Commodore Garrett Jesse Pendergrast (December 5, 1802 – November 7, 1862) was an American naval officer who served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and as part of the Brazil Squadron and

Home Squadron The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the Atlantic slave trade, make coastal surveys ...

. He served in the Union Navy during 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 ...

. He commanded the '' USS Cumberland'' during the loss of the Gosport Navy Yard in

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Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

forces and captured 16 Confederate ships in the early stages of the

Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

. He served as commander of the Philadelphia Navy Yard from October 1861 until his death in November 1862.

Career

Pendergrast was born on December 5, 1802, in Kentucky. He entered the United States Navy as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

on January 1, 1812, and served during the

. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on March 3, 1821. In March, 1825, he participated in the capture of the sloop Anna. Pendergrast was one of twenty-six sailors ordered by John D. Sloat to pursue the pirate Roberto Cofresi and force his ship aground in Puerto Rico, which led to his capture. He was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

on September 8, 1841. On October 27, 1843, he recommissioned the sloop at Boston and sailed to the South Atlantic to join the Brazil Squadron. He returned to the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

in February 1846. As part of the Home Squadron, he commanded the steam sloop USS Saranac in 1852 and the sailing frigate USS Columbia from 1853 to 1854. Promoted to Captain on May 24, 1855, he commissioned the frigate on February 20, 1856. He voyaged to the Caribbean and Western Europe in 1856 and 1857. He returned to Boston and the ''Merrimack'' was repaired and redeployed to the Pacific Squadron from 1857 to 1859. On September 24, 1860, Pendergrast sailed from Philadelphia aboard the sloop in order to assume command of the

, then operating off the coast of Mexico.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Pendergrast was in command of the frigate at anchor near the Gosport Navy Yard awaiting repairs. The Secretary of the Navy,

Gideon Welles Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878) was an American government official who was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Althou ...

, ordered Pendergrast to remain in the Hampton Roads area to protect Gosport Navy Yard and

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia, at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, United States. It is currently managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth o ...

. Pendergrast positioned the ''Cumberland'' off the harbor to either defend it or protect the escape of Federal ships. Most of the blame for the loss of the Gosport Navy Yard fell to Charles Stewart McCauley although some of it was also placed on Pendergrast who controlled the Federal fleet on the Atlantic coast. At the age of 58, Pendergrast was one of the oldest officers in service. On April 24, 1861, Pendergrast and the ''Cumberland'', accompanied by a small flotilla of support ships, seized Confederate ships and privateers in the vicinity of

off the Virginia coastline. Within the next two weeks, Pendergrast had captured 16 enemy vessels, which showed that the

could be effective.Time-Life, p. 24. He was promoted to commodore on July 16, 1862. In October 1861, Pendergrast was assigned to command the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on November 3, 1862, and died on November 7, 1862. He was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Personal life

At the age of 24, he married Susan Virginia Barron, daughter of Commodore James Barron. Upon the

Secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

, she reportedly refused to accompany her husband in his allegiance to the United States and swore she would never live with him again.

Dates of rank

*Midshipman - 1 January 1812 *Lieutenant - 3 March 1821 *Commander - 8 September 1841 *Captain - 24 May 1855 *Commodore, Retired List - 16 July 1862

References

Citations Sources * ''The Civil War. The Blockade: Raiders and Runners''.

Time–Life Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and direct marketeer seller ...

Books, 1983.

External links

*
Photo of Pendergrast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendergrast, Garrett J. 1802 births 1862 deaths 19th-century American naval officers Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) United States Navy officers Military personnel from Kentucky People of Kentucky in the American Civil War Union Navy officers United States Navy commodores United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812