, the Montauk was ordered to the Wash-
ington Navy Yard. There, following the assassi-
nation of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–
1865), Stone’s ironclad served as a bier for his
assassin, John Wilkes Booth (1838–1865), and
2
prison for six of his accomplices until they were
removed to the Old Federal Penitentiary on
April 29. Stone was detached from the Montauk
on May 26. Some weeks later he was ordered to
New Orleans, where he served on special duty
in connection with Reconstruction and became
a commander on July 25, 1866. From August
1867 to July 1868 Stone commanded the Atlan-
tic Squadron steam gunboat Shawmut and, a
lighthouse inspector thereafter, he was placed
on the retired list due to poor health on Janu-
ary 5, 1874.
Ill during most of his retirement, Stone be-
came bedfast in 1890, died on June 18,1892, and
was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. No
USN vessels have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham-
ersly, 3rd ed.; Bartlett, Gregory Stone Genealogy;
DANFS; Meriam Medina, “Roster by Classes of the
Georgetown Men in the Federal Service in the Civil
War, Part II,” The History Box, http://thehistorybox.
com/ny_city/nycity_cw_georgetown_roster_ fed_svc_
article00358.htm (accessed November 25, 2015);
Georgetown University, Alumni Association, Blue and
Gray: Georgetown University and the Civil War; “A
Resolute Story About a Ship That Became a Desk,”
Washington Post, January 29, 1977; Army and Navy
Journal 19 (February 25, 1882), 669; T.J. Clemente,
“The Story of the Ironclad USS Montauk in the Civil
War,” Southampton Patch, July 17, 2012; Neeser, “His-
toric Ships of the Navy: Montauk”; Steers and Holzer,
eds., The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators; Fone-
vielle, To Forge a Thunderbolt: Fort Anderson and the
Battle of Wilmington; Washington Post, June 20, 1892;
New York Times, June 20, 1892.
Tattnall, Josiah, Jr. (1795–1871,
CSN)
Among the most prominent former USN offi-
cers to enter the CSN, Josiah was born at Bona-
venture Plantation, near Savannah, GA, on No-
vember 5, 1795. The fifth of seven children of
U.S. senator and future Georgia governor Josiah
Tattnall, Sr. (1764–1803), and Harriett Fenwick
Tattnall (1769–1802), he studied in England prior
to his January 1, 1812, appointment as a USN
midshipman. Joining the blockaded frigate Con-
stellation at Hampton Roads, VA, on August 1,
he was part of an early 1813 detail that manned
a nearby battery at Craney Island, defending it
against a British attack on June 13. After partic-
ipating in the August 1814 Battle of Bladensburg,
he went to the Mediterranean from Savannah,
 2
GA, in October aboard the sloop Epervier,
fought the Barbary pirates at Algiers between
May and July 1815, and transferred aboard the
Constellation until early 1817. Advanced to lieu-
tenant on April 1, 1818, he was on the frigate
Macedonian in the Pacific until August 1820;
from December 1822 until May 1823 aboard the
schooner Jackall in the West Indies; and then
three years in the Mediterranean aboard the
frigate Constitution. After a long leave, Tattnall
served on the sloop Erie in the Caribbean, con-
ducting surveys and fighting pirates. On April 15,
1831, he received his first command, the schooner
Grampus. While on antipiracy patrol shortly
thereafter, he captured the Mexican pirate
schooner Montezuma. Tatnall becoming a com-
mander on February 25, 1836, and given com-
mand of the brig Pioneer, his warship returned
the Mexican general Santa Anna, captured by
the Texicans at San Jacinto, back to Vera Cruz.
From 1838 to 1840 he was on duty at the Boston
On March 2, 862, Capt. Josiah Tattnall, Jr.,
CSN, became flag officer and commander of
Virginia’s naval defenses, including the James
River Squadron and its flagship, the ironclad
CSS Virginia, which had fought the USS Moni-
tor three weeks earlier. Unable to retreat from
Norfolk in May when Federal forces approached,
the vessel was destroyed at his order. Later, in
December 86, he would also be forced to scut-
tle the ironclad Savannah (courtesy Naval His-
tory and Heritage Command).
Tattnall
navy yard; in 1841 and 1842 he commanded the
sloop Fairfield in the Mediterranean; and he
then served with the Africa Squadron during
1843–1845 aboard the sloop-of-war Saratoga.
Tattnall commanded the Home Squadron
paddle-wheel gunboat Spitfire in the Mexican
War, engaging the citadel at San Juan de Ulloa
during the February 1847 Vera Cruz assault. In
April he took an arm wound while engaging the
defenses of Alvarado during the Tuxpan expe-
dition. Following 1848–1849 Boston navy yard
service, he became a captain on February 5,
1850, and in March took command of the Home
Squadron paddle-wheel sloop-of-war Saranac
in the Caribbean until July 1851, when he
became commandant of the Pensacola, FL, navy
yard. Captain of the Pacific Squadron flagship,
the razee Independence, from August 1854 to
November 1855, Tattnall was then commandant
of the Sackets Harbor, NY, naval station until
October 1857. From November until January
1861 he commanded the East Indies Squadron,
wearing his flag first in the steam sloop-of-war
San Jacinto and then the paddle-wheel frigate
Powhattan. While observing Anglo-French
naval operations during the 1858 Arrow War,
Tattnall commanded a chartered gunboat, Toey-
Wan, and led it against the Taku forts off the
mouth of the Pei Ho, or Hai, River when they
fired upon the allies. He later justified his un-
neutral act, later supported by his superiors,
with the slogan “Blood Is Thicker Than Water!”
He continued his Far East mission until Feb-
ruary 1860, when he departed for the U.S. trans-
porting the first Japanese diplomatic embassy
aboard the Powhattan.
Tattnall resigned his commission on Febru-
ary 20, 1861, upon Georgia’s secession from the
Union. Again blood was thicker, as he personally
opposed secession. At the beginning of March
he was commissioned flag officer of the Georgia
State Navy and on March 26 was appointed a
CSN captain and given command of the naval
defenses of Georgia and South Carolina, leading
them in the unsuccessful defense of Port Royal
in November. On March 29, 1862, Tattnall be-
came flag officer and commander of Virginia’s
naval defenses, including the James River
Squadron and its flagship, the ironclad CSS Vir-
ginia, which had fought the USS Monitor three
weeks earlier. Wearing his pennant from the
Thompson
ironclad but also serving as her captain, he
unsuccessfully led a small task group into
Hampton Roads on April 11, hoping to entice
the Monitor into a reengagement. With Union
forces approaching Norfolk and unable to steam
further up the James, Tattnall had the Virginia
moved close to Craney Island and blew her up
on the morning of May 11. Acquitted by a court-
martial of charges arising from this action, he
resumed command of CSN forces off Geor-
gia on May 29, holding that position until
March 31, 1863, when he was detached and
placed in command of Savannah’s defenses. As
Federal forces approached the city on Decem-
ber 24, 1864, Tattnall ordered his most powerful
vessel, the Richmond-class ironclad CSS Savan-
nah, destroyed. After the fall of Savannah, Tat-
tnall retreated to Augusta, GA, where he was
captured and on May 9, 1865, paroled.
Thereafter, Tattnall moved to Halifax, Nova
Scotia, but returned home to Savannah at the
beginning of February 1869. There, he worked
briefly in insurance before receiving the position
of inspector of the Port of Savannah, a position
created especially for him. In ill health, he was
able to serve in the post for only 17 months be-
fore he died of general debility and congestion
of the brain on June 14, 1871. Tattnall was buried
at Bonaventure Plantation cemetery. Two 20th
century USN destroyers (DD-125 and DDG-19)
were named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Foe-
nander; CSN Register; DANFS; Tucker, “Josiah Tat-
tnall,” in Tucker, II; Reynolds; Farley, “Josiah Tattnall:
Gallant American”; Russell K. Brown, “Josiah Tat-
tnall,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, http://www.georgia
encyclopedia. org/ articles/ history- archae ol ogy/ css-
savannah (accessed May 17, 2016); “Josiah Tattnall,”
FindaGrave, http://cemeteryrecordsonline.com/cgi-
bin/ fg. cgi?page= gr&GSln= Tattnall&GSiman= 1&
GSob=n&GRid=11367& (accessed May 17, 2016);
Confederate States of America, Navy Department,
Proceedings of a Navy General Court Martial in the
Case of Captain Josiah Tattnall; Jones, The Life and
Services of Commodore Josiah Tattnall; Langdon,
“Josiah Tattnall—‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’”;
Melton, The Best Station of Them All: The Savannah
Squadron, 1861–1865; Quarstein, CSS Virginia: Sink
Before Surrender; West Georgia Telegraph, February
19, 1869; New York Tribune, October 1, 1859; June 16
1871; Washington Post, January 10, 1915.
26
Thompson, Egbert (1820–1881,
USN)
The son of Egbert and Catherine Thompson,
Egbert Jr. was born in NYC on June 6, 1820. He
was appointed a USN midshipman on March 13,
1837, was aboard the razee Independence (1837–
1838), participated in the 1838–1842 Wilkes Ex-
ploring Expedition, and served onboard the brig
Somers (1842–1843). Advanced to passed mid-
shipman during the latter year, he served on the
Mediterranean Squadron frigate Cumberland
until 1845 and was first lieutenant of the Home
Squadron schooner Bonita in the Mexican War
in 1846 and 1847, participating in, among others,
the 1847 campaigns against Veracruz (March),
Tuxpan (April), and Tabasco (June). Billeted
aboard the Great Lakes patrol steamer Michigan
during 1847–1850, Thompson was at the Phila-
delphia navy yard in 1850 where he became a
lieutenant. In 1851 and 1852 he served aboard the
Home Squadron sloop-of-war Decatur and the
New York receiving ship (1853–1855). At Wash-
ington, D.C., in 1854, he married Emily B Mudd
(1831–1894); the couple would have one daugh-
ter. Thompson served on the Africa Squadron
steamer St. Louis from 1855 to 1858 and was
Washington navy yard ordnance officer in 1858
and 1859. In May 1859 he was given command
of the Home Squadron steamer Fulton, which
was damaged in a July hurricane but made it to
Pensacola, FL, where her captain was reassigned
to the sloop of war Pensacola for the remainder
of that year and 1860.
In 1861 Thompson was aboard the Gulf
Squadron paddle-wheel frigate Powhatan of the
Gulf Squadron, but late in the year he was trans-
ferred to the AUS Western Flotilla and given
command of the new Pook turtle Pittsburg,
which took significant damage during the Feb-
ruary 1862 Battle of Fort Donelson. The repaired
ironclad participated in the March-April New
Madrid Island No. 10 campaign and was the sec-
ond vessel (after the Carondelet) to pass her bat-
teries. In the process, his firing on points below
the citadel was so dangerous to her consort that
he was publicly chastised by her commander,
Henry Walke (1809–1896). Thompson partici-
pated in the May 10 Plum Point Bend engage-
ment with CRDF rams, near Fort Pillow, TN,
but was reportedly drunk. Advanced to com-
 2 Townsend

Cmdr. Egbert Thompson, USN, served as captain of the Western Flotilla ironclad Pittsburg (depicted)
from January to May 862. After the Battle of Fort Donelson in February, his vessel became the second
ironclad to run the batteries at Island No.  in April, afterward participating in the May Battle of
Plum Point Bend. He served in the East from 86 to 86 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).

mander on July 16, he commanded the Philadel-
phia naval rendezvous (recruiting station) in
1863 and 1864. During the latter year, Mississippi
Squadron commander RAdm. David Dixon
Porter (1813–1891) testified against Thompson’s
petition for promotion to captain, which was
delayed. Thompson was captain of the South At-
lantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) steamer Mc-
Donough in 1864 and 1865.
During 1866–1867, Thompson commanded
the steamer South Pacific Station (SPS) and be-
came a captain on July 25 of the former year, de-
spite continuing opposition from brother offi-
cers. He served at the Mound City, IL, naval
station (1869–1871) and was captain of the North
Atlantic Station (NAS) Canadaigua in 1871 and
1872. Eligible for promotion to the rank of com-
modore in 1873, Thompson went before an ex-
amining board, which turned him down. He was
placed on the retired list on January 6, 1874. He
applied to Congress for redress, which body
passed a new law in June 1878 refining the pro-
motion process without granting authority to
make a promotion.
Thompson renewed his struggle, but before
it could be taken up he died on January 5, 1881.
His family filed suit in the matter before the U.S.
Court of Claims, which dismissed the case in
May 1883. No USN vessels have been named in
his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Herringshaw, V; Appletons’,
VI; “Sketches of the Officers of the Fort Donelson
Fleet,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 18, 1862; Smith,
USS Carondelet; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil
War; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western
Waters; Jeffrey, ed., Two Civil Wars: The Curious
Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a
Union Sailor of the USS Essex; U.S. Congress, House,
Committee on Naval Affairs, Egbert Thompson: Re-
port; Army and Navy Journal, January 8, 1881, May 26,
1883.
Townsend, Robert (1819–1865,
USN)
The third of nine children of ironworks ex-
ecutive Isaiah Townsend (1777–1838) and his
wife Hannah Townsend (1784–1854), Robert was
born at Albany, NY, on October 21, 1819. He at-
tended the Albany Academy, Dr. Dewey’s
Boarding School at Pittsfield, MA, and Union
College at Schenectady, NY. He did not graduate
Townsend 28

Having abandoned his career as a USN officer in 8, Robert Townsend, USN, became an acting vol-
unteer lieutenant in 86, rising to the rank of commander by July 862. In late spring 86 he became
captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad Essex (depicted) and remained with that vessel through
the Vicksburg and Red River campaigns, being detached in November 86 (courtesy Naval History
and Heritage Command).

from college but rather joined the board of sur-
vey for the Utica and Schenectady Railroad
Company. He was commissioned a USN mid-
shipman on August 4, 1837, and was sent aboard
the frigate John Adams. The following year he
was posted aboard the ship-of-the-line Ohio. Be-
tween 1829 and 1842, he served onboard the
sloop-of-war Falmouth and the steamer Mis-
souri. Promoted to the rank of passed midship-
man in 1843, Townsend thereafter served on-
board the frigate Raritan and the brig Porpoise,
as well as being on shore duty. He was advanced
to lieutenant on October 11, 1850. He married
Harriet Monroe (1829–1919) in 1850, and the
couple had two children. During the Mexican
War Townsend participated in the capture of
Vera Cruz; however, he resigned on April 7, 1851,
to pursue more lucrative opportunities.
Townsend reentered the USN on Septem-
ber 17, 1861, as an acting volunteer lieutenant on
the West Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS)
double-ender gunboat Miami and participated
in the April capture of New Orleans. Advanced
to commander on July 10, 1862, he was by Oc-
tober commander of the Miami. In late spring
1863 he was transferred to the Mississippi
Squadron, holding command of the ironclad
Essex during the May 21–July 9 siege of Port
Hudson, LA. On surrender day, July 9, the Essex
was damaged in an engagement with Confed-
erate artillery batteries at Donaldsonville, LA.
She remained on station throughout the remain-
der of the year and into 1864 as Townsend pro-
vided leadership for his squadron’s 1st District.
On March 6 the Essex joined the combined arms
expedition up the Red River of Louisiana and
assisted in the capture of Fort de Russy ten days
later. However, at the end of April, Townsend
had the unhappy task of investigating and re-
porting upon the loss of the light draught Petrel
 2
(Tinclad No. 5) below Yazoo City, MS. He was
at Memphis, TN, in October when Lt. Gen.
Nathan Bedford Forrest was rumored to be en
route to attack the city. Townsend assured civil-
ian and military leaders that the Essex’s heavy
guns would discourage the Confederate leader,
who in the end skirted the city. On November 3
Townsend joined the sloop-of-war Wachusett,
which had captured CSS Florida off Brazil the
month before. In February 1865 the Wachusett
was ordered to the East Indies Station to join
several other Union ships engaged in what
proved to be an unsuccessful hunt for the South-
ern raider Shenandoah and in the suppression
of piracy along the China coast.
The Wachusett sailed up the Yangtze River in
early August 1866 and there Townsend, who had
just been promoted to the rank of captain on
July 26, suffered a heat stroke and died on
August 15. He was initially buried in a Shanghai
cemetery, but his body was later interred in
Rural Cemetery, Albany, NY. His sword and sea
chest were later discovered at an estate sale in
Colorado. No USN vessels have been named in
his honor.
Sources: USN Register-; Appletons’, VI; Calla-
han; Memorial Biographies of the New England His-
toric Genealogical Society, 1864–1871; Reynolds, Ge-
nealogical and Family History of Southern New York
and the Hudson River Valley, III; ORN, I, 26; DANFS;
Smith, Le Roy Fitch; Smith, USS Carondelet; Smith,
Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters; Smith,
Fight for the Yazoo; North American and United States
Gazette, October 20, 1866; Lauren Fellers, “Estate Sale
Find Uncovers Past of Civil War Sailor,” Colorado
Springs Gazette, June 3, 2012.
Tucker, John Randolph
(1812–1883, CSN)
The son of sea captain John Tucker, originally
from Bermuda, and Susanna M. Douglas Tucker
(1785–1846), John Randolph was born in
Alexandria, VA, on January 31, 1812. He became
a USN midshipman on June 1, 1826, and served
aboard the Mediterranean Squadron frigate
Javan then the sloop-of-war Lexington from 1827
to 1831. Completing New York naval school
studies, he advanced to passed midshipman in
June 1833 and spent the next three years on the
Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war Erie. Promoted to
lieutenant on December 20, 1837, he alternated
Tucker
service between the Norfolk, VA, naval base and
the West Indian Squadron sloops-of-war Warr-
en and St. Louis during 1838–1847. In Norfolk,
on June 7, 1838, Tucker married Virginia Webb
(1819–1858); the couple had three children. Par-
ticipating in the Mexican War in March 1847, he
became executive officer then captain of the
Home Squadron bomb brig Stromboli, which
blockaded the east coast of Mexico, participated
in the June Tabasco campaign, and was quaran-
tined with yellow fever during the summer. Re-
covered, he was on the Home Squadron frigate
Raritan in 1849 and 1850, unemployed in 1851,
and joined the Mediterranean Squadron frigate
Cumberland (1852–1855), becoming a com-
mander on September 14, 1855. Returning to
Norfolk, he commanded the receiving ship there
in 1857 and became the yard’s ordnance officer
in 1858, holding that post until the beginning of
the Civil War.
Tucker resigned his USN commission on
April 18, 1861, and transferred to the Virginia
State Navy at an equal rank. While continuing
service as the captured Norfolk navy yard’s ord-
nance officer, he converted, at Richmond, the
steamer Yorktown into the Commonwealth’s
most powerful warship, the 12-gun Patrick
Henry, insuring during this process that she re-
ceived an iron shield to protect her boilers and
in a sense creating the first Southern ironclad.
Tucker became a CSN commander on June 6,
serving as both captain of his ship and James
River Squadron commander. On September 2
and December 13 the Patrick Henry sortied
downstream and attacked Federal shipping near
Newport News. During the May 8, 1862, engage-
ment between the Union fleet and the CSS Vir-
ginia, Tucker cruised in support as the ironclad
attempted to take the surrender of the stricken
USS Cumberland, but he was forced away by
shore batteries. The next day, his ship again at-
tempted to assist the Virginia by firing on the
Monitor from long range. On May 5/6, Tucker’s
command joined in equipment removal from
the Norfolk navy yard before it was abandoned.
After the surrender of Norfolk a week later
Tucker led his squadron up the James River to
Drewry’s Bluff, where his ship’s gunners assisted
in turning back pursuing Federals on May 15. In
August he was transferred to the Charleston
Squadron to assume command of the ironclad
Turner
Chicora, which, together with a consort, at-
tacked Union blockaders off the entrance to
Charleston Harbor on January 31, 1863. Pro-
moted to captain on January 7, 1864, and
Charleston Squadron flag officer in March, he
supported the defense of Charleston by trans-
porting troops, providing gunfire support, and
overseeing the activities of revolutionary sub-
mersible craft and spar-torpedo warfare, includ-
ing Chicora’s provision of the first crew for the
Hunley submarine in August. As Union troops
advanced on Charleston in February 1865,
Tucker was forced to blow up his three ironclads
and order a retreat to Wilmington, NC, which
fell before his arrival. Diverted with his contin-
In August 862 Cmdr. John Randolph Tucker,
CSN, was ordered to become captain of and over-
see completion of the Charleston, SC, based
ironclad Chicora. His duty was expanded in Jan-
uary 86 when he became flag officer of the
Charleston Squadron and ended unhappily in
February 86 with the destruction of his com-
mand. Tucker then received an army commission
and formed Tucker’s Marine Brigade, which he
gallantly led in the April 6 Battle of Sailor’s
Creek, southwest of Petersburg, during the Army
of Northern Virginia’s retreat (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).
2
gent to Richmond, he resumed command of the
Patrick Henry as well as all local naval forces
near Drewry’s Bluff, and in March he formed
Tucker’s Marine Brigade. He and his men fought
gallantly in the April 6 Battle of Sailor’s Creek,
southwest of Petersburg, during the Army of
Northern Virginia’s retreat. Tucker was captured
and by April 15 had been transferred to Fort
Warren, MA, where he was released on July 14.
Early in 1866 Tucker was recruited by the Pe-
ruvian ambassador to the U.S. to serve as a Pe-
ruvian navy rear admiral during the Chincha Is-
lands War between Spain and Peru/Chile.
Resigning that commission in 1871, he accepted
the position of president of the Hydrographic
Commission of Peru on the Amazon River. Sev-
eral of his former American acquaintances, in-
cluding James Henry Rochelle (1826–1889),
joined him under contract in a three-year ex-
ploration of the upper Amazon River and its
tributaries, after which Tucker and Rochelle
compiled the results into a published report.
In 1877 the widower retired to Petersburg, VA,
where he died of a heart attack on June 12, 1883,
and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Nor-
folk. No USN vessels have been named in his
honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, VIII; The New International Encyclopedia, XIX;
CSN Register; Reynolds; Driver, Confederate Sailors,
Marines, and Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland;
Wexler, “John Randolph Tucker,” in Tucker, II;
DANFS; Rochelle, Life of Rear Admiral John Randolph
Tucker, Commander in the Navy of the United States:
With an Appendix Containing Notes on Navigation of
the Upper Amazon River and Its Principal Tributaries;
Werlich, Admiral of the Amazon: John Randolph
Tucker, His Confederate Colleagues, and Peru; Coski,
Capital Navy; Garver Graver, “John Randolph Tucker,”
FindaGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page=gr&GRid=7051415 (accessed June 12, 2015);
Old Dominion University, Perry Library, Special Col-
lections, A Guide to the Papers of Admiral John Ran-
dolph Tucker, 1866–1897; Ray Davidson, “Tucker’s
Confederate Marine Brigade: From Drewry’s Bluff to
Appomattox Court House,” Blakeley (GA) Early
County News, February 10, 2010; New York Times, June
13, 1883; Baltimore Sun, December 31, 1903.
Turner, Thomas, Jr. (1808–1883,
USN)
The fourth of 10 children of Maj. Thomas
Turner, Sr. (1772–1839), and Elizabeth Carter
 2 Turner
Randolph Turner (1782–1866), Thomas Jr. was
born on the Virginia side of the Potomac River,
not far from Washington, D.C., on December 23,
1808. Appointed a USN midshipman on April 21,
1825, he served in the Mediterranean until Sep-
tember 1835 aboard the frigate Constellation and
sloop-of-war Warren, taking time off in 1828 to
attend the Norfolk naval school and being ad-
vanced to passed midshipman on June 4, 1831.
Becoming a lieutenant on December 22, 1835,
he was aboard the frigate Macedonian between
March 1837 and February 1838 as she trans-
ported relief supplies to famine-stricken Ireland.
He then cruised the Pacific until June 1841 on
the ship-of-the-line Columbus. On the receiving
ship and recruiting duty at Philadelphia until
June 1843, Turner joined the Home Squadron
sloop-of-war Falmouth, which served as a Gulf
of Mexico message vessel and troop transport
until January 1844. He was posted to the Home
Squadron sloop-of-war Albany in October,
which after an Azores cruise supported AUS
Mexican War operations at Vera Cruz in March
1847 and was present at Tuxpan on April 7.
Turner then commanded the supply bark Fre-
donia off Mexico’s east coast until December,
Following early-war shore duty at Philadelphia,
was unemployed for a year, and served two more Cmdr. Thomas Turner, Jr., USN, assumed com-
years on the Philadelphia receiving ship. From mand of the casemate ironclad New Ironsides in
April 1850 until July 1853 Turner was executive June 862, bringing her into commission on
officer of the Brazil Squadron flagship, the August 2 and full service in January 86. His
frigate Congress, and then Philadelphia navy vessel was flagship of the ironclad division that
yard ordnance officer until August 1857, being delivered a massive bombardment on the forti-
fications in the harbor of Charleston, SC, on
promoted to commander on September 14, 1855. April . Praised for his ship-handling, Turner
His first major command came in June 1858, the was promoted to captain on July 6 and detached
Home Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga. The to other duties (courtesy Naval History and Her-
high point of her cruise, before returning home itage Command).
in June 1860, was her invited participation in the
naval battle of Anton Lizardo, Vera Cruz, Mex- but unsuccessful bombardment on April 7 of the
ico, on March 6 of that year. During the engage- Charleston Harbor fortifications. Detached and
ment, two rebel Mexican ships were defeated advanced to captain on July 16, he became a
helping to close the so-called Reform War. commodore on December 13 and finished the
After commanding both the Philadelphia re- war at New York on a special assignment in con-
cruiting effort and navy yard until late May 1862, nection with warship construction. Turner
Turner received command of the giant broad- served at the Philadelphia navy yard from Au-
side ironclad New Ironsides in June 1862, bring- gust 1865 until June 1868, having become a rear
ing her into commission on August 21. Mechan- admiral on May 27. From July to September 1870
ical and other issues kept her from becoming a he commanded the South Pacific Station (SPS),
fully operational member of the South Atlantic wearing his flag aboard the steam sloop-of-war
Blockading Squadron (SABS) until January Saranac, although while still engaged in that
1863. With Turner’s vessel as flagship, that fleet, mission he was officially placed on the retired
including nine ironclads, undertook a massive list on April 21.
Walke
Turner died near Media, PA, on March 24,
1883, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery,
Philadelphia, although later he was reinterred
in Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, NJ. He left a
wife, Fanny, and three children. No USN vessels
have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Cogar,
I; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Mary Harrell-Sesniak, “Admiral
Thomas Turner,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=89578768 (ac-
cessed March 12, 2016); Powell and Shippen; Roberts,
USS New Ironsides in the Civil War; Neeser, “Historic
Ships of the Navy: New Ironsides”; U.S. Congress, Sen-
ate, Committee on Naval Affairs, Rear Admiral Thomas
Turner: Report; Philadelphia Inquirer, March 26, 28
1883; North American, March 26, 1883.
Walke, Henry (1809–1896, USN)
The second of five children of Yale-educated
Virginia legislator Anthony Walke IV (1783–
1865) and Susan H. Carmichael Walke (1786–
1874), Henry was born on Christmas Eve 1809
at “The Ferry,” a plantation on the Lynn Haven
River near Portsmouth, VA. Following the War
of 1812 the Walke family relocated to Chillicothe,
OH, where Mr. Walke eventually became a
member of the Ohio State Senate and Henry was
educated in local academies. On February 1,
1827, Walke was appointed a USN midshipman
and reported for duty at the navy yard at Gos-
port (Norfolk), VA. Walke received his initial
naval training there and, from July 1827 to Feb-
ruary 1829, cruised the West Indies in sloop
Natchez in an anti-piracy campaign, during
which he survived a major hurricane. He made
a voyage to the Mediterranean in the sloop-of-
war Ontario between June 1829 and November
1831. He received his warrant as a passed mid-
shipman on July 12, 1833, and, after several
months of post-sea duty leave, transferred to
duty ashore at the Philadelphia navy yard on
March 7, 1834. During his period ashore Walke
married Sarah Jane Aim (ca. 1812–1855), with
whom he would have a son, Henry Augustus
Walke (1834–1902). Between January 1836 and
June 1839 he served aboard the Pacific Squadron
ship-of-the-line North Carolina, primarily along
the western coast of South America protecting
American commerce during a period of unrest
caused by strained relations between the United
States and Mexico and the war between Peru
22
and Chile. Between June 1837 and January 1839
he was seconded to the schooner Boxer as her
acting first lieutenant. On December 9, 1839,
while billeted in the New York receiving ship,
Walke was promoted to lieutenant. He reported
to the East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Boston
on October 5, 1840, aboard which passed mid-
shipman and future opponent Isaac Newton
Brown (1817–1889) was also embarked, for a
three-year cruise to the Far East in company
with the frigate Constellation. After an extended
leave, Walke spent May 1844 until September
1845 at sea in the Brazil Squadron brig Bain-
bridge for a cruise along the Brazilian coast. Fol-
lowing a year on the New York receiving ship,
he was appointed executive officer of the bomb
brig Vesuvius in February 1847, which ship then
participated in the Mexican War, blockading La-
guna and supporting the capture of Vera Cruz
and landings at Tuxpan and Tabasco. Destined
to become known as one of the country’s fore-
most Romantic artists, Walke, upon his return
to New York in October of that year, took leave
and completed a series of nautical paintings of
the USN contribution to the war effort that were
released as a series of lithographs. Returning to
the New York receiving ship in September 1848,
he served aboard the Mediterranean Squadron
frigate Cumberland between June 23, 1849, and
mid–January 1851. Following a post-voyage
leave, he reported to the Washington, D.C., U.S.
Naval Observatory in April for a very brief tour
before beginning further duty in the New York
receiving ship, his old North Carolina, in July.
Although ordered to the sloop-of-war St. Mary’s
in September 1853, Walke received permission
to switch billets with another officer, remaining
aboard the North Carolina. Walke was fur-
loughed in July 1854 and promoted to the rank
of commander on the reserve list on Septem-
ber 13, 1855, as a result of the recommendations
of the Naval Retiring Board. Much of this leave
was spent attending to his wife, who eventually
died of cancer on August 3 and was buried in
Greenwood Cemetery. Sometime in 1856 Walke
married Jane Elm Burger (1814–1857) of Staten
Island; however, she died of an unspecified ill-
ness on May 15, 1857, and was, like Sarah, buried
in Brooklyn. On April 5, 1858, Julia Reed (1835–
1916), a widow, became the sailor’s third wife;
the couple would have four children. Recalled
 2 Walke
to the active list on January 29, 1858, Walke was
given command of the storeship Supply in Au-
gust 1859, with orders to cruise off the African
coast and in the West Indies. In January 1861, as
the Civil War approached, Walke and the Supply
were at Pensacola, FL, en route to the waters off
Vera Cruz, Mexico. On the 12th of that month,
when the navy yard was surrendered to Confed-
erate forces from Alabama and Florida, Walke
provided temporary support for the defenders
of Fort Pickens, who refused to submit, and took
off some of the loyal sailors and navy yard em-
ployees. After arriving at New York with the
evacuees on February 4, Walke was arrested for
acting without orders and was court-martialed
during March-April. However, in May he re-
ceived an admonition, a “complimentary repri-
mand,” from navy secretary Gideon Welles
(1802–1878).
Released to serve in the Civil War, Walke was
given command of the chartered gunboat Mount
Vernon in May 1861. Over the next two months
the Mount Vernon undertook a convoy escort to
the Gulf of Mexico and conveyed north Union
refugees from Key West, FL, to Fort Monroe,
VA. In August Walke became lighthouse inspec-
tor for the 11th District at Detroit. After only
four days he received orders to report to Capt.
Andrew Hull Foote (1806–1863) for special duty A noted romantic painter as well as a long-serv-
at St. Louis, MO. That assignment proved to be ing naval officer, Capt. Henry Walke, USN,
became the first captain of the famous Western
the command of Tyler, one of the first three river Flotilla ironclad Carondelet in January 862,
gunboats (called “timberclads”) of the army’s guiding her through the river war from Fort
Western Flotilla. In September and October he Henry to the Yazoo campaign of December.
took his gunboat downriver to bombard Con- During that time, he won glory during the pas-
federate shore batteries at Hickman and Colum- sage of the Island No.  batteries in April and
bus in western Kentucky and traded a few shots lost a fight with the CSS Arkansas in July. He
assumed command of the Lafayette in January
with the Confederate gunboat Jackson. Early in 86, leading her though the Vicksburg fighting
November his ship supported the move on the until July, when he was detached and ordered
Southern camp at Belmont, MO, escorting troop East (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
transports, bombarding shore batteries and, fi- mand).
nally, covering the withdrawal of the mauled
forces. In mid–January 1862 the wooden gun- through the end of June his ship participated
boat captain assumed command of the newly in the drawn-out series of operations against
commissioned Western Flotilla ironclad gun- Plum Point Bend, Fort Pillow, and Memphis. On
boat Carondelet. In February Walke led her dur- July 15 Walke almost met his match when Lt.
ing the captures of Forts Henry and Donelson, Isaac Newton Brown’s Confederate ironclad ram
which guarded the Tennessee and Cumberland Arkansas made its move down the falling Yazoo
rivers, respectively. In April he led the Caron- River toward Vicksburg. Carondelet, supported
delet in the passing of heavily fortified Island by Queen of the West and Walke’s former com-
No. 10 and in the attack on, and spiking of, shore mand, Tyler, engaged the Southern ironclad.
batteries below New Madrid, MO. From April During the brisk opening exchange, Carondelet
Walke
suffered heavy damage and was forced out of ac-
tion in a disabled, though floating, condition.
On August 4 Walke, suffering from malaria con-
tracted off Vicksburg, was promoted to the rank
of captain and was promised command of the
ironclad ram Lafayette, then under conversion
from a river steamer at St. Louis. He put her in
commission on February 27, 1863, and com-
manded her during the dash past Vicksburg on
April 6 and during the duel with shore batteries
at Grand Gulf just 23 days later. Early in June
his ship briefly blockaded the mouth of the Red
River. On July 24 Walke was ordered back to the
East Coast to prepare the side-wheeler Fort Jack-
son for service. He put her in commission at
New York on August 18, but his command of
that steamer proved brief. On September 22
Walke was transferred to the screw sloop-of-war
Sacramento and, following her departure into
the Atlantic on February 2, 1864, commanded
her through the final two years of the Civil War.
Sacramento cruised the South American coast
in search of Confederate commerce raiders and,
most famously, participated in the failed effort
to intercept the ironclad ocean raider Stonewall
in the spring of 1865. On August 17 Walke was
detached from Sacramento and returned home
to await orders.
He was promoted to the rank of commodore
on July 31, 1866, and, on May 1, 1868, assumed
command of the Mound City, IL, naval station,
where he served until April 30, 1870. On Sep-
tember 1, 1868, he oversaw the sale of the receiv-
ing ship Grampus and the tugboat Pansy, leaving
the tug Mignonette as the final vessel attached
to the station and the last representative from
the once-powerful USN Mississippi Squadron.
While awaiting orders to his next assignment,
Walke was promoted to rear admiral on July 20,
1870, thereafter undertaking board duties until
placed on the retired list on April 26, 1871, re-
portedly at his own request in order to benefit
junior officers. His USN service did not imme-
diately end, for on that same day, he reported
for special duties under the senior admiral of
the navy, David Dixon Porter (1813–1891), whom
he had known well on the Western waters a
decade earlier. That tour lasted until Walke was
appointed a Light House Board member on Oc-
tober 1.
Detached on April 1, 1873, Walke withdrew to
2
his Third Street home in Brooklyn, NY, and a
life of painting, sketching, and writing; his acer-
bic Western waters memoirs were moderated by
two well-regarded contributions to Century Il-
lustrated magazine’s Battles and Leaders series.
He was a member of Rankin Post, No. 10, G.A.R.,
and took pride in a large personal collection of
relics and curios.
For the most part his retirement was joyful,
except on December 17, 1877, when he was
robbed while en route to deposit $1,100 in the
Seaman’s Bank for Savings; he never recovered
the funds. Walke’s death at home on March 8,
1896, was caused by heart failure and complica-
tions from the grippe he had contracted a week
earlier. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery
beside his two previous wives. His artwork
hangs in various museums. Three 20th century
USN destroyers (DD-34, DD-416, DD-723) were
named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, VI; ANB, XXII; Callahan; Cogar, I; DANFS;
Reynolds; Hamersly, 3rd ed.; “Sketches of the Officers
of the Fort Donelson Fleet,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb-
ruary 18, 1862; Walke, Naval Scenes and Reminiscences
of the Civil War in the United States on the Southern
and Western Waters During the Years 1861, 1862 and
1863; with the History of That Period Compared and
Corrected from Authentic Sources; Walke, Private
Record of the Walke Family in the United States; Walke,
“The Gunboat Attack on Fort Donelson,” Indianapolis
Star, February 4, 1912; Walke, “The Gun-Boats at Bel-
mont and Fort Henry,” B&L, I; Walke, “Operations of
the Western Flotilla”; Walke, “Taking Fort Henry,”
Chicago Daily Tribune, December 27, 1884; Walke,
“The Western Flotilla at Fort Donelson, Number Ten,
Fort Pillow, and Memphis,” B&L, I; Mark F. Jenkins,
“Re: ISO Family Photos of RAdm. Henry Walke and
Family,” Genealogy.com, http://www.genealogy.com/
forum/surnames/topics/walke/124/ (accessed Decem-
ber 3, 2016); Tucker, “Henry Walke,” in Tucker, II;
Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, USS Carondelet;
Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, CSS
Arkansas; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, Le
Roy Fitch; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the West-
ern Waters; Herringshaw, V; Howe, “Capt. Henry
Walke Passing Island No. 10”; Melville, “The Caron-
delet Runs the Gauntlet”; George C. Baxley, “Henry
Walke,” BaxleyStamps, http://www.baxleystamps.com/
litho/walke.shtml (accessed March 19, 2013); Gary
Matthews, “Mound City, Illinois, in the Civil War,”
Brownwater Navy, http://www.brownwaternavy.org/
subpage/MoundCityNS.htm (accessed August 10,
2011); “Henry Walke,” FindaGrave, http://www.finda
grave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5039 (ac-
cessed December 2, 2016); Robert G. Breen, “The Ad-
miral Mixed Oil and Water,” Baltimore Sun, Decem-
 2
ber 20, 1954; “Rear Admiral Henry Walke, USN,” New
York Tribune, December 18, 1877; March 7, 9, 1896;
New York Times, March 9, 1896; Washington Post,
March 9, 1896; New Orleans Daily Picayune, March 9,
1896; Chicago Daily Tribune, March 9, 1896.
Walker, John Grimes (1835–1907,
USN)
One of three children of Alden Walker (1772–
1851) and Susan Grimes Walker (1803–1846),
James was born in Hillsborough, NH, on
March 20, 1835. Upon the death of his mother
he moved to Iowa when he was adopted by her
brother, James Wilson Grimes (1816–1872), the
noted Whig politician and future Iowa governor
and U.S. senator. Schooled at Des Moines, Walker
was appointed an acting USN midshipman from
Iowa on October 5, 1850, and attended the
Lt. Cmdr. John G. Walker, USN, was appointed
captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad
Baron de Kalb in August 862 and in Decem-
ber guided her during the Yazoo River expe -
dition. Following participation in the Arkan-
sas Post campaign of January 86, his was one
of two ironclads assigned to the un success-
ful Yazoo Pass Expedition. Walker remained
in the Yazoo River until May, when he was given
the responsibility of commanding the naval
gun battery attached to the U.S. XV Army Corps.
He returned East after the fall of Vicksburg
(courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
mand).
Walker
USNA until October 1851. He served aboard the
Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war Portsmouth from
that November through April 1855, returning
that September to Annapolis, from which he
graduated at the head of his class and was given
a passed midshipman’s warrant on June 20, 1856.
Interspersed with leave, Walker served aboard
the Brazil Squadron sloop-of-war Falmouth and
frigate St. Lawrence from January 1857 until May
1859, being advanced to the rank of master on
January 22, 1858, and lieutenant a day later. He
was a USNA instructor from September 1859 to
July 1860 and was aboard the paddle-wheel
frigate Susquehanna during her cruises to Mex-
ico and the Mediterranean, from which she re-
turned in June 1861 following the Civil War’s
outbreak.
Walker was hurriedly transferred to the armed
gunboat/storeship Connecticut, which resup-
plied the Atlantic coast blockade in August and
September 1861 before Walker joined the
Unadilla-class gunboat Winona as executive offi-
cer in October. Attached to the West Gulf Block-
ading Squadron (WGBS), the Winona partici-
pated in the April 1862 engagements with Forts
St. Philip and Jackson, as well as the Chalmette
batteries during the operations that resulted in
the fall of New Orleans. Walker also took part
in the first Vicksburg campaign (May to July),
including during combat with the Confederate
ram Arkansas, and was promoted to lieutenant
commander on July 16. In August Walker as-
sumed command of the Mississippi Squadron
ironclad Baron de Kalb and, beginning in De-
cember, participated in the various efforts to
flank Vicksburg via the Yazoo River, including
the attack on Snyder’s Bluff late that month. He
was with the fleet at Arkansas Post in January
1863 and during February–April and captained
one of the two ironclads engaged in the Yazoo
Pass expedition and the failed effort to subdue
Fort Pemberton, near Greenwood, MS. The
Baron de Kalb, having been left in the Yazoo
when the remainder of the Vicksburg squadron
ran past the guns of that city on April 16, joined
in the feint against Haynes’ Bluff, which pre-
ceded the April 29 Battle of Grand Gulf. Walker
docked at Haynes’ Bluff upon its May 19 Con-
federate evacuation, led the naval component of
the task group days later, which captured Yazoo
City, and during the final June-July siege of
Warley
Vicksburg, commanded the naval gun battery
attached to the U.S. XV Army Corps. On July 13,
twelve days after the fall of the citadel, the Baron
de Kalb was sunk by a Confederate torpedo a
mile below Yazoo City. From August to Decem-
ber Walker was at the Boston navy yard billet
and in January 1864 assumed command of the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (NABS)
gunboat Saco, which arrived off the North Car-
olina coast. A year later he was transferred to
command of the South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron (SABS) gunboat Shawmut, which par-
ticipated in the bombardment of Fort Anderson,
NC, on February 18–20, 1865. Upon the fall of
Wilmington, the Shawmut was stationed in the
York River until the end of the conflict and her
captain was detached in June 1866.
Promoted to commander on July 23, 1866,
Walker, on September 12, married Rebecca
White Pickering; the couple had two sons and
four daughters. In August and September he was
USNA assistant superintendent and commander
of its training ship, the frigate Sabine, after
which he was inspector of Boston’s 2nd Light-
house District from October until April 1872 and
secretary of the Lighthouse Board from May
until May 1878, during which tenure he ad-
vanced to captain on June 25, 1877. Unemployed
until February 1881, Walker was commander of
the North Atlantic Station (NAS) paddle-wheel
frigate Powhatan between March and August
and became Chief of the Bureau of Navigation
in October. Promoted to commodore on Feb-
ruary 12, 1889, he was made an acting rear ad-
miral on October 1 and given command of the
Squadron of Evolution, or “White Squadron,”
flying his flag in the protected cruiser Chicago
(CA-14). Overseeing this experimental unit of
new vessels until November 1892, Walker super-
vised numerous tactical exercises designed to
improve fleet fighting maneuvers. On board
duty through 1893, Walker’s permanent rear ad-
miral rank was confirmed on January 23, 1894.
Walker commanded the Pacific Station from
March until December, being authorized to se-
cure Pearl Harbor as a naval station, and took
the White Squadron to Hawaii in 1895 when a
coup d’état posed a threat to American interests.
He had board duty in 1896 and 1897 and was
placed on the retired list on March 20, 1897.
Walker was unsuccessfully recommended to
26
replace Theodore Roosevelt as assistant secre-
tary of the navy in May 1898 but served as pres-
ident of the Nicaraguan Canal Commission
from July until June 1899 and president of the
Isthmian Canal Commission from June 1899 to
April 1905. He died on September 16, 1907, and
was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Two 20th century USN destroyers (DD-163 and
DD-517) were named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Apple-
tons’, VI; Michael; Callahan; Hamersly, 4th ed.; Co-
gar, I; Stearns, Genealogical and Family History of the
State of New Hampshire, II; Barnes, “RAdm. John G.
Walker”; EFB, 3rd, pseud., “Adm. John Grimes Walker,”
FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.
cgi?page= gr&GSvcid= 564844&GRid= 26544197&
(accessed May 3, 2014); DANFS; Wicks, “New Navy
and New Empire: The Life and Times of John Grimes
Walker”; Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, Tinclads
in the Civil War; Smith, The Timberclads in the Civil
War; Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western
Waters; New York Times, August 23, 26, September 12,
1891; February 25, 1893; March 29, December 1, 1894;
May 7, 1898; May 9, 1903; Army and Navy Register,
September 21, 1907.
Warley, Alexander Fraser
(1823–1895, CSN)
The son of Jacob Warley (1792–1839), clerk of
the South Carolina Senate 1830–1839, was born
at Waterboro, SC, on July 20, 1823. Appointed a
USN acting midshipman on February 17, 1840,
through the influence of John C. Calhoun, he
was aboard the frigate USS Constitution during
her 1843–1845 circumnavigation of the globe,
being advanced to the rank of passed midship-
man on July 11. Warley served aboard the Pacific
Squadron flagship, the razee Independence, in
the Mexican War from early 1847 to 1848. On
June 21, 1850, he married Emily Carry Warring-
ton Forrest (1832–1862); the couple had no chil-
dren. From 1852 until 1855 Warley served aboard
the Brazil Squadron frigate Savannah, being
promoted to the rank of master on March 1 and
lieutenant on September 14, 1855. Assigned to
the East Indies Squadron paddle-wheel frigate
Mississippi in November 1856, he participated
in her August 1857–1860 Far Eastern cruise,
being present during the Anglo-French attack
on the Chinese fortifications at Taku in June
1859 and the August Shanghai landings. When
the warship returned to the Boston navy yard,
 2 Warley

Becoming one of the first Southern naval officers in March 86, st Lt. Alexander Warley, CSN, took
over and completed the ironclad ram Manassas (depicted), begun as a private venture. He was captain
of the vessel during the October 2 Battle of Head of Passes and when the Manassas was lost below
New Orleans in April 862. Warley had the misfortune to lose a second ironclad, the Albemarle, when
she was destroyed at Plymouth, NC, by USN Lt. William Cushing on October 2, 86 (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).

he was among the first of the later CSN officers
to quit the Federal service for political reasons,
turning in his resignation on December 24 in
the wake of his home state’s secession.
Warley was commissioned a CSN first lieu-
tenant on March 26, 1861, and was stationed at
a defensive battery at Morris Island, Charleston,
SC, when, on April 12, Fort Sumter was bom-
barded. Later in early summer he joined the CSS
McRae at New Orleans, LA, but in August as-
sumed command of the privately constructed
ironclad ram Manassas, which was originally
converted by local citizens under a Confederate
government permit allowing the building and
operation of sanctioned privateers. In company
with several smaller gunboats, the Manassas en-
gaged Union blockade vessels at Head of the
Passes on the Mississippi River on October 12.
Although the attack was unsuccessful, Warley’s
vessel succeeded in ramming the USS Rich-
mond. In February 1862 he attempted to take his
craft up the Mississippi to the relief of Southern
forces at Columbus, KY, but she broke down and
had to return to the Crescent City. The Manassas
was unable to stand against the passage of the
Federal fleet by Forts Jackson and St. Philip be-
ginning on April 24 and was destroyed, while
Warley was captured, being exchanged on Au-
gust 1. Following service aboard the CSS Pal-
metto State at Charleston during the fall, Warley
was ordered to the Texas coast in February 1863
and a berth aboard the captured Federal steamer
Harriet Lane. Finding the duty disagreeable, he
requested a transfer and was sent to Richmond
with dispatches for the Navy Department. En
route, he married Isabella Middleton Huger
(1837–?) of New Orleans at Jackson, MS; the
couple would have two children. Warley became
captain of the ironclad Chicora at Charleston,
SC, in March and on August 4 led one of four
boat crews from his ship and her consort, Pal-
metto State, that captured a Union picket station
on Morris Island in Charleston Harbor. Late in
the fall he was succeeded as Chicora’s com-
mander by Cmdr. Thomas Triplett Hunter
(1813–1872). On June 20, 1864, Warley took over
the prize steamer Water Witch and on Septem-
ber 10 the noted ironclad CSS Albemarle, then
tied to the riverbank at Plymouth, NC. He
was in command when the ram was sunk, on
Weaver
October 27, by Lt. William Cushing using a spar
torpedo. Following the loss of the Albemarle,
Warley served at the Wilmington naval station
and, on April 24, 1865, he was captured while en
route to report to navy secretary Stephen Mal-
lory at Washington, GA, where he was captured.
Warley resided with his family in New Or-
leans after the war and died there of a heart at-
tack on January 12, 1895. His remains were sent
to Pendleton, SC, for burial in the family vault
at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Cemetery.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; CSN Register; JCC, IV; ORN, 2, 1; DANFS; Foe-
nander; New Orleans Picayune, January 13, 1895;
Alexander F. Warley, “The Ram Manassas at the Pas-
sage of the New Orleans Forts,” B&L; Warley, “Note
on the Destruction of the Albemarle,” B&L, IV; Ben-
nett, “The Albemarle in Albemarle Sound”; Stickley,
Promotion or the Bottom of the River: The Blue and
Gray Naval Career of Alexander F. Warley, South Car-
olinian; Stempel, The CSS Albemarle and William
Cushing: The Remarkable Confederate Ironclad and
the Union Officer Who Sank It; Barnhart, “The Iron
Turtle (Manassas)”; “The First Ironclad (Manassas)”;
Morgan, “The Pioneer Ironclad (Manassas)”; Scott F.
Lewis, “Lieu. Alexander F. Warley,” FindaGrave, http://
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=
14512358 (accessed February 13, 2015); New York So-
ciety Library, NYC Marriage and Death Notices, 1857–
1868, https://www.nysoclib.org/collection/nyc-mar
riage-death-notices-1857–1868 (accessed February13,
2015); Charleston Courier, December 11, 1864; Chicago
Daily Inter-Ocean, January 13, 1895; Detroit Free Press,
March 10, 1895; New Brunswick Daily Times, April 11,
1895.
Weaver, Aaron Ward (1832–1919,
USN)
The second son of Capt. William A. Weaver
(1792–1846) and his wife Jane, Aaron was born
at Washington, D.C., on July 1, 1832. Appointed
a USN midshipman on May 10, 1848, he served
aboard the Brazil Squadron sloop of war St.
Louis and frigate Congress until summer 1853.
Completing his USNA studies on June 10, 1854,
he became a passed midshipman and was on the
Home Squadron steamer Fulton from October
1854 until July 1856, during which deployment
he was advanced to master on September 15,
1855 and lieutenant the next day. From October
1856 to November 1857 he was seconded to the
USCS steamers Walker and Arctic surveying the
seabed at Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, for an At-
218
lantic telegraph cable. He was posted aboard the
Africa Squadron sloop of war Marion from De-
cember until he returned to NYC with a prize
in July 1859.
Assigned to the Philadelphia navy yard,
Weaver was transferred to the steam frigate
Susquehanna in August 1861 and was aboard
when she participated in the captures that
month of Forts Clark and Hatteras and Port
Royal, SC, in November, the Peninsula cam-
paign in April 1862, and the occupation of Nor-
folk, VA, in May. Promoted to lieutenant com-
mander on July 16, he assumed command of the
West Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS)
Unadilla-class gunboat Winona in August, join-
ing the blockade of Mobile, AL. On Septem-
ber 4, the Winona, with other vessels, unsuc-
cessfully engaged the Confederate ocean raider
Florida as she ran into the port through the
blockade. Transferred to the Mississippi River
in December, the Winona participated in the
campaign against Port Hudson, LA, which fell
to Union forces in July 1863. On leave from Au-
gust to January 1864, Weaver married Ida Hyatt
(1845–1909) at Baltimore in February; the
couple would have four children. Joining the
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron (SABS),
the Winona was operating on the Suwanee River,
near Charleston, from March until June, when
Weaver, following leave, took over the North At-
lantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) Unadilla-
class gunboat Chippewa, which participated in
the unsuccessful December attack on Fort
Fisher. Weaver became captain of the NABS
monitor Mahopac in early January 1865 and was
lauded for his contribution to the successful cap-
ture of Fort Fisher that month, before the Ma-
hopac moved south on loan to the SABS to lend
her presence to the capture of Charleston in
mid–February. During the shoot on February
17, the Mahopac was in the front line of the firing
on Fort Moultrie. Late that month the monitor
was transferred to the James River and fired her
guns during the April 3 night bombardment of
Confederate works just prior to the surrender
of Richmond, VA.
Weaver served at the Boston Navy Yard from
June 1865–December 1866, during which de-
ployment he became a commander on July 25,
1866. In December he assumed command of the
Gulf Squadron steamer Tallahassee for six
 2 Weaver

A veteran of small gunboat service, Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Ward Weaver, USN, assumed command of the
monitor Mahopac in early January 86 and was lauded for her contribution to the successful capture
of Fort Fisher that month. After service at Charleston, SC, in February, he was transferred to the
James River and fired the Mahopac guns during the April  night bombardment of Confederate works
just prior to the surrender of Richmond, VA. Weaver (2nd from right, seated) and his officers are
depicted aboard on the James (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).

months and then commanded the DC naval
rendezvous (recruiting station). Unemployed
until May 1869, Weaver had shore duty at DC
and Norfolk until November 1870 when, for two
years, he was captain of the North Atlantic
Squadron (NAS) twin-turret monitor Terror
(formerly the Agamenticus). Following further
navy yard duty until August 1873, he com-
manded the NAS monitor Dictator from De-
cember 1875 to May 1877, during which assign-
ment he was advanced to captain on August 8,
1876, and his ship was maintained in readiness
at Port Royal, SC, in case of war with Spain over
the Virginius Affair. Unemployed until July 1879,
Weaver returned to the Norfolk navy yard until
October 1881, when he became captain of the
South Atlantic Station (SAS) steam sloop-of-war
Brooklyn, making a lengthy voyage to Cape Town,
South Africa, in 1883. On board duty from Oc-
tober 1884 to January 1990, Weaver served as
Norfolk navy yard commandant until January
1893. Advanced to rear admiral on June 27, he
retired on September 26.
Weaver was active during his Ballston,
Alexandria County, VA, retirement. He died on
October 2, 1919, and was buried in Arlington
National Cemetery. At the time of his death, he
was the oldest surviving USNA graduate. No
USN warships have been named in his honor.
Sources: Cogar, I; Hamersly,4th ed.; The Na-
Webb 22

tional Cyclopedia of American Biography, XIII;
SLGMSD, pseud., “RAdm. Aaron Ward Weaver,” Find-
aGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GRid=56936878 (accessed May 3, 2017);
DANFS; “The Noted Old Ironclad: The Monitor Ma-
hopac,” Baltimore Sun, April 19, 1898; Baltimore Sun,
October 6, 1919.
Webb, William Augustine
(1824–1881, CSN)
The middle of six children of USN CAPT
Thomas Tarleton Webb (1790–1853) and his wife
Harriet Davis Webb (1795–1875),William was
born at Norfolk, VA, on July 14, 1824. Appointed
a USN midshipman on January 26, 1838, he be-
came brother-in-law to future CSN captain John
Randolph Tucker (1812–1883), who married his
sister Virginia on June 7. Webb was aboard the
storeship Southampton, in support of the Africa
Squadron, from February 1845 to September
1847, being advanced to passed midshipman on
July 2 of the former year. He then served at the
Norfolk navy yard from October until August
1849, after which he was unemployed until July
1851 when he was seconded to the USCS. Al-
though unknown, it is probable that during this
period Webb married Elizabeth Ann Fleming
(1828–1893) of Goochland County, VA; the cou-
ple would have three children. He sailed aboard

Having won the “Thanks” of the Confederate congress for his actions during the March 862 Battle
of Hampton Roads, st Lt. William A. Webb, CSN, became captain of the ironclad Atlanta in May
86. He moved into Wassau Sound against orders on June  and ran aground. Discovered by the
Union monitors Weehawken and Nahant, he was compelled to surrender within a few minutes. Cap-
tured along with many of his officers shown here at Boston’s Fort Warren, Webb (seated 2nd from
right) was the first CSN captain to surrender an ironclad to the enemy (courtesy Naval History and
Heritage Command).
 22
the East Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Saratoga
in 1852 for a two-year Far Eastern deployment
that included the “opening” of Japan, becoming
a master on October 9, 1853, and a lieutenant on
June 12, 1854. Following leave, he joined the
Mediterranean Squadron sloop of war Constel-
lation from March 1855 until early 1857, when
he was transferred to the Africa Squadron flag-
ship, the frigate Cumberland until April 1859.
Unemployed, Webb was posted aboard the East
Indies Squadron sloop-of-war Vandalia, which
departed for the Orient in November 1860.
With the opening of the Civil War, the Van-
dalia was recalled. Webb resigned his USN com-
mission on May 17, 1861, became a CSN 1st lieu-
tenant in June, and served at the Fernandia, FL,
station until late fall. Transferred to Richmond,
he became captain of the James River Squad-
ron armed tug Teaser at the beginning of 1862
and supported the CSS Virginia during the
March 8–9 Battle of Hampton Roads, being
slightly wounded but receiving the “Thanks” of
the Confederate congress for his efforts. De-
tached in June, Webb traveled to Charleston, SC,
to assume command of the “Special Expedition”
spar-torpedo boat squadron, which did not
enter combat before Webb was transferred to
Savannah, GA, in May 1863 to become captain
of the ironclad ram CSS Atlanta. Offensively
moving into Wassau Sound against orders on
June 17, the warship ran aground at an impos-
sible shooting angle and when found by the
Union monitors Weehawken and Nahant was
compelled to surrender within minutes. Taken
POW with most of his crew, Webb was the first
CSN captain to surrender an ironclad to the
enemy; he would face criticism from fellow offi-
cers even after the war. Exchanged on Octo-
ber 18, 1864, Webb was immediately given com-
mand of the James River Squadron ironclad ram
Richmond, which on October 22 withstood in-
tense shelling during combat with the heavy new
Union battery at Chaffin’s Bluff, VA.
Due to ill health, Webb resigned his CSN
commission in November and moved to En-
gland in December. He took the oath of alle-
giance to the U.S. in late May 1865 and returned
to Richmond, where he was pardoned in mid-
year. Webb died on December 1, 1881, and was
buried in the Fleming family plot in Goochland
County.
Wilson
Sources: CSN Register; USN Register-2; DANFS;
Foenander; Driver, Confederate Sailors, Marines, and
Signalmen from Virginia and Maryland; Maclean,
“The Short Cruise of the CSS Atlanta”; Melton, “The
First and Last Cruise of the CSS Atlanta”; “Webbs in
History: William Augustine Webb,” Webb Bulletin 3
(January 2012), 1–2; Thomas Daniels, “William Au-
gustine Webb,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=50683343 (ac-
cessed January 22, 2017); R. Campbell, ed. “CSS At-
lanta: William A. Webb,” in Voices of the Confederate
Navy; Jonathan Webb Diess, “Webbs in the Military,”
Webb-Diess Research, http://www.webbdeiss.org/
webb/webb_boys_w.html (accessed January 22, 2017);
Werlich, Admiral of the Amazon: John Randolph
Tucker, His Confederate Colleagues and Peru; Coski,
Capital Navy.
Wilson, Byron (1837–1893, USN)
The eldest of five children of Richard Wilson
(1804–1882) and Saphronia Parrish Wilson
(1817–1853), Byron was born in Marion, OH, on
December 17, 1837, and was appointed an acting
USN midshipman on January 31, 1853. An 1857
USNA graduate, he was attached as a passed
midshipman during the next three years to the
East Indies Squadron paddle-wheel frigate Mis-
sissippi and in 1860 to the Gulf Squadron steam
sloop of war Richmond.
Made a Lieutenant on April 16, 1861, four days
after the outbreak of the Civil War, Wilson
joined the AUS Western Gunboat Flotilla that
summer, working his way up to become captain
of the ordnance steamer Great Western in March
1862. Following the June failed White River Ex-
pedition, he was dispatched to the Federal Cairo,
IL, base to assume command of the repairing
City Series ironclad Mound City, serving as in-
terim skipper of the ironclad Cincinnati until
October. Wilson commanded the Mound City
from that point until late January 1864, partici-
pating in the Vicksburg campaign through its
conclusion on July 4, 1863. Advanced to lieuten-
ant commander on November 5, he was de-
tached on February 6, 1864, becoming captain
of the large tinclad Ouachita, which he led in
support of the AUS campaign up the Yazoo
River from Vicksburg toward Meridian, MS. On
September 29 he became commander of the
squadron’s 1st District, based at Donaldsonville,
LA, and served until the war’s end.
Following two years (1866–1868) on the
Winslow
Pacific Squadron steam sloop-of-war Saranac,
Wilson transferred to the European Squadron
steam sloop-of-war Plymouth and participated
in the Darien expedition of 1870–1871. Becom-
ing a commander in 1872, he was captain of the
Asiatic Squadron steam gunboat Yantic, then
from 1875 to 1878 he commanded the Philadel-
phia receiving ship. Advanced to captain in
April 1883, he was Philadelphia navy yard com-
mandant until April 1890, when he stepped
down to once more captain the local receiving
ship.
Wilson retired in February 1893 to Philadel-
Captain of the Mississippi Squadron ironclad
Cincinnati from July to October 862, Lt. Cmdr.
Byron Wilson, USN, took charge of the ironclad
Mound City, guiding her through the river cam-
paign until February 86, when he was trans-
ferred to a large tinclad for the remainder of
the war. During his tenure aboard, the Mound
City participated in the December 862 Yazoo
campaign, the March 86 Deer Creek expe-
dition, and the heaviest fighting of the Vicksburg
campaign, including passage of the batteries
and engagement at Grand Gulf in April (cour-
tesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
222
phia’s Stratford Hotel, where he died from a
heart attack on September 6. Later buried at
Marion, the bachelor was at the time of his death
the second ranking USN captain. No USN ships
have been named in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; David
A. Mereness, “Descendants of Richard Wilson,”
RootsWeb, http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/
read/Wilson-Network/1999–09/0938035515 (accessed
March 3, 2014); Hamersly, 3rd ed.; Callahan; DANFS;
Smith, Fight for the Yazoo; Smith, USS Carondelet;
Smith, Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters;
Army and Navy Journal, April 5, 1890; Bangor Daily
Whig and Courier, September 8, 1893.
Winslow, John Ancrum
(1811–1873, USN)
Born on November 19, 1811, in Wilmington,
NC, Winslow was the son of importer Edward
Winslow (1788–1879) and his wife Sara Eliza An-
crum (?–1837). Sent for an education to the an-
cestral Massachusetts home in 1825, he was
instead appointed a USN midshipman on Feb-
ruary 1, 1827, and served aboard the West Indies
Squadron sloop-of-war Falmouth from Novem-
ber through August 1830. Winslow attended the
naval school at New York and Norfolk, VA,
December–March 1831 and September 1832-
June 10, 1833, his studies broken by another Fal-
mouth voyage, in the Pacific. Advanced to passed
midshipman upon graduation, he was at the
Boston naval rendezvous (recruiting station) on
leave and from June 1835 until September 1837
with the Brazil Squadron aboard the sloops-of-
war Ontario and Erie. Winslow married Cather-
ine Amelia Winslow (1813–1890) on October 18;
the couple had five children. During the final
year of Boston recruiting duty (1838–1841),
where he became a lieutenant on December 9,
1839, Winslow led a successful fire fighting op-
eration aboard a British packet in Boston Har-
bor, an action that brought him praise and a
commemorative sword from Queen Victoria.
He then undertook 15 years of sea duty (inter-
spersed by leave, shore, and rendezvous service),
successively serving on Enterprise, Columbus,
Missouri, Cumberland, Mississippi, Saratoga, and
St. Lawrence. He was commander of the USRCS
cutter Morris during the Mexican War, using her
to blockade the Gulf Coast and assist in the cap-
ture of Tampico. In December 1848 his first
 22 Winslow
command was lost on a reef and he was ordered
to share quarters aboard the U.S. flagship with
another shipwrecked lieutenant from a different
ship, Rafael Semmes (1809–1877). Winslow was
captain of the Boston naval rendezvous from
May 1855 to July 1858, being promoted to com-
mander on September 15, 1855. He was unem-
ployed until December 1860, when he became
inspector of Boston’s 2nd Lighthouse Dis-
trict. Throughout his career, Winslow was an
ardent abolitionist often critical of the Federal
government on matters of emancipation, even
after the outbreak of the Civil War on April 12,
1861.
After Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote (1806–
1863) relieved Cmdr. John Rodgers (1812–1882)
in command of the AUS Western Flotilla in Sep-
tember 1861, he requested that Winslow be sent
west to assist him as the unit’s executive officer.
At Cairo, IL, Winslow labored to fit out and man
the new ironclad gunboats built for service on
the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In Oc-
tober he assumed command of Foote’s flagboat,
the Benton, at St. Louis. As that deep-draft iron-
clad steamed downriver to Cairo, she ran aground
on a sandbar. During efforts to refloat the ship,
Immortalized for his June 86 victory over the
Winslow was injured by a flying chain link and Confederate ocean raider Alabama, Capt. John
forced to return home late in the year to recover. A Winslow, USN, had previously served in the
Returning to duty in February 1862, he was Western Flotilla from September 86 until
given command of the ironclad St. Louis, later November 862, commanding first the ironclad
Baron de Kalb, which he commanded through Benton and subsequently the ironclad St. Louis,
what he considered to be a series of compara- renamed Baron de Kalb. He believed his river
service was a series of minor assignments and he
tively minor assignments. Although commis- caught malaria, which led to his request for a
sioned a captain on July 16, Winslow contracted transfer East. He is shown here following his
malaria, became discontented, and asked to be promotion to commodore (courtesy Naval His-
reassigned to other duty. Detached from the tory and Heritage Command).
newly formed Mississippi Squadron in October,
Winslow went home on sick leave where on De- to the U.S. that November and Winslow received
cember 5 he received notice of his appointment leave.
to command the new screw sloop-of-war Kear- Following Philadelphia and New York during
sarge, joining her in April 1863. For the next four- 1865, Winslow became commander of the Gulf
teen months, Winslow, not assigned to any par- Squadron in January 1866, retaining that post
ticular squadron, sought action against the for 18 months and flying his flag in the paddle-
Confederate commerce raiders Florida and Al- wheel gunboat Estrella. Returning home to
abama, finally coming up with the latter off Boston to await orders, he was honored to speak
Cherbourg, France, on June 19, 1864. In the most at the opening of the Winslow House at Kear-
famous open sea battle of the Civil War, Wins- sarge Mountain, NH, on August 12, 1868. From
low won a complete victory over Semmes, his June 1869 to July 1870 Winslow was Portsmouth
one-time cabin mate, which gained him promo- navy yard commandant, becoming a rear admi-
tion to commodore effective the same day. After ral on March 2 of the latter year and then com-
shifting to the Caribbean, the Kearsarge returned mander of the North Pacific Station (NPS) from
Worden 22

August 1870 to June 1872, employing as his flag-
ship first the screw sloop-of-war Saranac and
then the California.
On sick leave upon his return, he died at Bos-
ton on September 29, 1873; the coffin in which
he was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery on Octo-
ber 3 was draped with the flag of the Kearsarge.
Three 20th century USN ships (TB-5, DD-53,
and DD-359) were named in his honor and his
son, RAdm. Herbert Winslow (1848–1914), had
the distinction of commanding the battleship
Kearsarge (BB-5). A bronze table honoring the
admiral was unveiled in the Massachusetts State
House on May 8, 1909.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Calla-
han; Appletons’, VI; Reynolds; ANB, XXIII; Thomp-
son; DANFS; Cogar, I, 211–212; Tucker, “John Ancrum
Winslow,” in Tucker, II; Neeser, “Historic Ships of the
Navy: Benton”; Ellicott, The Life of John Ancrum
Winslow, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy; Ditzel, The Ruthless
Exploits of Admiral John Winslow; Stone, Jr., “John An-
crum Winslow,” in Powell, ed., Dictionary of North
Carolina Biography, VI; Larry Chenault, “John An-
crum Winslow,” FindaGrave, http://www.findagrave.
com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5308125 (ac-
cessed May 12, 2014); Smith, Le Roy Fitch; Smith, The
Timberclads in the Civil War; Smith, Civil War Biog-
raphies from the Western Waters; New Hampshire
Statesman, August 7, 1868; New York Times, Octo-
ber 1, 4, 1873, March 15, 1902; Washington Post, May 9,
1909.
a master on August 13 and a lieutenant on No-
vember 30. He became executive officer of the
Pacific Squadron storeship Southampton in Feb-
ruary 1847, joining her in supplying the vessels
engaged in the Mexican War along the Califor-
nia coast and remained with the Pacific Squad-
ron until April 1850, serving consecutively
aboard the razee Independence, the sloop-of-war
Warren, and the ship-of-the-line Ohio. He re-
turned to the USNO from October until April
1852, when he undertook a three-year cruise
aboard the Mediterranean Squadron frigate
Cumberland. Posted at the New York navy yard
from March 1856 until July 1858, Worden
became executive officer of the Home Squadron
frigate Savannah. The high point of the Savan-
nah’s Caribbean cruise before returning home
in June 1860 was her invited participation in the
naval battle of Anton Lizardo, Vera Caribbean,

Worden, John Lorimer

(1818–1897, USN)
The second of 10 children of farmer Ananais
Worden (1790–1861) and Olivia Akin Toffey
Warden (1793–1883), John was born at Sing Sing,
presently Ossining, NY, on March 12, 1818,. He
was appointed a USN midshipman on January
10, 1834, and served aboard the Brazil Squadron
sloop-of-war Erie from June to April 1838 and
the Mediterranean Squadron sloop-of-war
Associated with the revolutionary ironclad Mon-
Cyane until November 1839. Graduating from
itor since January 862, Lt. John L. Worden, USN,
the Philadelphia naval school as a passed mid- guided her into the March 8 Battle of Hampton
shipman on July 16, 1840, he joined the Pacific Roads against the CSS Virginia. Late in the duel
Squadron storeship Relief, from which he was between the equally matched warships, the cap-
seconded to the sloop-of-war Dale from Sep- tain was badly wounded and forced to turn over
tember 1842 to October 1843. Given leave, he command. Recovered, lauded, and promoted, he
took command of the monitor Montauk in Jan-
married Quaker Hill, NY, belle Olivia Akin Tof-
uary 86 and participated in the April assault
fey (1820–1903) in early 1844; they had four chil- on Charleston, SC. He retired a rear admiral in
dren. Worden was at the USNO from April until 886 (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Com-
December 1846 and during his tour, he became mand).
 22
on March 6. During the engagement, two rebel
Mexican ships were defeated, helping to close
the so-called Reform War. Worden was on leave
until the outbreak of the eve of the Civil War.
He was dispatched to Pensacola, FL, on
April 6, 1861, with special orders regarding the
reinforcement of Fort Pickens. Initially prom-
ised safe conduct north, he was arrested by the
Confederates at Montgomery, AL, on April 13.
Held prisoner for seven months, during which
time he became ill, Worden was exchanged on
November 13 and was sent on sick leave to re-
cuperate. Returning to duty in January 1862, he
reported to Long Island, where he superin-
tended completion of the revolutionary ironclad
USS Monitor and commissioned her into ser-
vice on February 25. Unable to reach his as-
signed Hampton Roads, VA, destination before
the CSS Virginia attacked the Federal fleet on
March 8, Worden arrived in time to battle the
Confederate ironclad the next day. Late in the
duel between the evenly matched warships, a
Southern shell exploded on the Monitor’s pilot-
house. Worden was badly wounded, losing the
sight of his left eye, and was forced to turn over
command to executive officer Lt. Samuel Dana
Greene (1839–1884) for the remainder of the ac-
tion. Worden was invalided back to Washington,
D.C., where he received advanced medical treat-
ment and was visited by President Abraham Lin-
coln (1809–1865). After a long recuperation,
during which he was voted the “Thanks of Con-
gress” on July 11 and became a commander on
July 16, Worden was assistant director of iron-
clad construction from August until October,
after which he oversaw completion of the Pas-
saic-class monitor Montauk, bringing her into
commission on December 14 as her captain.
While on this duty, he was presented by officials
of New York with an elaborate sword and sash,
crafted by Tiffany & Co., and a testimonial. His
new warship joined the South Atlantic Blockad-
ing Squadron (SABS) on January 19, 1863, and
led a small squadron in the bombardment of
Fort McAllister, GA, on January 27 and Febru-
ary 1. Promoted to captain on February 3, the
same day he was given a second Thanks of Con-
gress, Worden led his craft up the Ogeechee
River, near McAllister, on February 28, where
he sank the Confederate blockade runner Rat-
tlesnake (ex–CSS Nashville). Although the Mon-
Worden
tauk was damaged by a torpedo during her with-
drawal, she was undamaged while participating
in the SABS ironclad attack on Fort Sumter,
Charleston, SC, on April 7, after which Worden
was detached and sent to Long Island as super-
intendent of ironclad construction, a post he
would hold until relieved in February 1866.
Between February and May 1866, Worden
was captain of the new steam sloop-of-war
Idaho while her innovative machinery was
tried—and failed—in the waters off New York.
He commanded the Pacific Squadron screw
steamer Pensacola from August until May 1867,
after which he took leave until December 1869.
During that time, he was elevated to commo-
dore on May 27, 1868. Worden was USNA
superintendent from December 1869 through
September 1874, becoming a rear admiral on
November 19, 1872, eleven years to the day from
his Montgomery release. He commanded the
European Squadron from December 1874
through October 1877, flying his flag, respec-
tively, on the screw frigate Franklin and the
screw steamer Marion. Serving thereafter on
various naval boards, he was placed on the re-
tired list on December 23, 1886, at his own re-
quest. In honor of his service, Congress ordered
that he continue to draw full pay.
Worden lived eleven years at his Washington,
D.C., home, alternating summers with another
residence at Quaker Hill, NY. Little is known of
his retirement activities save that he often spoke
out favorably regarding the assimilation of ex-
Confederate naval officers into political life.
From 1878 through December 1880, he was de-
fendant in a $20,000 libel suit brought by a for-
mer USNA professor he had dismissed during
his superintendence; the case was eventually
won in the U.S. Circuit Court at Baltimore, MD.
In the years afterward, he was a frequent visitor
to Congress, where by virtue of his having re-
ceived its Thanks he enjoyed “the privileges of
the floor” in both the House and Senate. Having
suffered ill health, including reduced vision and
severe headaches since March 1862, Worden’s
death came from pneumonia on October 18,
1897. He was buried the Worden-Toffey plot in
the city cemetery of Pawling, NY, just north of
NYC. The USNA parade field was named in his
honor, along with four 20th century USN war-
ships (TB-16, DD-288, DD-352, and DLG-18).
Wright 226

Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2; Ham- www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=

ersly, 3rd ed.; Cogar, I; Reynolds; Still, Ironclad Cap-
tains; Quarstein, The Monitor Boys; “Biography of
John Lorimer Worden,” The Monitor Center, http://
www. monitorcenter. org/ donate- now/ captain- wor
den-challenge/biography-of-john-lorimer-worden/
(accessed August 19, 2016); DANFS; Chittenden,
comp., The Monitor and the Merrimac: Both Sides of
the Story, Told by Lieut. J.L. Worden, USN, Lieut.
Greene, USN of the Monitor, and H. Ashton Ramsay,
CSN, Chief Engineer of the Merrimac; Engineering
News-Record 38 (October 21, 1897), 145; “The Naval
Career of Rear Admiral John Lorrimer Worden”; Mc-
Murtry, “The Life and Career of John L. Worden”; Mc-
Murtry, “Lincoln’s Promotion of John L. Worden”;
Jones, “John L. Worden and the Fort Pickens Mission:
The Confederacy’s First Prisoner of War”; Jones, “Lin-
coln’s Courier: John L. Worden’s Mission to Fort Pick-
ens”; Browne, The First Cruise of the Montauk (“Per-
sonal Narratives of Events in the War of the Rebellion”);
T.J. Clemente, “The Story of the Ironclad USS Mon-
tauk in the Civil War,” Southampton (NY) Star Patcher,
July 17, 2012; Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy:
Monitor”; Neeser, “Historic Ships of the Navy: Mon-
tauk”; Clemens, “The Mysterious Theft of Admiral
Worden’s Sword”; Army and Navy Journal 18 (Decem-
ber 18, 1880), 390, xxxv (October 23, 1897), 133; Russ
Dodge, “John Lorimer Worden,” FindaGrave, http://
1128 (accessed August 19, 2016); New York Times, No-
vember 25, 1872, May 21, 1879, December 4, 1880;
October 19, 1897, March 10, 2012; Washington Post,
February 22, 1887, January 19, August 7, 1890, Octo-
ber 19–22, 1897; Portland Morning Oregonian, July 14,
1886, October 19, 1897; Denver Rocky Mountain News,
October 19, 1897.
Wright, Thomas (In USN Service
1862–1864)
Wright, about whom nothing personal is
known, was appointed a USN acting ensign at
Cairo, IL, on October 1, 1862. While in com-
mand of the Illinois naval base tugboat Dahlia,
he was present in February 1863 when the new
light-draught gunboat Glide I took fire, towing
the blazing vessel far out into the river where
the explosion of her magazine did no damage
to shore installations or personnel. Wright re-
signed from the service on May 20 but was re-
stored on November 17, and at the beginning of
December he was given command of the river

Lauded for his actions as a tugboat commander, Acting Ensign Thomas Wright, USN, became captain
of the Mississippi Squadron monitor Osage (depicted) in December 86. During February-May 86,
he participated in the Federal naval expeditions up the Black, Ouachita, Washita and Red rivers. His
command having been found wanting, he was dismissed from the service on June 8 (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).
 22 Young
monitor Osage, then lying between Fort Adams Young, Jonathan (1826–1885, USN)
and the Red River. Between February 28 and
The eldest of two brothers, Young was born
March 5, 1864, Osage participated in a Federal
in Cincinnati, OH, on November 27, 1826. Ap-
naval expedition up the Black, Ouachita, and
pointed a USN midshipman on October 19, 1841,
Washita rivers, but shortly after turning into the
he served for three years with the Home
Ouachita on March 1, she was taken under fire
Squadron, initially aboard the paddle-wheel
and her turret was disabled. After her turret
frigate USS Mississippi and then the sloop-of-
damage was addressed, Wright’s command
war Vincennes. Young served aboard the ship-
joined the March 12–May 22 Red River Expedi-
of-the-line Columbus during her 1845–1848 cir-
tion and en route assisted in the capture of Fort
cumnavigation of the globe and during that de-
DeRussy on March 14. On May 9, Osage was the
ployment visited Japan in 1846. Promoted to
fourth vessel to escape, via the Bailey Dam, from
passed midshipman on August 10, 1847, he
the low water at Alexandria. Having failed to
cruised the California coast during the Mexican
live up to expectations, Wright was dismissed
War. Transferred back to the Home Squadron,
from the service on June 8.
he was on the frigate Raritan in 1849 and 1850,
Sources: Callahan; DANFS; ORN, I, 24; ORN, I,
25; Smith, Tinclads in the Civil War; Smith, The Tim- made a second trip around the world, aboard
berclads in the Civil War; Smith, Civil War Biographies the Pacific Squadron sloop-of-war St. Mary’s,
from the Western Waters. during 1850–1852, and spent 1853 at the USNO.

In July 86 Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Young, USN, a veteran of the Atlantic blockade, became captain of
the monitor Sangamon (depicted after being recommissioned at New York in May 88). Over the
next seven months, she participated in the blockade of Charleston, SC, bombardments of its harbor
fortifications, and actions off Savannah, GA. Following capture of those two cities in February 86,
the ship was transferred to the James River, where Young was detached on March 28 (courtesy Naval
History and Heritage Command).
Young
Seconded to the USCS in 1854, he joined the Pa-
cific Squadron paddle-wheel steamer Massachu-
setts at Mare Island, CA, in May 1855, becoming
a master on September 14 and a lieutenant a day
later. In February 1856 she began patrolling the
Puget Sound area, guarding against indigenous
raiding parties. In November Young led a land-
ing party ashore at Port Gamble that attacked
an encampment of 100 Russian–Native Ameri-
can fighters preparing an assault. Young re-
turned to the USNO in the fall and, in 1858 and
1859, was on the steamer Western Port during
the Paraguay Expedition. Back at the USNO
from spring early 1860, he was next posted to
the Home Squadron paddle-wheel frigate Sus-
quehanna and was aboard when the Civil War
began on April 12, 1861.
Young remained aboard the Susquehanna
during the early months of the conflict and par-
ticipated in the capture of Hatteras Inlet, NC, in
late August 1861 and the Battle of Port Royal, SC,
on November 7. He then joined the North At-
lantic Blockading Squadron (NABS) sloop-of-
war Jamestown as executive officer, helping to
take or destroy five runners off Wilmington,
NC, over the next six months. In June 1862 he
was given the same post aboard the South At-
lantic Blockading Squadron (SABS) paddle-
wheel frigate Powhatan on blockade duty off
Charleston, SC. And on July 16 was promoted
lieutenant commander. In November he re-
ceived his first command, the West Gulf Block-
ading Squadron (WGBS) Unadilla-class gun-
boat Pembina, on the blockade of Mobile, AL.
However, later in the year, he contracted a fever
while off Pensacola, FL, and was placed on sick
leave and light ordnance inventory duty. Recov-
ered by March 1864, Young became captain of
the SABS double-ender gunboat Cimarron, on
the blockade-line between Charleston, SC, and
Georgia, and that July he was transferred aboard
the SABS monitor Sangamon off Charleston.
Over the next seven months, the Passaic-class
228
warship participated in the blockade of that
port, bombardments of its harbor fortifications,
and actions off Savannah, GA. Following the
capture of those two cities in February 1865, the
Sangamon was transferred to the James River,
where she supported the Army of the Potomac
drive on Richmond, including troop support op-
erations and mine (“torpedo”) sweeping, partic-
ularly after March.
Young was commander of the Portsmouth re-
ceiving ship from March 28, 1865 until 1867,
during which tour he became a commander on
July 25, 1866. From later that year until Septem-
ber 1868, he was captain of the North Atlantic
Squadron (NAS) paddle-wheel gunboat Ma-
haska. From 1869 to 1871 he served at the USNO,
after which he once more was captain of the
Portsmouth receiving ship (1872–1873). Pro-
moted to captain on November 8, 1873, he re-
mained at the yard until 1876, when he was be-
came captain of the Asiatic Squadron screw
frigate Tennessee. Temporary commander of the
squadron between August and October 1877, he
completed that deployment in 1878 and returned
to duty at Portsmouth. In 1882 he was appointed
commandant of the New London navy yard in
Connecticut, where he died at the Crocker
House on May 17, 1885, from the effects of a
fever contracted six weeks earlier. Young was
buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY,
next to his wife, Eva Walton Watkins Young
(1832–1880), of Georgia and their child, who had
died in 1866. No USN ships have been named
in his honor.
Sources: USN Register-1; USN Register-2;
Hamersly, 3rd ed.; “Com. Jonathan Young,” Finda-
Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page = gr&GSln= Young&GSfn= Jonathan&GSby=
1826&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1885&GSdyrel=in&GScntr-
y=4&GSob=n&GRid=23835039&df=all& (accessed
December 1, 2015); DANFS; Terre Haute Daily Wabash
Express, August 5, 1882; New York Times, April 12, May
18, 1885; Washington Post, May 18, 1885; Indianapolis
Sentinel, May 18, 1885; Milwaukee Sentinel, May 18,
1885; Marion Star, May 20, 1885.
 Appendix: Register
of Ironclad Captains

This listing is arranged by nation (Confederate States or United States) and then by
vessel. Individuals who served as captains are listed alphabetically under each vessel
and, if they transferred between ships, may appear more than once. Only ironclad war-
ships or floating batteries (not including tinclads) are included.

Confederate States of America Eastport (ironclad)

Brown, Isaac Newton
Albemarle (ironclad)
Cooke, James Wallace
Fredericksburg (ironclad)
Maffitt, John Newland Barbot, Alphonse Pierre
Warley, Alexander Fraser Glassell, William Thornton
Rootes, Thomas Reade “Old Tom”
Arctic (ironclad floating battery) Shepperd, Francis Edgar “Frank”
Muse, William Templeman Georgia (ironclad steam battery)
Arkansas (ironclad) Gwathmey, Washington
Pelot, Thomas Postell
Brown, Isaac Newton
Mcblair, Charles Henry Huntsville (ironclad steam battery)
Stevens, Henry Kennedy (“Harry” or “Hal”) Mcblair, Charles Henry
Myers, Julian, Sr.
Atlanta (ironclad)
Mcblair, Charles Henry Lousiana (center-wheel ironclad)
Mcblair, William Beverly Mcintosh, Charles Flemming
Sinclair, Arthur Sinclair, Arthur
Webb, William Augustine
Manassas (ironclad)
Baltic (ironclad gunboat) Warley, Alexander Fraser
Johnston, James Douglas
Simms, Charles Carroll
Merrimack see Virginia (ironclad)
Mississippi (ironclad)
Charleston (ironclad)
Sinclair, Arthur
Brown, Isaac Newton
Missouri (paddle-wheel ironclad)
Chicora (ironclad) Carter, Jonathan Hanby
Dozier, William Gaillard, Sr.
Hunter, Thomas Triplett Nashville (ironclad)
Tucker, John Randolph Bennett, John William
Warley, Alexander Fraser Simms, Charles Carroll

229
Appendix: Register of Captains 230

Neuse (ironclad) Gwin, William

Loyall, Benjamin Pollard Lord, George Peter
Price, Joseph Mccauley, Edward Yorke
May, Robert Logan
North Carolina (ironclad) Phelps, Seth Ledyard
Jones, John Pembroke “Paul Jones” Winslow, John Ancrum
Maury, William Lewis Wright, Charles A.
Muse, William Templeman
Cairo (center-wheel ironclad)
Palmetto State (ironclad) Bryant, Nathaniel Cushing
Rochelle, James Henry Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr.
Rutledge, John
Canonicus (monitor)
Raleigh (ironclad) Belknap, George Eugene
Jones, John Pembroke “Paul Jones” Parrott, Enoch Greenleafe
Richmond (ironclad) Rodgers, John, II
Kell, John Mcintosh Carondelet (center-wheel ironclad)
Pegram, Robert Baker Clark, Charles Peter
Webb, William Augustine Donaldson, Oliver
Savannah (ironclad) Gipson, James C.
Greer, James Augustin
Brent, Thomas William
Miller, Charles W.
Pinkney, Robert F.
Mitchell, John Gardner
Stonewall (oceangoing ironclad) Murphy, John Mcleod
Page, Thomas Jefferson “The Commodore” Rogers, John
Walke, Henry
Tennessee (ironclad)
Buchanan, Franklin “Old Buck” Catskill (monitor)
Johnston, James Douglas Barrett, Edward Andre Gabriel
Carpenter, Charles Carroll
Tuscaloosa (ironclad steam battery) Cilley, Greenleaf
Mcblair, Charles Henry Harrison, Napoleon Boneparte
Maury, William Lewis Rodgers, George Washington, II
Virginia (ironclad) Chickasaw (monitor)
Buchanan, Franklin “Old Buck” Bacon, Jonathan Knight
Jones, Catesby Ap Roger Fitzpatrick, James W.
Tattnall, Josiah, Jr. Perkins, George Hamilton
Virginia II (ironclad) Chillicothe (ironclad)
Dunnington, John W. Couthouy, Joseph Pitty
Pegram, Robert Baker Eytinge, Henry St. Clair
Shepperd, Francis Edgar “Frank” Foster, James P.
Lord, George Peter
United States of America Muir, Walter
Smith, Watson
Baron De Kalb (center-wheel ironclad)
Erben, Henry, Jr., “Bully” Choctaw (ironclad)
Fraser, Alexander Cornwell, John Jacob
Mcgunnegle, Wilson Ramsay, Francis Munroe “Frank”
Paulding, Leonard
Walker, John Grimes
Cincinnati (center-wheel ironclad)
Winslow, John Ancrum Bache, George Mifflin, II
Brown, George (“Spud”)
Benton (ironclad) Goudy, Jason
Clark, Charles Peter Hall, John P.
Greer, James Augustin Hoel, William Rion
 231 Appendix: Register of Captains

Stembel, Roger Nelson Monitor (monitor)

Wilson, Byron Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.”
Greene, Samuel Dana
Dictator (monitor)
Jeffers, William Nicholson, 3rd
Rodgers, John, II Worden, John Lorimer
Eastport (ex–CSS ironclad) Montauk (monitor)
Phelps, Seth Ledyard Badger, Oscar Charles
Essex (center-wheel ironclad) Davis, John Lee
Fairfax, Donald Macneill
Bryson, Andrew
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
Caldwell, Charles Henry Bromedge
Stone, Edward Erastus “E.E.”
Porter, William David “Dirty Bill”
Worden, John Lorimer
Townsend, Robert
Galena (ironclad gunboat) Mound City (center-wheel ironclad)
Coleman, Silas Bunker
Paulding, Leonard
Duble, John A.
Indianola (ironclad) Gwin, William
Badger, Arthur Charles Kilty, Augustus Henry
Brown, George “Spud” Langthorne, Amos R.
Duble, John A. Mcgunnegle, Wilson
Wilson, Byron
Keokuk (casemate ironclad)
Rhind, Alexander Colden
Nahant (monitor)
Cornwell, John Jacob
Lafayette (ironclad) Downes, John Albert, Jr.
Foster, James Peter Mayo, William Kennon
Walke, Henry Picking, Henry Forry

Lehigh (monitor) Nantucket (monitor)

Bryson, Andrew Beaumont, John Colt
Bunce, Francis Marvin Fairfax, Donald Macneill
Guest, John Lewis, Robert F.R.
Howell, John Cumming Luce, Stephen Bleecker
Semmes, Alexander Alderman
Neosho (monitor)
Louisville (center-wheel ironclad) Febiger, John Carson
Bacon, George Howard, Samuel
Dove, Benjamin M. Howden, Robert
May, Robert Logan
Meade, Richard Worsam, III (sometimes Jr.)
New Ironsides (casemate ironclad)
Owen, Elias Kane Belknap, George Eugene
Riley, Robert K. Phythian, Robert Lees
Radford, William
Mahopac (monitor) Rowan, Stephen Clegg
Potter, Edward Eells Turner, Thomas, Jr.
Weaver, Aaron Ward
Onondaga (monitor)
Manhattan (monitor) Cushman, Charles Haddock
Grafton, Edward Charles
Nicholson, James William Augustus “War Horse”
Osage (monitor)
Couthouy, Joseph Pitty
Miantonomoh (monitor) Febiger, John Carson
Parrott, Enoch Greenleafe Gamble, William Marshall
Rogers, George Washington
Monadnoc (monitor) Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr.
Bunce, Francis Marvin Wright, Thomas
Appendix: Register of Captains 232

Ozark (monitor) Crosby, Peirce

Brown, George Washington Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
Guest, John
Passaic (monitor) Miller, Joseph Nelson
Drayton Percival Young, Jonathan
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
Simpson, Edward Saugus (monitor)
Colhoun, Edmund Ross
Patapsco (monitor) Phelps, Thomas Stowell, Sr.
Ammen, Daniel
Bunce, Francis Marvin Tecumseh (monitor)
Madigan, John, Jr. Craven, Tunis Augustus Macdonough “Tam” or
Quakenbush, Stephen Platt “Mac”
Sevens, Thomas Holdup
Tennessee (ex–CSS ironclad)
Pittsburg (center-wheel ironclad) Lull, Edward Phelps
Coleman, Silas Bunker
Hoel, William Rion Tunxis (monitor)
Thompson, Egbert Erben, Henry, Jr., “Bully”

Roanoke (monitor) Tuscumbia (ironclad)

Gansevoort, Guert Shirk, James Whitehall
Kilty, Augustus H.
Rowan, Stephen Clegg Weehawken (monitor)
Sands, Benjamin Franklin Bunce, Francis Marvin
Colhoun, Edmund Ross
St. Louis (center-wheel ironclad) see Rodgers, John, Ii
Baron De Kalb
Winnebago (monitor)
Sangamon (monitor) Kirkland, William Alexander “Ashe” or “Red Bill”
Chandler, Ralph or “El Rubio”
Cooper, George Henry Sevens, Thomas Holdup
 Bibliography

Information for the various biographical entries in this book comes from numerous
sources, print and electronic. Although references are provided with every profile, some
of the information was a one-time only use—for example, biographies given within a
regional history, an Internet site, a print autobiography or biography, a newspaper obit-
uary, or a burial record—while others were from compendiums or sites continuously
mined. To save space, a series of key or commonly employed abbreviations has been
employed to identify some of the latter, both print and Internet sources, identified imme-
diately below. References to books, periodical articles, and academic papers cited in the
profile sources, whether once or multiple times, are drawn from the bibliography and
are abbreviated. Newspaper and Internet citations in the sources are omitted from the
bibliography.

Commonly-Abbreviated Titles Terry White, ed. The National Cyclopedia of American

ANB =American Council of Learned Societies. American
National Biography. 24 vols. New York: Oxford Univer-
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APPLETON’S = James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds.
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B&L = Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Edited by Rob-
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Century, 1884–1887; repr. Thomas Yoseloff, 1956.
CSN Register = U.S. Navy Department, Office of Naval
Records and Library, Naval War Records Office, Reg-
ister of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861–
1865. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1931.
CSS Pontchartrain = “CSS Pontchartrain Crew List.” The
CSS Pontchartrain Project. https://www.facebook.com/
pages/The-CSS-Pontchartrain-Project/129006840279.
DAB = American Council of Learned Societies. Diction-
ary of American Biography. 20 vols. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1928–1936; repr., 10 vols. 1946.
DAB Supplement = American Council of Learned Soci-
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10 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1944–1995.
DANFS = Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. 8
vols. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1916–1981.
Foenander = Terry Foenander, comp. Confederate Naval
and Marine Corps Personnel. http://www.rblong.net/
sailor/index.html. This impressive research site was re-
vived in August 2013 by the compiler Foenander, Sion
Harrington, and Bruce Long as part of their North Car-
olina Civil War Sailor Project.
JCC = Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States
of America, 1861–1865. 7 vols. Washington, D.C.: GPO,
1904–1905.
The National Cyclopedia of American Biography = James
Biography. 11 vols. New York: James T. White, 1900.
The New International Encyclopedia = Daniel Coit
Gilman, et al., eds. The New International Encyclopedia.
20 vols. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1907
OR = U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies. 128 vols. Washington, D.C.: GPO,
1880–1901, Series I, Vol. IIII, 390 cited hereafter as OR,
followed by a comma, the series number in Roman nu-
merals, a comma, the volume number in Arabic, a
colon, and the page in Arabic, e.g., OR, I, 3: 390.
ORN = U.S. Navy Department, Official Records of the
Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebel-
lion. 31 vols. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1894–1922, Series
I, Vol. IV, 154–155, cited hereafter as ORN, followed by
a comma, the series number in Roman numerals, a
comma, the volume number in Arabic, a colon, and
the page in Arabic, e.g., ORN, I, 25: 155.
USN Register-1 = Tom Woronko, comp. HyperWar Foun-
dation Registers of the Commissioned Officers and War-
rant Officers of the United States Navy, 1802–1945.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USN/Naval_
Registers/.
USN Register-2 = Hathi Trust Digital Library. Register of
the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United
States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on
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Numbers in bold italics indicate pages with illustrations
Adirondack (USN Steam Sloop):
Gansevoort, Guert 90–91
Agawam (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Rhind, Alexander
Colden 175–176
Agementicus (USN Monitor):
Parrott, Enoch Greenleafe
154–155
Alabama (CSN Ocean Raider):
Kell, John Mcintosh 118–119
Alabama (USN Gunboat):
Langthorne, Amos R. 122–
123
Albemarle (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Cooke, James Wallace 61–62;
Maffitt, John Newland “Prince
of Privateers” 131, 132–133;
Warley, Alexander Fraser 216–
218
Alfred Robb (USN Tinclad No.
21): Goudy, Jason 94–95
Alligator (USN Submersible):
Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr.
188, 189–190
Amanda (USN Bark): Howard,
Samuel 107–108
Ammen, Daniel 13, 14–16
Anacostia (USN Gunboat):
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
85, 86–87
Antietam, MD, 1862 Battle 81
Arctic (CSN Ironclad Floating
Battery): Gwathmey, Wash-
ington 101–102; Muse, William
Templeman 148–149
Arizona (USN Gunboat):
Brown, George “Spud” 33, 34–
36
Arkansas (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Barbot, Alphonse Pierre 23–
24; Brown, Isaac Newton 38,
39–41; McBlair, Charles Henry
136–138; Stevens, Henry
Kennedy “Harry” or “Hal”
199–201
Index
Arkansas Post, 1863 Battle of 36,
80, 88, 152, 215
Aroostook (USN Gunboat):
Beaumont, John Colt 26, 27–
28
Atlanta (CSN/USN Ironclad
Ram): Barbot, Alphonse
Pierre 23–24; McBlair, Charles
Henry 136–137; McBlair,
William Beverly 138; Sinclair,
Arthur, III 196–197; Webb,
William Augustine 220–221
Augusta (USN Gunboat): Par-
rott, Enoch Greenleafe 154–
155
Bache, George Mifflin, II 16–17
Bacon, George Bement 17–19
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21
Baltic (CSN Ironclad Gunboat):
Johnston, James Douglas 113–
114; Simms, Charles Carroll
193–194
Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.” 21–
23
Barbot, Alphonse Pierre 23–24
Baron De Kalb (USN Center-
Wheel Ironclad): Erben,
Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80, 81–82;
McGunnegle, Wilson 139–140;
Paulding, Leonard 156–157;
Walker, John Grimes 215–216;
Winslow, John Ancrum 222,
223–224
Barrett, Edward Andre Gabriel
24, 25–26
Baton Rouge, LA, 1862 Battle 81,
168
Beaumont, John Colt 26, 27–28
Belknap, George Eugene 28, 29–
31
Belmont, MO, 1861 Battle 213
Bennett, John William 31–32
Benton (USN Ironclad): Clark,
Charles Peter 57–58; Greer,
James Augustus 97, 98–99;
247
Gwin, William 102–103; Lord,
George Peter 125–126; May,
Robert Logan 134–135;
McCauley, Edward Yorke 138–
139; Phelps, Seth Ledyard 160–
161; Winslow, John Ancrum
222, 223–224
Black Hawk (USN Gunboat):
Fitzpatrick, James W. 87–88;
McCauley, Edward Yorke 138–
139
Blair’s Landing, LA, 1864 Battle
17
Brent, Thomas William 32–33
Brooklyn (USN Steam Sloop):
Bryant, Nathaniel Cushing 41–
43; Lull, Edward Phelps 129–
130; Rowan, Stephen Clegg
184–186
Brown, George “Spud” 33, 34–
36
Brown, George Washington 36–
38
Brown, Isaac Newton 38, 39–
41
Bryant, Nathaniel Cushing 41–
43
Bryson, Andrew 43–44
Buchanan, Franklin “Old Buck”
44, 45–46
Bunce, Francis Marvin 46, 47–
48
Cairo (USN Center-Wheel Iron-
clad): Bryant, Nathaniel
Cushing 41–43; Selfridge,
Thomas Oliver, Jr. 188, 189–
190
Caldwell, Charles Henry
Bromedge 48–50
Cambridge (USN Gunboat):
Gwin, William 102–103;
Miller, Joseph Nelson 143,
144–145
Canandaigua (USN Gunboat):
Luce, Stephen Bleecker 127,
Index
128–129; May, Robert Logan
134–135
Canonicus (USN Monitor):
Belknap, George Eugene 28,
29–31; Parrott, Enoch Green-
leafe 154–155; Rogers, John, II
179, 180–181
Capitol (CSN Supply Ship):
Stevens, Henry Kennedy
“Harry” or “Hal” 199–201
Carondelet (CSN Gunboat):
Gwathmey, Washington 101–
102
Carondelet (USN Center-Wheel
Ironclad): Clark, Charles
Peter 57–58; Donaldson,
Oliver 73; Gipson, James C.
91–93; Greer, James Augustus
97, 98–99; Hoel, William Rion
105, 106–107; Miller, Charles
W. 143; Mitchell, John Gard-
ner 145–146; Murphy, John
McLeod 147–148; Rogers, John
182–183; Walke, Henry 212,
213–214
Carpenter, Charles Carroll 50,
51–52
Carter, Jonathan Hanby 52–53
Catskill (USN Monitor): Barrett,
Edward Andre Gabriel 24, 25–
26; Bunce, Francis Marvin 46,
47–48; Carpenter, Charles
Carroll 50, 51–52; Cilley,
Greenleaf 55, 56–57; Harrison,
Napoleon Boneparte 104–105;
Rodgers, George Washington,
II 178–179
Cayuga (USN Gunboat): Fair-
fax, Donald Macneill 82, 83–
84; Harrison, Napoleon
Boneparte 104–105; Perkins,
George Hamilton 159–160
Chandler, Ralph 53, 54–55
Charleston (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Brown, Isaac Newton 38, 39–
41
Chartleston, SC, 1863–1865 Bat-
tles/Bombardments 14, 18,
25–26, 28–30, 43, 47–48, 51,
60–61, 64, 70, 73, 75–77, 81,
83, 86, 93, 105, 111, 124, 128,
135–136, 144, 163, 165, 173, 176,
179, 185, 187, 191, 195, 202, 204,
210–211, 217, 221, 225, 228
Chattahoochee (CSN Gunboat):
Jones, Catesby ap Roger 114,
115–116
Chenango (USN Gunboat):
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
85, 86–87
Chickamauga (CSN Ocean
Raider): Dozier, William
Gaillard, Sr. 75–76
Chickasaw (USN Monitor): Fitz-
patrick, James W. 87–88;
248
Perkins, George Hamilton
159–160
Chickasaw Bayou, MS, 1862 Bat-
tle see Vicksburg, MS, 1862
Battle
Chicora (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Dozier, William Gaillard, Sr.
75–76; Glassell, William
Thornton 93–94; Hunter,
Thomas Triplett 110–111;
Tucker, John Randolph 209–
210; Warley, Alexander Fraser
216–218
Chillicothe (USN Ironclad):
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Couthouy, Joseph Pitty 65–67;
Eytinge, Henry St. Clair 82;
Foster, James Peter 88–89;
Lord, George Peter 125–126;
Muir, Walter 146–147; Smith,
Watson 197–198
Chippewa (USN Gunboat):
Bryson, Andrew 43–44;
Weaver, Aaron Ward 218, 219–
220
Choctaw (USN Ironclad): Corn-
well, John Jacob 64–65; Ram-
say, Francis Munroe “Frank”
174–175
Chocura (USN Gunboat):
Meade, Richard Worsam, III
141, 142–143
Cilley, Greenleaf 55, 56–57
Cimarron (USN Gunboat):
Young, Jonathan 227–228
Cincinnati (USN Center-Wheel
Ironclad): Bache, George Mif-
flin II 16–17; Brown, George
“Spud” 33, 34–36; Goudy,
Jason 94–95; Hall, John P. 103–
104; Hoel, William Rion 105,
106–107; Muir, Walter 146–147;
Stembel, Roger Nelson 198–
199
Clara Dolson (USN Supply Ship):
Fitzpatrick, James W. 87–88
Clark, Charles Peter 57–58
Coleman, Silas Bunke r 58–60
Colhoun, Edmund Ross 60–61
Colorado (USN Steam Frigate):
Davis, John Lee 72–73; May,
Robert Logan 134–135
Commodore Jones (USN Gun-
boat): Mitchell, John Gardner
145–146
Commodore McDonough (USN
Gunboat): Bacon, George
Bement 17–19, 163–164
Conestoga (USN Gunboat):
Duble, John A. 78–79; Phelps,
Seth Ledyard 160–161
Constitution (USN Sail Frigate):
Lull, Edward Phelps 129–130;
Rodgers, George Washington,
II 178–179
Cooke, James Wallace 61–62
Cooper, George Henry 62, 63–
64
Cornwell, John Jacob 64–65
Corwin (USN Steamer): Phelps,
Thomas Stowell, Sr. 161–163
Couthouy, Joseph Pitty 65–67
Covington (USN Tinclad No.
25): Lord, George Peter 125–
126
Craven, Tunis Augustus Macdo-
nough “Tam” “Mac” 67–68
Cricket (USN Tinclad No. 6):
Langthorne, Amos R. 122–123
Crosby, Pierce 68, 69–70
Crusader (USN Gunboat):
Craven, Tunis Augustus Mac-
donough “Tam” “Mac” 67–68;
Rhind, Alexander Colden
175–176
Cumberland (USN Sail Frigate):
Radford, William 172–174; Sel-
fridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr. 188,
189–190
Curlew (CSN Gunboat): Hunter,
Thomas Triplett 110–111
Cushman, Charles Haddock 70–
72
Dakotah (USN Steam Sloop):
Sands, Benjamin Franklin
187–188
Dan Smith (USN Mortar
Schooner): Brown, George
Washington 36–38
David (CSN Torpedoboat):
Glassell, William Thornton
93–94
Davis, John Lee 72–73
Delaware (USN Gunboat):
Quakenbush, Stephen Platt
171–172; Rowan, Stephen
Clegg 184–186
DeSoto (USN Steamer): Lewis,
Robert F.R. 123–124
Dictator (USN Monitor): Bunce,
Francis Marvin 46, 47–48;
Rogers, John, II 179, 180–181
Donaldson, Oliver 73
Dove, Benjamin 73–74
Downes, John Albert, Jr. 74–
75
Dozier, William Gaillard, Sr.
75–76
Drayton, Percival 76, 77–78
Drewry’s Bluff, VA, 1861 Battle of
28, 178, 180, 209
Duble, John A. 78–79
Dumbarton (USN Gunboat):
Radford, William 172–174
Dunnington, John William 79–
80
Eastport (Csn/Usn Ironclad):
Brown, Isaac Newton 38, 39–

41; Phelps, Seth Ledyard 160–
161
Ellis (CSN Gunboat): Cooke,
James Wallace 61–62; Muse,
William Templeman 148–149
Empire (CSN Gunboat): Simms,
Charles Carroll 193–194
Erben, Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80, 81–
82
Essex (USN Center-Wheel Iron-
clad): Bryson, Andrew 43–44;
Caldwell, Charles Henry
Bromedge 48–50; Porter,
William David “Dirty Bill”
167, 168–169; Riley, Robert K.
177; Townsend, Robert 207–
209
Ethan Allen (USN Bark): Lewis,
Robert F.R. 123–124
Eutaw (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Paulding, Leonard
156–157
Exchange (USN Tinclad No. 38):
Gipson, James C. 91–93
Eytinge, Henry St. Clair 82
Fairfax, Donald Macneill 82,
83–84
Febiger, John Carson 84–85
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr. 85,
86–87
Fitzpatrick, James W. 87–88
Flag (USN Gunboat): Carpenter,
Charles Carroll 50, 51–52;
McCauley, Edward Yorke 138–
139; Rogers, John, II 179, 180–
181
Florida (USN Gunboat):
Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.”
21–23; Crosby, Pierce 68, 69–
70; Greene, Samuel Dana 96–
97
Forest Rose (USN Tinclad No. 9):
Brown, George Washington
36–38
Fort Anderson, NC, 1865 Battle
28, 163
Fort Beauregard, SC 13
Fort Clark, NC see Hatteras
Inlet 1861 Battle of
Fort Donelson, TN, 1862 Battle
74, 92, 206, 213
Fort Fisher, NC, 1864–1865 Bat-
tles 14, 28, 57, 71, 75–76, 109,
123, 155, 163–164, 166, 170,
173–176, 189, 204, 218
Fort Henry, TN, 1862 Battle 73,
78, 92, 105, 156, 160–161, 168,
177, 181, 193, 199, 213
Fort Henry (USN Gunboat):
McCauley, Edward Yorke 138–
139
Fort Hindman, AR see
Arkansas Post, Battle of
Fort Hindman (USN Tinclad No.
249
13): Selfridge, Thomas Oliver,
Jr. 188, 189–190
Fort Jackson (USN Gunboat):
Cilley, Greenleaf 55, 56–57;
Sands, Benjamin Franklin
187–188; Walke, Henry 212,
213–214
Fort Jackson, LA see New
Orleans 1862 Battle
Fort McAllister, GA, 1863 Battle
14, 70, 75, 77, 81, 144, 225
Fort Pickens, FL, 1861 Engage-
ments 29
Fort Pillow, TN, 1862 Battle 42,
92, 105, 120, 156, 166, 181, 199,
206, 213
Fort St. Philip, LA see New
Orleans 1862 Battle
Fort Sumter, SC see Charleston,
SC, 1863–1865 Battles/Bom-
bardments
Fort Wagner, SC see
Charleston, SC, 1863–1865
Battles/Bombardments
Foster, James Peter 88–89
Fredericksburg (CSN Ironclad
Ram): Barbot, Alphonse
Pierre 23–24; Glassell, William
Thornton 93–94; Rootes,
Thomas Reade “Old Tom”
183–184; Shepperd, Francis
Edgar “Frank” 191–192
Gaines (CSN Gunboat): Ben-
nett, John William 31–32;
McBlair, Charles Henry 136–
137
Galena (USN Ironclad Gunboat):
Paulding, Leonard 156–157;
Rogers, John, II 179, 180–181
Galveston, TX, 1862–1863 Battle
100
Gamble, William Marshall 89–
90
Gansevoort, Guert 90–91
General Lyon (USN Supply
Ship): Lord, George Peter
125–126
General Polk (CSN Gunboat):
Carter, Jonathan Hanby 52–53
Genesee (USN Gunboat):
Grafton, Edward Charles 95–
96
Georgia (CSN Ironclad Steam
Battery): Gwathmey, Wash-
ington 101–102; Jones, John
Pembroke “Paul Jones” 116,
117–118; Pelot, Thomas Postell
158–159
Georgia (CSN Ocean Raider):
Maury, William Lewis 133–134
Gipson, James C. 91–93
Glassell, William Thornton 93–
94
Glaucus (USN Gunboat): Cald-
Index
well, Charles Henry Bromedge
48–50; Cooper, George Henry
62, 63–64
Goudy, Jason 94–95
Grafton, Edward Charles 95–96
Grand Gulf, MS, 1863 Battle of
50, 59, 98, 106, 152, 181, 193,
214–215
Great Western (USN Supply
Ship): Wilson, Byron 221–
222
Greene, Samuel Dana 96–97
Greer, James Augustus 97, 98–
99
Guest, John 99–100
Gwathmey, Washington 101–102
Gwin, William 102–103
Hall, John P. 103–104
Harrison, Napoleon Boneparte
104–105
Hatteras Inlet 1861 Battle of 22,
96, 189, 197
Haynes Bluff, MS, 1862 Battle
see Vicksburg, MS, 1862 Bat-
tle; Vicksburg, MS, 1863 Battle
Head of Passes, LA, 1861 Battle
72, 217
Hoel, William Rion 105, 106–107
Housatonic (USN Steam Sloop):
Mayo, William Kennon 135–
136
Howard, Samuel 107–108
Howell, John Cumming 108,
109–110
Howlett’s Farm, VA, 1864–1865
Battles 30, 61, 68, 70–71, 155,
163, 169, 191
Hunchback (USN Gunboat):
Colhoun, Edmund Ross 60–61
Hunter, Thomas Triplett 110–111
Huntress (CSN Gunboat):
Dozier, William Gaillard, Sr.
75–76
Huntsville (CSN Ironclad Steam
Battery): McBlair, Charles
Henry 136–138; Myers, Julian,
Sr. 149–150
Huntsville (USN Gunboat):
Chandler, Ralph 53, 54–55;
Erben, Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80,
81–82
Huron (USN Gunboat): Belk-
nap, George Eugene 28, 29–31;
Downes, John Albert, Jr. 74–
75; Selfridge, Thomas Oliver,
Jr. 188, 189–190
Indian Chief (CSN Receiving
Ship): Dozier, William Gail-
lard, Sr. 75–76
Indianola (USN Ironclad):
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Brown, George “Spud” 33, 34–
36
Index
Iosco (USN Double-Ender Gun-
boat): Guest, John 99–100
Iron Age (USN Gunboat): Stone,
Edward Erastus “E.E.” 203–
204
Iroquois (USN Steam Sloop):
Greene, Samuel Dana 96–97
Isaac Smith (USN Gunboat):
Nicholson, James William
Augustus “War Horse” 150–
151
Isonomia (USN Gunboat):
Simpson, Edward 195–196
Itasca (USN gunboat): Bacon,
George Bement 17–19; Brown,
George “Spud” 33, 34–36;
Caldwell, Charles Henry
Bromedge 48–50; Lewis,
Robert F.R. 123–124
J.A. Cotton (CSN Gunboat):
Stevens, Henry Kennedy
“Harry” or “Hal” 199–201
Jackson (CSN Gunboat): Gwath-
mey, Washington 101–102
Jacksonville, FL, 1862 Battle 14,
22, 201
James Adger (USN Gunboat):
Owen, Elias Kane 151–153
Jamestown (USN Sail Sloop):
Bache, George Mifflin, II 16–
17; Harrison, Napoleon
Boneparte 104–105; Kirkland,
William Alexander “Ashe”
“Red Bill” “El Rubio” 120, 121–
122; Phythian, Robert Lees 163,
164–165; Young, Jonathan
227–228
Jeffers, William Nicholson, III
111, 112–113
John Adams (USN Sail Frigate):
Miller, Joseph Nelson 143,
144–145; Stone, Edward Eras-
tus “E.E.” 203–204
Johnston, James Douglas 113–
114
Jones, Catesby ap Roger 114,
115–116
Jones, John Pembroke “Paul
Jones” 116, 117–118
Juniata (USN Steam Sloop):
Phelps, Thomas Stowell, Sr.
161–163
Kanawah (USN Gunboat):
Febiger, John Carson 84–85;
Mayo, William Kennon 135–
136
Kate (USN Tinclad No. 55):
Rogers, George Washington
181–182
Kearsarge (USN Steam Sloop):
Winslow, John Ancrum 222,
223–224
Kell, John Mcintosh 118–119
250
Keokuk (USN Casemate Iron-
clad): Rhind, Alexander
Colden 175–176
Keystone State (USN Gunboat):
Brown, George Washington
36–38; Crosby, Pierce 68, 69–
70
Kilty, Augustus Henry 119–120
Kingfisher (USN Gunboat):
Couthouy, Joseph Pitty 65–67
Kirkland, William Alexander
“Ashe” “Red Bill” “El Rubio”
120, 121–122
Lady Davis (CSN Gunboat):
Pelot, Thomas Postell 158–159;
Rutledge, John 186–187
Lafayette (USN Ironclad): Fos-
ter, James Peter 88–89; Gip-
son, James C. 91–93; Walke,
Henry 212, 213–214
Langthorne, Amos R. 122–123
Lehigh (USN Monitor): Bryson,
Andrew 43–44; Bunce, Fran-
cis Marvin 46, 47–48; Guest,
John 99–100; Howell, John
Cumming 108, 109–110;
Phythian, Robert Lees 163,
164–165; Semmes, Alexander
Alderman 190–191
Lenapee (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Phelps, Thomas
Stowell, Sr. 161–163
Lewis, Robert F.R. 123–124
Lexington (USN Timberclad
Gunboat): Bache, George
Mifflin, II 16–17; Fitzpatrick,
James W. 87–88; Hoel,
William Rion 105, 106–107;
Shirk, James Whitehall 192–
193; Stembel, Roger Nelson
198–199
Lincoln Assassins see Montauk
(USN Monitor)
Little Rebel (USN Tinclad No.
16): Hoel, William Rion 105,
106–107
Livingston (CSN Gunboat):
Pinkney, Robert F. 166–167
Lord, George Peter 125–126
Louisiana (CSN Center-Wheel
Ironclad): Barbot, Alphonse
Pierre 23–24; McIntosh,
Charles Flemming 141; Sin-
clair, Arthur
Louisiana (USN Steamer):
Rhind, Alexander Colden
175–176
Louisville (USN Center-Wheel
Ironclad): Bacon, George
Bement 17–19; Dove, Ben-
jamin 73–74; Loyall, Benjamin
Pollard 126–127; May, Robert
Logan 135; Meade, Richard
Worsam, III 141–142; Owen,
Elias Kane 151–153; Riley,
Robert K. 177
Lucas Bend, MO, 1861 Battle 101,
199
Luce, Stephen Bleecker 127,
128–129
Lull, Edward Phelps 129–130
Macedonian (USN Sail Frigate):
Luce, Stephen Bleecker 127,
128–129; Stone, Edward Eras-
tus “E.E.” 203–204
Mackinaw (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Beaumont, John
Colt 26, 27–28; Madigan,
John, Jr. 130–131
Maffitt, John Newland “Prince of
Privateers” 131, 132–133
Mahaska (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Harrison,
Napoleon Boneparte 104–105
Mahopac (USN Monitor): Pot-
ter, Edward Eells 169–170;
Weaver, Aaron Ward 218, 219–
220
Malvern (USN Gunboat): Rad-
ford, William 172–174
Manassas, VA, 1861 Battle 32
Manassas (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Warley, Alexander Fraser 216–
218
Manhattan (USN Monitor):
Grafton, Edward Charles 95–
96; Nicholson, James William
Augustus “War Horse” 150–151
Maratanza (USN Gunboat):
Stevens, Thomas Holdup 201,
202–203
Marblehead (USN Gunboat):
Meade, Richard Worsam, III
141, 142–143
Maria Deming (USN Supply
Ship): Dove, Benjamin 73–74
Massachusetts (USN Supply
Ship/Gunboat): Cooper,
George Henry 62, 63–64;
Cushman, Charles Haddock
70–72
Mattabesett (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Febiger, John Car-
son 84–85
Maumee (USN Gunboat): Chan-
dler, Ralph 53, 54–55
Maury, William Lewis 133–134
May, Robert Logan 134–135
Mayo, William Kennon 135–136
McBlair, Charles Henry 136–138
McBlair, William Beverly 138
McCauley, Edward Yorke 138–
139
McGunnegle, Wilson 139–140
McIntosh, Charles Flemming
141
McRae (CSN Gunboat): Dun-
nington, John William 79–80

Meade, Richard Worsam, III 141,
142–143
Memphis, TN, 1862 Battle 42,
73, 81, 104, 120, 166, 213
Merrimack see Virginia (CSN
Ironclad Ram)
Metacomet (USN Gunboat):
Crosby, Pierce 68, 69–70
Miami (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Townsend, Robert
207–209
Miantonomoh (USN Monitor):
Ammen, Daniel 13, 14–16; Par-
rott, Enoch Greenleafe 154–
155
Miller, Charles W. 143
Miller, Joseph Nelson 143, 144–
145
Milliken’s Bend, LA, 1863 Battle
174
Mingo (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Quakenbush,
Stephen Platt 171–172
Minnesota (USN Steam Frigate):
Grafton, Edward Charles 95–
96; Howell, John Cumming
108, 109–110; Mitchell, John
Gardner 145–146
Mississippi (CSN Ironclad): Sin-
clair, Arthur, III 196–197
Missouri (CSN Paddle-Wheel
Ironclad): Carter, Jonathan
Hanby 52–53
Mitchell, John Gardner 145–146
Mobile (CSN Gunboat): Shep-
perd, Francis Edgar “Frank”
191–192
Mobile, AL, 1864–1865 Battle 32,
90, 121, 130, 146, 149–150, 160,
195, 202
Mobile Bay, AL, 1864 Battle 31,
68, 78, 114, 130, 137, 149–150,
202
Mohawk (USN Gunboat): Car-
penter, Charles Carroll 50, 51–
52
Mohican (USN Screw Sloop):
Ammen, Daniel 13, 14–16
Monadnock (USN Monitor):
Bunce, Francis Marvin 46,
47–48; Miller, Joseph Nelson
143, 144–145
Monitor (USN Monitor):
Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.”
21–23; Greene, Samuel Dana
96–97; Howard, Samuel 107–
108; Jeffers, William Nichol-
son, III 111, 112–113; Selfridge,
Thomas Oliver, Jr. 188, 189–
190; Stevens, Thomas Holdup
201, 202–203; Worden, John
Lorimer 224–226
Montauk (USN Monitor):
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Cushman, Charles Haddock
251
70–72; Davis, John Lee 72–73;
Fairfax, Donald Macneill 82,
83–84; Fillebrown, Thomas
Scott, Jr. 85, 86–87; Stone,
Edward Erastus “E.E.” 203–
204; Worden, John Lorimer
224–226
Morgan (CSN Gunboat):
McBlair, Charles Henry 136–
138
Morris Island, SC, 1863 Battle of
see Charleston, SC, 1863–1865
Battles/Bombardments
Mound City (USN Center-Wheel
Ironclad): Coleman, Silas
Bunker 58–60; Duble, John A.
78–79; Gwin, William 102–
103; Kell, John Mcintosh 118–
119; Langthorne, Amos R.
122–123; McGunnegle, Wilson
139–140; Wilson, Byron 221–
222
Mount Vernon (USN Supply
Ship): Walke, Henry 212, 213–
214
Muir, Walter 146–147
Murphy, John McLeod 147–148
Muse, William Templeman 148–
149
Myers, Julian, Sr. 149–150
Nahant (USN Monitor): Corn-
well, John Jacob 64–65;
Downes, John Albert, Jr. 74–
75; Mayo, William Kennon
135–136; Picking, Henry Forry
165–166
Nansemond (CSN Gunboat):
Rochelle, James Henry 177–
178; Rutledge, John 186–187;
Simms, Charles Carroll 193–
194
Nantucket (USN Monitor):
Beaumont, John Colt 26, 27–
28; Fairfax, Donald MacNeill
82, 83–84; Lewis, Robert F.R.
123–124; Luce, Stephen
Bleecker 127, 128–129
Nashville (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Bennett, John William 31–32;
Simms, Charles Carroll
Nashville (CSN Ocean Raider):
Bennett, John William 31–32;
Pegram, Robert Baker 157–158
Nashville, TN, 1864 Battle 108,
143
Naumkeag (USN Tinclad No.
37): Coleman, Silas Bunker
58–60; Rogers, John 182–183
Neosho (USN Monitor): Febiger,
John Carson 84–85; Howard,
Samuel 107–108
Nereus (USN Gunboat): Howell,
John Cumming 108, 109–110
Neuse (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Index
Loyall, Benjamin Pollard 126–
127; Price, Joseph
New Era (USN Timberclad Gun-
boat) see Essex (USN Iron-
clad)
New Ironsides (USN Casemate
Ironclad): Belknap, George
Eugene 28, 29–31; Phythian,
Robert Lees 163, 164–165;
Radford, William 172–174;
Rowan, Stephen Clegg 184–
186; Turner, Thomas, Jr. 210,
211–212
New London (USN Gunboat):
Perkins, George Hamilton
159–160
New Orleans 1862 Battle of 18,
24, 36, 50, 69, 100, 105, 141,
160, 169, 198, 215, 217
Niagara (USN Steam Frigate):
Erben, Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80,
81–82; Nicholson, James
William Augustus “War
Horse” 150–151; Potter,
Edward Eells 169–170
Nipsic (USN Gunboat): Bacon,
George Bement 17–19; Lewis,
Robert F.R. 123–124
Norfolk Packet (USN Mortar
Schooner): Smith, Watson
197–198
North Carolina (CSN Ironclad
Ram): Glassell, William
Thornton 93–94; Jones, John
Pembroke “Paul Jones” 116,
117–118; Maury, William Lewis
133–134; Muse, William Tem-
pleman 148–149
Octarora (USN Gunboat):
Brown, George “Spud” 33, 34–
36
Oneida (USN Steam Sloop):
Stevens, Thomas Holdup 201,
202–203
Onondaga (USN Monitor):
Cushman, Charles Haddock
70–72
Osage (USN Monitor):
Couthouy, Joseph Pitty 65–67;
Febiger, John Carson 84–85;
Gamble, William Marshall 89–
90; Rogers, George Washing-
ton 181–182; Selfridge, Thomas
Oliver, Jr. 188, 189–190;
Wright, Thomas 226–227
Ostsego (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Bankhead, John
Payne “J.P.” 21–23
Ottawa (USN Gunboat):
Stevens, Thomas Holdup 201,
202–203
Ouachita (USN Large Tinclad):
Wilson, Byron 221–222
Owasco (USN Gunboat): Guest,
Index
John 99–100; Kirkland,
William Alexander “Ashe”
“Red Bill” “El Rubio” 120, 121–
122
Owen, Elias Kane 151–153
Ozark (USN Monitor): Brown,
George Washington 36–38
Page, Thomas Jefferson “The
Commodore” 153–154
Palmetto State (CSN Ironclad
Ram): Glassell, William
Thornton 93–94; Rochelle,
James Henry 177–178; Rut-
ledge, John 186–187; Shepperd,
Francis Edgar “Frank” 191–192;
Warley, Alexander Fraser 216–
218
Pamlico (CSN Gunboat): Dozier,
William Gaillard, Sr. 75–76
Parrott, Enoch Greenleafe 154–
155
Passaic (USN Monitor): Dray-
ton, Percival 76, 77–78; Fille-
brown, Thomas Scott, Jr. 85,
86–87; Miller, Joseph Nelson
143, 144–145; Picking, Henry
Forry 165–166; Simpson,
Edward 195–196
Patapsco (USN Monitor):
Ammen, Daniel 13, 14–16;
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Bunce, Francis Marvin 46,
47–48; Erben, Henry “Bully,”
Jr. 80, 81–82; Madigan, John,
Jr. 130–131; Picking, Henry
Forry 165–166; Quakenbush,
Stephen Platt 171–172; Stevens,
Thomas Holdup 201, 202–203
Patrick Henry (CSN Schoolship):
Rochelle, James Henry 177–
178; Tucker, John Randolph
209–210
Paulding, Leonard 156–157
Pawnee (USN Sloop): Bunce,
Francis Marvin 46, 47–48;
Drayton, Percival 76, 77–78;
Rowan, Stephen Clegg 184–
186
Pegram, Robert Baker 157–158
Pelot, Thomas Postell 158–159
Pembina (USN Gunboat):
Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.”
21–23; Cushman, Charles
Haddock 70–72; Young,
Jonathan 227–228
Penguin (USN Gunboat):
Stevens, Thomas Holdup 201,
202–203
Penobscot (USN Gunboat):
Bunce, Francis Marvin 46,
47–48
Pensacola (USN Steam Sloop):
Nicholson, James William
Augustus “War Horse” 150–
252
151; Perkins, George Hamilton
159–160
Pequot (USN Gunboat): Quak-
enbush, Stephen Platt 171–172
Perkins, George Hamilton 159–
160
Perry (USN Brig): Cornwell,
John Jacob 64–65; Gwin,
William 102–103; Miller,
Joseph Nelson 143, 144–145;
Parrott, Enoch Greenleafe
154–155
Phelps, Seth Ledyard 160–161
Phelps, Thomas Stowell, Sr. 161–
163
Phlox (USN Gunboat): Radford,
William 172–174
Phythian, Robert Lees 163, 164–
165
Pinkney, Robert F. 166–167
Pinola (USN Gunboat): Crosby,
Pierce 68, 69–70; Erben,
Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80, 81–82
Pittsburg (USN Center-Wheel
Ironclad): Coleman, Silas
Bunker 58–60; Hoel, William
Rion 105, 106–107; Rogers,
George Washington 181–182;
Thompson, Egbert 206–207
Plum Point Bend 1862 Battle see
Fort Pillow, TN, 1862 Battle
Pocahontas (USN Gunboat):
Dove, Benjamin 73–74; Dray-
ton, Percival 76, 77–78;
Nicholson, James William
Augustus “War Horse” 150–151
Pontchartrain (CSN Gunboat):
Dunnington, John William
79–80; Gamble, William Mar-
shall 89–90
Pontiac (USN Gunboat): Luce,
Stephen Bleecker 127, 128–129
Port Hudson, LA, 1862–1863 Bat-
tle 39, 50, 160, 168, 201, 219
Port Royal, SC, 1861 Battle 13,
22, 77, 128, 150, 155, 187, 201,
218, 228
Porter, William David “Dirty
Bill” 167, 168–169
Potomac (USN Supply Ship):
Davis, John Lee 72–73
Potter, Edward Eells 169–170
Powhatan (USN Steam Sloop):
Bache, George Mifflin, II 16–
17; Thompson, Egbert 206–
207; Young, Jonathan 227–228
Quakenbush, Stephen Platt 171–
172
Queen City (USN Tinclad No.
26): Goudy, Jason 94–95;
Rogers, John 182–183
Radford, William 172–174
Raleigh (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Jones, John Pembroke “Paul
Jones” 116, 117–118
Ramsay, Francis Munroe “Frank”
174–175
Rattler (USN Tinclad No. 1):
Carter, Jonathan Hanby 52–53;
Smith, Watson 197–198
Red River, LA, 1864 Battles 17,
37, 59, 66, 98, 106, 122–123,
145–146, 152, 161, 174, 181, 189,
198, 208, 214, 227
Red Rover (CSN/USN steamer):
Barbot, Alphonse Pierre 23–24
Resolute (CSN Gunboat):
Gwathmey, Washington 101–
102; Jones, John Pembroke
“Paul Jones” 116, 117–118;
Pinkney, Robert F. 166–167
Rhind, Alexander Colden 175–
176
Rhode Island (USN Gunboat):
Semmes, Alexander Alderman
190–191
Richmond (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Kell, John Mcintosh 118–119;
Loyall, Benjamin Pollard 126–
127; Pegram, Robert Baker
157–158; Webb, William
Augustine 220–221
Riley, Robert K. 177
Roanoke (USN Monitor): Gan-
sevoort, Guert 90–91; Kell,
John Mcintosh 118–119;
Rowan, Stephen Clegg 184–
186; Sands, Benjamin Franklin
187–188
Roanoke (USN Steam Frigate):
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
85, 86–87; Lull, Edward
Phelps 129–130
Roanoke Island, NC, 1862 Battle
60, 62, 185
Rochelle, James Henry 177–178
Rodgers, George Washington, II
178–179
Rodgers, John, II 179, 180–181
Rogers, George Washington
181–182
Rogers, John 182–183
Rootes, Thomas Reade “Old
Tom” 183–184
Rowan, Stephen Clegg 184–186
R.R. Cuyler (USN Gunboat):
Downes, John Albert, Jr. 74–
75
Rutledge, John 186–187
Saco (USN Gunboat): Walker,
John Grimes 215–216
Sacramento (USN Steam Sloop):
Walke, Henry 212, 213–214
St. Lawrence (USN Sail Frigate):
Downes, John Albert, Jr. 74–
75; Picking, Henry Forry 165–
166

St. Louis (USN Center-Wheel
Ironclad) see Baron De Kalb
St. Louis (USN Sail Sloop):
Beaumont, John Colt 26, 27–
28; Greer, James Augustus 97,
98–99
San Jacinto (USN Steam Frigate):
Chandler, Ralph 53, 54–55;
Fairfax, Donald Macneill 82,
83–84; Greer, James Augustus
97, 98–99
Sands, Benjamin Franklin 187–
188
Sangamon (USN Monitor):
Chandler, Ralph 53, 54–55;
Cooper, George Henry 62, 63–
64; Crosby, Pierce 68, 69–70;
Fillebrown, Thomas Scott, Jr.
85, 86–87; Guest, John 99–
100; Miller, Joseph Nelson 143,
144–145; Young, Jonathan
227–228
Sassacus (USN Gunboat): Davis,
John Lee 72–73
Saugus (USN Monitor): Col-
houn, Edmund Ross 60–61;
Phelps, Thomas Stowell, Sr.
161–163
Savannah (CSN Gunboat): Maf-
fitt, John Newland “Prince of
Privateers” 131, 132–133
Savannah (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Brent, Thomas William 32–33;
Gwathmey, Washington 101–
102; Jones, John Pembroke
“Paul Jones” 116, 117–118;
Pinkney, Robert F. 166–167
Savannah (USN Sail Frigate):
Barrett, Edward Andre
Gabriel 24, 25–26
Scioto (USN Gunboat): Perkins,
George Hamilton 159–160
Sea Bird (USN Howitzer
Schooner): Clark, Charles
Peter 57–58
Sebago (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Ammen, Daniel 13,
14–16; Beaumont, John Colt
26, 27–28
Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr. 188,
189–190
Selma (CSN Gunboat): Simms,
Charles Carroll 193–194
Semmes, Alexander Alderman
190–191
Seneca (USN Gunboat):
Ammen, Daniel 13, 14–16;
Belknap, George Eugene 28,
29–31; Rhind, Alexander
Colden 175–176
Shawmut (USN Gunboat):
Walker, John Grimes 215–
216
Shenandoah (USN Screw Sloop):
Ammen, Daniel 13, 14–16
253
Shepherd Knapp (USN Gunboat):
Eytinge, Henry St. Clair 82
Shepperd, Francis Edgar “Frank”
191–192
Shiloh 1862 Battle 59, 94, 103,
193
Shirk, James Whitehall 192–193
Signal (US Tinclad No. 8): Fitz-
patrick, James W. 87–88
Silver Lake (USN Tinclad No.
23): Riley, Robert K. 177
Simms, Charles Carroll 193–194
Simpson, Edward 195–196
Sinclair, Arthur, III 196–197
Siren (U.S. Tinclad No. 56):
Fitzpatrick, James W. 87–88
Smith, Watson 197–198
Snyder’s Bluff, MS see Vicks-
burg, MS, 1862
Battle
Sonoma (USN Double-Ender
Gunboat): Cooper, George
Henry 62, 63–64; Fillebrown,
Thomas Scott, Jr. 85, 86–87;
Gamble, William Marshall 89–
90; Luce, Stephen Bleecker
127, 128–129; Stevens, Thomas
Holdup 201, 202–203
Spanish Fort, AL see Mobile,
AL, 1864–1865
Battle of
Squib (CSN Armed Launch):
Sinclair, Arthur, III 196–197
Steele’s Bayou, MS, 1863 Battle
16, 59, 106, 148, 152, 181
Stembel, Roger Nelson 198–199
Stevens, Henry Kennedy “Harry”
or “Hal” 199–201
Stevens, Thomas Holdup 01,
202–203
Stone, Edward Erastus “E.E.”
203–204
Stonewall (CSN Ironclad Ocean
Ram): Page, Thomas Jefferson
“The Commodore” 153–154
Sumter (CSN Ocean Raider):
Kell, John Mcintosh 118–119
Sumter (CSN/USN Gunboat):
Erben, Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80,
81–82
Supply (USN Supply Ship):
Downes, John Albert, Jr. 74–
75; Walke, Henry 212, 213–214
Susquehanna (USN Steam
Frigagte): Bankhead, John
Payne “J.P.” 21–23; Weaver,
Aaron Ward 218, 219–220;
Young, Jonathan 227–228
Tahoma (USN Gunboat): How-
ell, John Cumming 108, 109–
110
Tattnall, Josiah, Jr. 204, 205–206
Tawah (USN Tinclad No. 29):
Goudy, Jason 94–95
Index
Teaser (CSN Gunboat):
Rochelle, James Henry 177–
178; Webb, William Augustine
220–221
Tecumseh (USN Monitor):
Craven, Tunis Augustus Mac-
donough “Tam” Or “Mac”, 67–
68
Tennessee (CSN/USN Ironclad
Ram): Buchanan, Franklin
“Old Buck” 44, 45–46; John-
ston, James Douglas 113–114;
Lull, Edward Phelps 129–130
Thompson, Egbert 206–207
Tioga (USN Double-Ender Gun-
boat): McCauley, Edward
Yorke 138–139; Rodgers,
George Washington, II 178–
179
Tohoma (USN Gunboat):
Semmes, Alexander Alderman
190–191
Torch (CSN Torpedoboat):
Shepperd, Francis Edgar
“Frank” 191–192
Torpedo (CSN Gunboat): Jones,
John Pembroke “Paul Jones”
116, 117–118
Townsend, Robert 207–209
Trent’s Reach, VA, 1865 Battle
117, 119, 184, 192
Tucker, John Randolph 209–210
Tunxis (USN Monitor): Erben,
Henry “Bully,” Jr. 80, 81–82
Turner, Thomas, Jr. 210, 211–212
Tuscaloosa (CSN Ironclad Steam
Battery): Maury, William
Lewis 133–134; McBlair,
Charles Henry 136–137
Tuscarora (CSN Gunboat):
Dunnington, John William
79–80
Tuscarora (USN Steam Sloop):
Craven, Tunis Augustus Mac-
donough “Tam” “Mac” 67–68
Tuscumbia (USN Ironclad):
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Shirk, James Whitehall 192–
193
Tyler (USN Timberclad Gun-
boat): Bache, George Mifflin,
II 16–17; Coleman, Silas
Bunker 58–60; Gipson, James
C. 91–93; Gwin, William 102–
103; Rogers, John, II 179, 180–
181; Walke, Henry 212, 213–214
Unadilla (USN Gunboat): Cilley,
Greenleaf 55, 56–57; Quaken-
bush, Stephen Platt 171–172;
Ramsay, Francis Munroe
“Frank” 174–175
Underwriter (USN Gunboat):
Jeffers, William Nicholson, III
111, 112–113
Index
United States (CSN Receiving
Ship): Rootes, Thomas Reade
“Old Tom” 183–184
Vandalia (USN Sail Sloop):
Chandler, Ralph 53, 54–55
Vicksburg, MS, 1862 Battle 16,
59, 69, 73, 81, 100, 103, 105,
122, 125, 152, 160–161, 168–169,
177, 181, 193, 198, 213, 215, 221
Vicksburg, MS, 1863 Battle 16,
34–35, 59, 98, 106, 148, 152,
174, 181, 193, 198, 214–215, 221
Vincennes (USN Sail Sloop):
Madigan, John, Jr. 130–131
Vindicator (USN Ram): Hoel,
William Rion 105, 106–107;
Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr.
188, 189–190
Virginia (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Buchanan, Franklin “Old
Buck” 44, 45–46; Jones,
Catesby ap Roger 114, 115–116;
Jones, John Pembroke “Paul
Jones” 116, 117–118; Simms,
Charles Carroll 193–194; Tat-
tnall, Josiah, Jr. 204, 205–206
Virginia II (CSN Ironclad Ram):
Dunnington, John William
79–80; Pegram, Robert Baker
157–158; Shepperd, Francis
Edgar “Frank” 191–192
Wabash (USN Screw Frigate):
Cushman, Charles Haddock
254
70–72; Luce, Stephen Bleecker
127, 128–129; Simpson,
Edward 195–196
Wachusett (USN Steam Sloop):
Townsend, Robert 207–209
Walke, Henry 212, 213–214
Walker, John Grimes 215–216
Wamsutta (USN Gunboat):
Semmes, Alexander Alderman
190–191
Warley, Alexander Fraser 216–
218
Warsaw Sound, SC, 1865 Battles
14
Water Witch (USN/CSN Gun-
boat): Davis, John Lee 72–73;
Warley, Alexander Fraser 216–
218
Weaver, Aaron Ward 218, 219–
220
Webb, William Augustine 220–
221
Weehawken (USN Monitor):
Badger, Oscar Charles 19–21;
Bunce, Francis Marvin 46,
47–48; Colhoun, Edmund
Ross 60–61; Rogers, John, II
179, 180–181
Weldon N. Edwards (CSN Gun-
boat): Cooke, James Wallace
61–62
White River, AR, 1862 Battles 17,
78–79, 120, 140, 193, 221
Wilson, Byron 221–222
Winnebago (USN Monitor):
Kirkland, William Alexander
“Ashe” “Red Bill” “El Rubio”
120, 121–122; Stevens, Thomas
Holdup 201, 202–203
Winona (USN Gunboat):
Walker, John Grimes 215–216;
Weaver, Aaron Ward 218, 219–
220
Winslow (CSN Gunboat): Sin-
clair, Arthur, III 196–197
Winslow, John Ancrum 222,
223–224
Wissahickon (USN Gunboat):
Davis, John Lee 72–73; Gam-
ble, William Marshall 89–90;
Potter, Edward Eells 169–170
Worden, John Lorimer 224–226
Wright, Thomas 226–227
Wyoming (USN Steam Sloop):
Bankhead, John Payne “J.P.”
21–23; Kirkland, William
Alexander “Ashe” “Red Bill”
“El Rubio” 120, 121–122
Yankee (USN Tugboat): Self-
ridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr. 188,
189–190
Yazoo River, MS, 1863 Battles 16,
174, 192, 215
Yazoo Pass, MS, 1863 Expedition
36, 88, 146, 192, 198, 215
Young, Jonathan 227–228