| Summary: | Entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman in 1815. Served numerous commands at sea and ashore, including the Naval Academy's first superintendent; Mexican War veteran. Resigned his U.S. Navy commission in April 1861 and was commissioned as a captain in the Confederate Navy in September 1861. Commander of the C.S.S. Virginia during its first sortie into Hampton Roads in March 1862, where he was wounded. Promoted to admiral in August 1862, the first and only Confederate full admiral. Later assigned to the maritime defenses of Mobile where his fleet was defeated in August 1864. Sources: Boatner, Mark M. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: Vintage Books, 1988; Luraghi, Raimondo. A History of the Confederate Navy. Annapolis, Md.: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1996.
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