Samuel Francis Du Pont
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Samuel Francis Du Pont | |
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South Atlantic Blockading Squadron | |
Battles/wars | Mexican–American War American Civil War |
Relations | Du Pont family |
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Samuel Francis Du Pont (September 27, 1803 – June 23, 1865) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, and a member of the prominent Du Pont family. In the Mexican–American War, Du Pont captured San Diego, and was made commander of the California naval blockade. Through the 1850s, he promoted engineering studies at the United States Naval Academy, to enable more mobile and aggressive operations. In the American Civil War, he played a major role in making the Union blockade effective, but was controversially blamed for the failed attack on Charleston, South Carolina in April 1863.
Du Pont was born at Goodstay, his family home at
As there was no naval academy at the time, Du Pont learned
After returning from the Ontario in June 1833, Du Pont married Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810–88), his first cousin as the daughter of his uncle, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. As he never kept an officer's journal, his voluminous correspondence with Sophie serves as the main documentation of his operations and observations throughout the rest of his naval career. From 1835 until 1838, he was the
Mexican–American War
Du Pont was given command of the sloop
Between wars
Du Pont served most of the next decade on shore assignment, and his efforts during this time are credited with helping to modernize the U.S. Navy. He studied the possibilities of
In 1853, Du Pont was made general superintendent over what is typically considered the first
Du Pont became an enthusiastic supporter of naval reform, writing in support of the 1855 congressional act to "Promote the Efficiency of the Navy." He was appointed to the Naval Efficiency Board and oversaw the removal of 201 naval officers. When those under fire called upon friends in Congress, Du Pont himself became the subject of heavy criticism, and subsequent review of the dismissals resulted in the reinstatement of nearly half of those removed.
Du Pont was promoted to
He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1862.[2]
Civil War
When communication was cut off with
Towards the end of 1862, Du Pont became the first U.S. naval officer to be assigned command over armored "ironclad" ships. Though he commanded them ably in engagements with other ships, they performed poorly in an attack on Fort McAllister, due to their small number of guns and slow rate of fire. Du Pont was then given direct orders from the Navy Department to launch an attack on Charleston, South Carolina which was the site of the first shots fired in the Civil War with the fall of Fort Sumter and the main area in which the Union blockade had been unsuccessful. Though Du Pont believed that Charleston could not be taken without significant land troop support, he nevertheless attacked with nine ironclads on April 7, 1863. Unable to navigate properly in the obstructed channels leading to the harbor, his ships were caught in a blistering crossfire, and he withdrew them before nightfall. Five of his nine ironclads were disabled in the failed attack, and one more subsequently sank.
The Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, blamed Du Pont for the highly publicized failure at Charleston. Du Pont himself anguished over it and, despite an engagement in which vessels under his command defeated and captured a Confederate ironclad, was relieved of command on July 5, 1863, at his own request and was replaced in this Office by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Though he enlisted the help of Maryland U.S. Representative Henry Winter Davis to get his official report of the incident published by the Navy, an ultimately inconclusive congressional investigation into the failure essentially turned into a trial of whether Du Pont had misused his ships and misled his superiors. Du Pont's attempt to garner the support of President Abraham Lincoln was ignored, and he returned home to Delaware. He returned to Washington to serve briefly on a board reviewing naval promotions.
However, subsequent events arguably vindicated Du Pont's judgment and capabilities. A subsequent U.S. naval attack on the city failed, despite being launched with a significantly larger fleet of armored ships. Charleston was finally taken only by the invasion of General Sherman's army in 1865.
Death and legacy
Du Pont died on June 23, 1865, while on a trip to Philadelphia and is buried in the du Pont family cemetery. The cemetery is located near the Hagley Museum in Greenville, Delaware.
In 1882, 17 years after Du Pont's death, the
Louviers was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[5]
Dates of rank
- Midshipman – December 19, 1815
- Lieutenant – April 26, 1826
- Commander – October 28, 1842
- Captain – September 14, 1855
- Flag Officer – January 3, 1862
- Rear Admiral – July 16, 1862
- Died – June 23, 1865
Namesakes
Fort du Pont near Delaware City, Delaware,[6] and three U.S. Navy ships; the torpedo boat TB-7,[7] and the destroyers DD-152[8] and DD-941[9] were all named in honor of Samuel Du Pont. Public School 31 in the Greenpoint neighborhood of New York City, is named after him,[10] as is Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, at one time was named Dupont Street following the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. While it was renamed after President Ulysses S. Grant in 1906, Grant Avenue is still written and said in Chinese as "Dupont Gai" (都板街, Gai 街 means street).[citation needed]
See also
- du Pont family
- Battle of Fort Pulaski, bombardment. USS Wabash crew served four of five Parrott Rifle guns.
References
- ^ ANB: "Samuel Francis Du Pont"
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ISBN 0-394-46095-2.
- ^ "Scenes from the Past" (PDF). washingtonhistory.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Fort DuPont State Park, Delaware City, Delaware". destateparks.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ "Du Pont (TB-7)". U.S. Navy. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ "Du Pont (DD-152)". U.S. Navy. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ "Du Pont (DD-941)". U.S. Navy. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ "P.S. 031 Samuel F. Dupont". New York City Department of Education. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- Background notes for the papers of Samuel Francis du Pont 1806-1865, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware.
- The American Civil War, Ronald W. McGranahan, 2004–05.
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-05.
- Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, Department of the Navy, Navy Historical Center. Includes histories of the first and second Du Pont destroyers.
Further reading
- Lincoln's Tragic Admiral: The Life of Samuel Francis Du Pont, Kevin J. Weddle. University Press of Virginia, 2005.
- Du Pont, the Making of an Admiral: A Biography of Samuel Francis Du Pont, James M. Merrill. Dodd, Mead, 1986.
- The Tycoon's Ambassadors: Captain DuPont and the Japanese Embassy of 1860, Tom Marshall and Sidney Marshall. Green Forest Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-692-38241-7
External links
- Media related to Samuel Francis Du Pont at Wikimedia Commons
- DUPONT, Samuel Francis: Memorial Fountain in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.
- Samuel Francis du Pont papers at Hagley Museum and Library
- Samuel Francis Du Pont Naval Papers, 1817-1859 MS 2 held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy