French Forrest (1796 – December 22, 1866) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

naval officer who served first in the

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and later the

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. His combat experience prior to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

included service in the

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and the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

Biography

Born in Helen, Maryland, he became a

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on June 9, 1811 and participated in the

. He fought with Commodore Oliver Perry at the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, also known as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shores of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British ...

and was present in the action between the USS ''Hornet'' and HMS ''Peacock'' on February 24, 1813. He became a

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on March 5, 1817, a

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on February 9, 1837, and a

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March 30, 1844. He was adjutant general in the Mexican–American War, and in 1847, he commanded the American naval forces in the landing at

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. When

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

seceded from the

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on April 17, 1861, Forrest was made its first and only

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in the Virginia Navy and assumed command of the Gosport Shipyard (Norfolk Naval Shipyard). When Virginia joined the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

and merged its military on 6 June 1861, he joined the

as a captain and kept his command, which he held from April 22, 1861 to May 15, 1862. In that capacity he raised and rebuilt the into the

casemate ironclad The casemate ironclad was a type of iron or iron-armored gunboat briefly used in the American Civil War by both the Confederate States Navy and the Union Navy. Unlike a monitor-type ironclad which carried its armament encased in a separate ...

, which he expected to command; but that job instead went to Captain

Franklin Buchanan Franklin Buchanan (September 17, 1800 – May 11, 1874) was an officer in the United States Navy who became the only full admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He also commanded the ironclad CSS ''Virginia''. Early ...

. Forrest was then replaced as the Commandant of the Gosport Shipyard, because

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Mallory thought he had been too slow to repair the ex-''Merrimack''. Forrest then headed to the

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was esta ...

offices and became the Chief of the Bureau of Orders and Details until March 1863. He commanded the James River Squadron twice, from July 10, 1861 to February 27, 1862 (while also commandant of the shipyard) and again from March 24, 1863 to May 6, 1864 when he became the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Forrest returned to Washington to find that his property there had been seized, and died shortly after the War in Georgetown on December 22, 1866.

References

External links

Inventory of the Forrest Family Papers
in the Southern Historical Collection,

UNC-Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795 ...

. 1796 births 1866 deaths Confederate States Navy captains United States Navy officers People of Maryland in the American Civil War United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812 United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War People of Virginia in the American Civil War People from St. Mary's County, Maryland {{AmericanCivilWar-bio-stub