Admiral John Adolph Dahlgren was a federal naval officer.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 13 November 1809, he died
in Washington, D. C., 12 July 1870. His father, Bernard Ulric
Dahlgren, was Swedish consul at Philadelphia till his death in
1824. The great object of the son's early ambition was to enter
the navy of the United States, and he received his midshipman's
warrant on 1 February 1826, making his first cruise in the "Macedonian,"
of the Brazil squadron, in 1827-'9. He was attached to the sloop
"Ontario," of the Mediterranean squad-ton, in 1830-'2,
and made midshipman in the latter year, and in 1834, owing to
his mathematical proficiency, detailed for duty on the coast
survey. In this year he wrote a series of letters on naval topics
to the Philadelphia "National Gazette," signed
" Blue-Jacket."
He was commissioned lieutenant in 1837, and in the
same year his hitherto exceptionally fine sight became so impaired
by incessant labor as to threaten entire loss of vision, and
an absolute rest was needed. During this period of enforced inaction
Lieutenant Dahlgren resided on a farm. In 1842 he resumed duty,
and in 1843 went to the Mediterranean in the frigate " Cumberland,"
returning late in 1845 to the United States, the cruise having
been shortened by the prospect of a war with Mexico. In January
1847, Lieutenant Dahlgren was assigned to ordnance duty at Washington,
although he desired, and made an effort to obtain, active duty
at sea. Then began those labors as an ordnance officer which
for sixteen years demanded the most extraordinary energy, and
which finally made Dahlgren chief of ordnance, and gave him the
world's recognition as a man of science and inventive genius.
He saw almost at once the defects in gunnery then existing, and
soon offered the remedy in the style of cannon known by his name,
which for so many years constituted the naval armament of the
United States.
Charleston Harbor, S.C.
Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren (fifth from left)
and staff aboard U.S.S. Pawnee |
He proposed it in 1850, and the first gun according
to his design was cast in May of that year. These guns are of
iron, east solid, and cooled from the exterior. They are distinguished
by great thickness at the breech, rapidly diminishing from the
trunnions to the muzzle, and were the first practical application
of results obtained by experimental determination of pressures
at different points along the bore. They are chiefly smoothbores
of nine-and eleven-inch caliber; but Dahlgren also invented a
rifled cannon, and introduced boat-howitzers with iron carriages,
which were unsurpassed for combined lightness and accuracy.
Under the sole direction of Lieutenant Dahlgren, the
ordnance department at Washington acquired the most extensive
additions, including the foundry for cannon, gun-carriage shops,
the experimental battery, and equipment of all kinds. He was
made commander in 1855, and, in order to introduce innovations
that completely revolutionized the armament of the navy, and
to remove objections particularly to his eleven-inch gun, which
was then considered too heavy for use at sea, he was permitted
to equip the sloop-of-war "Plymouth" entirely as he
wished. The experimental cruise of this vessel lasted from 1857
till 1859. He was on ordnance duty at the Washington navy yard
in 1860-'1, and on 22 April 1861, after the resignation of Franklin
Buchanan, who entered the Confederate service, was given command
of the yard, which was not only of great importance on account
of naval resources, but also as the key of the defenses of Washington
on the left. Commander Dahlgren hastened to secure the only route
left to the capital by the Potomac River, and, when Alexandria
was seized, he moved down the left wing of the column under Colonel
Ellsworth.
He was appointed chief of the ordnance bureau on 18
July 1862, and shortly afterward promoted to be captain, his
commission being antedated to 16 July. On 7 February 1863, he
was made a rear admiral, receiving at the same time the thanks
of congress, and ten years additional on the active list, which,
however, he did not live to enjoy. In July 1863, he was ordered
to relieve Admiral Dupont in the command
of the South Atlantic blockading squadron. In July August and
September of that year he co-operated with the land forces under
General Gillmore in various attacks on the defenses of Charleston,
and succeeded, by silencing Fort Sumter and the batteries on
Morris island, in obtaining for the monitors a safe anchorage
inside the bar, thus putting a stop to blockade-running. His
failure to take Charleston provoked some hostile criticism, but
his operations had the continuous approval of the navy department.
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Charleston Harbor, S.C. Rear Admiral John A.
Dahlgren standing by a Dahlgren gun on deck of U.S.S. Pawnee |
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He led a successful expedition up St. John's River
in February 1864, to aid in throwing a military force into Florida,
co-operated with Sherman in the capture
of Saran-nab, on 23 December and entered Charleston with General
Schimmelpfennig on its evacuation in February 1865. In 1866 he
was given command of the South Pacific squadron. He was again
chief of the ordnance bureau in 1868-'70 and a few months before
his death was relieved at his own request and appointed to the
command of the Washington navy yard. His death was the result
of heart disease.
Admiral Dahlgren was a man of great personal bravery,
dignified in manner, and of exemplary character. He published
many scientific works on ordnance, which have been used as textbooks
in the navy. They include "Thirty-two-pounder Practice
for Rangers" (1850): "System of Boat-Armament
in the U. S. Navy" (1852 ; French translation, 1855);
"Naval Percussion Locks and Primers" (1852);
"Ordnance Memoranda" (I853); "Shells
and Shell-Guns," explaining his own sys-tern(1856);
and various reports on ordnance, armored vessels, and coast defenses.
After his death appeared in "Notes on Maritime and International
Law," with a preface by his widow, indicating the plan
of an uncompleted work (Boston, 1877). See "Memoir of
John A. Dahlgren," by his widow (Boston, 1882).
His son, Ulrie Dahlgren, was born in Buckscounty,
Pennsylvania, in 1842, and died near King and Queen's Court-House,
Virginia, 4 March 1864, and removed to Washington with his father
in 1848. In the intervals of study he spent his time in the navy
yard, where he became familiar with the construction and use
of artillery, and was taught by the sailors to swim and row.
He began the study of civil engineering in 1858, and
in 1860 began also to study law in Philadelphia; but, at the
beginning of the civil war, he returned to Washington, and just
after the first battle of Bull Run was sent by his father to
place and take charge of a naval battery on Maryland heights.
He then became aide to General Sigel, and served through
Fremont's mountain campaign and through Pope's campaign, acting
as Sigel's chief of artillery at the second battle of Bull Run.
In November 1862, he attacked Fredericksburg
at the head of Sigel's body-guard of 57 men, and held the town
for three hours, returning with 31 prisoners, and for his gallantry
was detailed as special aide on General
Burnside's staff. He was afterward on General Hooker's staff,
distinguished himself at Chancellorsville, and as aide to General
Meade performed much dangerous and important service in the Gettysburg campaign at the head of a hundred
picked men.
On the retreat of the enemy from Gettysburg he led
the charge into Hagerstown, and was severely wounded in the foot.
His leg was amputated, and for a time his life was in danger;
but he recovered, was promoted to colonel for his gallantry,
and, though obliged to walk on crutches, returned at once to
active service.
He lost his life in a raid planned by him, in concert
with General Kilpatrick, to release the Union prisoners at Libby
prison and Belle Isle. A memoir of him, written by his father,
was revised and published by his stepmother (Philadelphia, 1872). |
Rear Admiral
John A. Dahlgren