Captains, U.S.N. (Civil War years)

[Ken McCanliss]

Promotions: Active List, 1861-1866 (Feb)

19 May 61 - 16 Jul 62* James Lawrence Lardner
7 Jun 61 - 16 Jul 62* Thomas Tingey Craven
29 Jun 61 - 16 Jul 62** Andrew Hull Foote
30 Jun 61 - 16 Jul 62* Henry Kuhn Hoff
15 Nov 61 - 16 Jul 62* Charles Henry Davis
16 Jul 62 - xxxxxxxxx* Robert Bradley Hitchcock
'''''''''''''"' - 29 Aug 62* Joseph Lanman
'''''''''''''''" - 13 Dec 62* Thomas Turner
'''''''''''''"' - 2 Jan 63* Charles Henry Poor
''''''''''''''' - 2 Jan 63* Timothy Atwater Hunt
''''''''''''''' - 2 Jan 63* Sylvanus William Godon
''''''''''''''' - 7 Feb 63* James Shedden Palmer
''''''''''''''' - 24 Apr 63* William Radford
''''''''''''''' - 3 Nov 63+ Samuel F. Hazard
''''''''''''''' - 26 Sep 66* John M. Berrien
''''''''''''''' - 27 Sep 66* Alfred Taylor
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Samuel Phillips Lee
''''''''''''''' - 24 Sep 64+ John P. Gillis
'''''''''''@ - 10 Oct 66* Simon B. Bissell
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* James Paterson McKinstry
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Oliver S. Glisson
''''''''''''''' - 7 Feb 63** John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren
''''''''''''''' - xxxxxxxxx* Stephen Clegg Rowan
''''''''''''''' - 28 Jan 67+ Guert Gansevoort
'''''''''''''"' - 15 Nov 62+ Charles Green
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Melancton Smith
''''''''''''''' - 29 Dec 66* Cicero Price
''''''''''''''' - 13 Apr 67* John Rodgers Goldsborough
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Charles Stuart Boggs
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Augustus Henry Kilty
''''''''''''''' - 24 Jul 67* Theodore Phinney Greene
''''''''''''@ - 11 Dec 67+ Richard Worsam Meade II
''''''''''''''' - 4 Aug 65# Percival Drayton
''''''''''''''' - 2 Dec 67* Joseph Foster Green
''''''''''''''' - 13 Mar 68+ John DeCamp
''''''''''''''' - 1 Feb 67+ Charles W. Pickering
''''''''''''''' - 19 Nov 66# William M. Walker
''''''''''''''' - 19 Jun 64* John Ancrum Winslow
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Henry Walke
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Thornton Alexander Jenkins
''''''''''''''' - 17 Jun 63* John Rodgers
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* John Bonnett Marchand
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Willam Rogers Taylor
''''''''''''''' - 25 Jul 66* Benjamin Franklin Sands
29 Aug 62 - 24 Dec 65+ Henry S. Stellwagen
16 Nov 62 - 25 Jul 66* Daniel Bowley Ridgely
13 Dec 62 - 25 Jul 66* Charles Steedman
2 Jan 63 - 25 Jul 66* James Alden
''''''''''''''' - 8 Dec 67* Augustus Ludlow Case
''''''''''''''' - 6 May 68* Alexander Mosely Pennock
3 Feb 63 - 27 May 68* John Lorimer Worden
7 Feb 63 - 20 Sep 68* George Foster Emmons
24 Apr 63 - 26 Nov 68* Edward Middleton
4 Nov 63 - 10 Feb 69* Gustavus Hall Scott
2 Mar 64 - 12 Jun 69* David Stockton McDougal
3 Mar 65 - 31 Dec 69* John Jay Almy
5 Aug 65 - 2 Mar 70* James Hooker Strong
6 Feb 66 - 2 Mar 70* James Madison Frailey


* promoted to Commodore
** promoted to Rear Admiral
+ retired
# died
@ backdated
xxxxxxxxx date of promotion backdated to same as Captain's commission

[Ken McCanliss]

by jumping directly to the rank of Commodore:

Henry Haywood Bell
William Smith
John William (Turk) Livingston
Henry Knox Thatcher
William David Porter
John Stoney Missroon
James Findlay Schenck


by jumping directly to the rank of Rear Admiral:

David Dixon Porter

[JamesL]

And what of Farragut?

(Maybe I missed his name on the list?)

[Ken McCanliss]

This is a list of promotions that took place after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Prior to that event, 79 Captains were in grade, of whom 13 'went South'. Farragut's date of rank as a Captain was 14 Sep 1855.

Those that either resigned their commissions, were dismissed from the service, or died between 14 Jan and 6 Jun 1861 are as follows:

Lawrence Rousseu, resigned 11 Feb 61
Isaac Mayo, dismissed 18 May 61
French Forrest, dismissed 19 Apr 61
Josiah Tattnall, resigned 21 Feb 61
Robert Bannatine Cunningham, died 13 Mar 61
Victor Moreaa Randolph, resigned 14 Jan 61
Franklin Buchanan, dismissed 22 Apr 61
George Nichols Hollins, dismissed 6 Jun 61
Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham, resigned 4 Feb 61
George Alexander Magruder, dismissed 22 Apr 61
Samuel Barron, dismissed 22 Apr 61
William Francis Lynch, resigned 21 Apr 61
Isaac Sears Sterrett, resigned 23 Apr 61

All of the above, except Mayo, Cunningham, and Magruder, became Captains in the Confederate Navy. Buchanan was promoted to Admiral on 21 Aug 1862.

I will list the 66 that remained loyal in another post.

[Ken McCanliss]

Active List (in order of seniority):

1. Charles Stewart
2. William Branford Shubrick
3. Lawrence Kearny
4. Joseph Smith
5. George Washington Storer
6. Francis Hoyt Gregory
7. Charles Stewart McCauley
8. Elie Augustus Frederick LaVallette
9. John H. Aulick
10. Silas Horton Stringham
11. William Mervine
12. Thomas Crabbe
13. James Armstrong
14. Samuel Livingston Breee
15. Hiram Paulding
16. Uriah Phillips Levy
17. William Ramsay
18. Thomas Anderson Conover
19. John Collins Long
20. William Inman
21. William J. McCluney
22. John Berrien Montgomery
23. Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling
24. Josha Ratoon Sands
25. Charles Heyer Bell
26. Joseph Russell Jarvis
27. William M. Armstrong
28. Garrett Jesse Pendergrast
29. William Carmichael Nicholson
30. Joseph Bartine Hull
31. John S. Chauncey
32. John Kelly
33. William Henry Gardner
34. David Glasgow Farragut
35. Stephen Bayard Wilson
36. Thomas Aloysius Dornin
37. James Glynn
38. Frederick Engle
39. John Rudd
40. Robert Ritchie
41. William Wister McKean
42. Samuel Mercer
43. Charles Lowndes
44. Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough
45. John Marston
46. Henry A. Adams
47. William Sparhawk Walker
48. George Frederick Pearson
49. John S. Nicholas
50. Samuel Francis DuPont
51. William Leverreth Hudson
52. John Pope
53. Levin Minn Powell
54. Charles Wilkes
55. Thomas Oliver Selfridge
56. Henry Eagle
57. Andrew K. Long
58. Gershom Jaques Van Brunt
59. William Marshall Glendy
60. George Smith Blake
61. Andrew Allen Harwood
62. Theodorus Bailey
63. Hugh Young Purviance
64. Cadwalader Ringgold
65. Henry W. Morris
66. Francis B. Ellison

(Fort Sumter bombarded, 12-14 April 1861)

67. James Lawrence Lardner
68. Thomas Tingey Craven



.

[Ken McCanliss]

Until 16 July 1862, the rank of Captain was the highest grade in the Navy. Although David G. Farragut stood 34th in seniority on the list of Captains in the late spring of 1861, of those who held seniority over him, one had died (William M. Armstrong) and the others had all retired by operation of law on 21 Dec 1861, Thus, as the senior Captain, Farragut became first on the list of new Rear Admirals. On the same date (16 July 1862), Charles Wilkes was promoted to be the first Commodore.

Farragut was later promoted to Vice Admiral (21 Dec 1864) and Admiral (25 July 1866).

[Ken McCanliss]

For reference, here is a list of the Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, and Commodores on active duty during the Civil War, in order of seniority:

Vice Admiral -

David Glasgow Farragut


Rear Admirals -

1. Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough
2. Samuel Francis DuPont
3. Andrew Hull Foote
4. Charles Henry Davis
5. John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren
6. David Dixon Porter


Commodores -

1. Charles Wilkes
2. Thomas Oliver Selfridge
3. Henry Eagle
4. Gershom Jaques Van Brunt
5. William Marshall Glendy
6. George Smith Blake
7. Andrew Allen Harwood
8. Theodorus Bailey
9. Cadwalader Ringgold
10. Henry W. Morris
11. James Lawrence Lardner
12. Thomas Tingey Craven
13. Henry Kuhn Hoff
14. Henry Haywood Bell
15. William Smith
16. John William (Turk) Livingston
17. Henry Knox Thatcher
18. William David Porter
19. John Stoney Missroon
20. Robert Bradley Hitchcock
21. Stephen Clegg Rowan
22. Joseph Lanman
23. Thomas Turner
24. Charles Henry Poor
25. James Findlay Schenck
26. Timothy Atwater Hunt
27. Sylvanus William Godon
28. James Shedden Palmer
29. William Radford
30. John Rodgers
31. John Ancrum Winslow
32. Samuel Phillips Lee (acting Rear Admiral)

[Ken McCanliss]

On 16 July 1862, the following Captains were placed on the Retired List at the grades shown:

Rear Admiral -

Charles Stewart
George Campbell Read (+)
William Branford Shubrick
Joseph Smith
George Washington Storer
Francis Hoyt Gregory
Elie Augustus Frederick LaVallette
Silas Horton Stringham
Samuel Livingston Breese
Hiram Paulding

Commodore -

John Drake Sloat (+)
William Mervine
Thomas Crabbe
William Kay Latimer (+)
Thomas Anderson Conover
John Collins Long
William J. McCluney
John Berrien Montgomery
Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling
Joshua Ratoon Sands
Charles Heyer Bell
Joseph Russell Jarvis
Garrett Jesse Pendergrast
William Carmichael Nicholson
Joseph Bartine Hull
John Kelly
William Henry Gardner
Thomas Aloysius Dornin
Frederick Engle
John Rudd
William Wister McKean
Charles Lowndes
John Marston
Henry A. Adams
William Sparhawk Walker
George Frederick Pearson
John Pope
Levin Minn Powell
Hugh Young Purviance


+ previously Captain on the Reserved List

[Ken McCanliss]

Eicher, John H. & Eicher, David J. CIVIL WAR HIGH COMMANDS. Stanford University Press, 2001.

Cogar, William B. DICTIONARY of ADMIRALS of the U.S. NAYY, Vol. 1: 1862-1900. Naval Institute Press, 1989.

[Tosun Saral]

Why John William (Turk) Livingston was nicknamed as Turk?

[Ken McCanliss]

In 1843 he changed his name from John William Turk to his mother's maiden surname.