Maffitt as a young boy lived

with his Uncle, Dr. William

Maffitt at his home "Ellerslie"

near the present day Fayettville,

NC. In 1828 he was sent off to

White Plains Academy in New York.

On Feb 25,1832, President

Andrew Jackson appt'ed Maffitt

who was 13 years old a Midshipman

in the Navy. His first ship was

the USS St Louis. He next went

to the USS Constitution on

orders dated Sept 18, 1834.

He was ultimately promoted to

Lieut and served in many duty

stations until the beginning

of the Civil War.

Capt. Maffitt joined the CSN.

His first command was the CSS

Savannah at the start of the

war. He commanded several other

ships including the CSS

Florida as Captain. He was

responsible for capturing

23 vessels with cargo worth

several million dollars.

Captain Maffitt commanded the

Blockade Runner "Owl" in 1864

to 1865 out of Wilmington, NC.

Other Confederate ships he

commanded were: Gordon,Florie,

Lillian & Albemarle.

He stayed in England after the war

until about 1867 when he returned

to the States. He eventually

settled in Wilmington, met and

married Emma Martin, sister of his

sons' wife Kate and daughter of

Alfred Martin of Wilmington. He

purchased a house and over 200

acres near Wrightsville Sound and

named it the Moorings.

After his death his wife Emma,

with the help of James Sprunt,

published a book titled "The

Life & Times of John Newland

Maffitt." Commander Maffitt had

kept a log/diary of many of his

during his different assign-

ments. The log of his time on

the CSS Florida was lost in

Charleston Harbor.

Name indexes, and letters written by John N. Maffitt in connection with Naval matters, are freely available online from the National Archives (NARA) at:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/132215396

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/132176393

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/132176320?objectPage=2

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/132503661?objectPage=4