Civil War Union Rear Admiral. He was born in Middletown, New York, he became a midshipman in the United States Navy in 1809 at age 11 and served in the War of 1812 and later on in the Mediterranean during the Algerian war. He also put in duty along the coast of Africa and in the West Indies. Commissioned Lieutenant in 1814, he was promoted to Commander in 1831 and Captain in 1841. He served as commandant of the New York Navy Yard from 1844 to 1846; he later took part in the bombardment of Vera Cruz in 1847. From 1848 to 1852 he was in charge of the Norfolk Navy Yard; he was flag officer of the Mediterranean Squadron from 1853 to 1856; and commanded the Boston Navy Yard from 1856 to 1861. With 52 years of outstanding naval service behind him, he was now 63-years-old and seemed a natural choice when in 1861 he was called to Washington D.C. to serve as consultant to President James Buchanan. One of his first bits of advice to Buchanan was to reinforce Fort Sumter. Although the suggestion came before the outbreak of war, no attempt was made to carry it out until too late to be feasible. On May 1, 1861, he was made flag officer of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. In this capacity he helped plan and commanded the first naval expedition of the war, the capture of Hatteras Inlet, a nest for blockade runners, on the coast of North Carolina in August 1861. It was the first time during the war that batteries on shore were bombarded by the broadsides of wooden vessels; the 7 ships in his fleet were kept in constant motion and so skillfully handled that they received virtually no damage. He received little recognition for introducing a style of warfare that latter brought great credit to other naval commanders. Some thought this was the reason he asked on September 16, 1861, to be relieved of command. In 1862 he became a Rear Admiral on the retired list but did not long remain inactive. He soon resumed his post at the Boston Navy Yard and served there until the end of the war. For a time before his death, he was Port Admiral at New York City.