John Sanford Barnes (May 12, 1836 – November 22, 1911) was a

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 ...

officer and businessman and naval historian.

Biography

Barnes was born at

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

, in 1836, while his father, General James Barnes, served as an instructor there. He entered the

US Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, at age 14, serving after his graduation aboard Preble, and under Commodore Stewart on San Jacinto in Europe and the West Indies, and on Saratoga. He was aboard Arctic when it participated in the first survey for the original

Atlantic cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were Submarine communications cable, undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is a largely obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decom ...

in 1856. The following year, aged 21, he was appointed assistant professor of ethics at the US Naval Academy, and after a subsequent year in private business he was appointed master of Jamestown. In 1858 he resigned his commission and attended

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary ...

. After passing the bar he practiced law until 1861. 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 returned to the Union Navy, initially as navigator of Wabash, and later as commander of ''USS Dawn'', ''USS Paul Jones'', ''USS Lenape'', and '' USS Bat''. In 1863 he married Susan Bainbridge Hayes, granddaughter of Commodore

William Bainbridge Commodore William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a United States Navy officer. During his long career in the young American navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. ...

and great-grandniece of Admiral John Barry. After the War, he served as commander of the Naval Academy's practice ships ''USS Marblehead'' and ''USS Savannah'', as an instructor at the Academy, and wrote "Submarine Warfare": the first major work on the use of torpedoes. He left the navy as lieutenant commander. From 1869 to 1880 he was in private business, largely engaged in obtaining financing for what was to become the Great Northern Railway. He devoted time also to collecting memorabilia of the Navy during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and

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 ...

. He served as the first President of the

Naval History Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

and edited the first volume of its publications, "The Log Books of the Serapis, Alliance, and Ariel," before his death in 1911. His manuscript collections and library formed the basis of the Naval History Society's collections, and were donated to the Society in 1915, by his son Col. James Barnes. The Collections became part of the

New-York Historical Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

when the Naval History Society moved there in 1925.

Death and burial

Barnes died in New York City on November 22, 1911. He was buried at

Woodlawn Cemetery Woodlawn Cemetery is the name of several cemeteries, including: Canada * Woodlawn Cemetery (Saskatoon) * Woodlawn Cemetery (Nova Scotia) United States ''(by state then city or town)'' * Woodlawn Cemetery (Ocala, Florida), where Isaac Rice and fa ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

References

External links

*
John Sanford Barnes: A memorial and a tribute
', Privately printed 1912
Egotistigraphy", by John Sanford Barnes. An autobiography, privately printed 1910. Internet edition edited by Susan Bainbridge Hay 2012
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, John sanford 1836 births 1911 deaths 19th-century American lawyers Albany Law School alumni American male non-fiction writers American naval historians Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Historians from New York (state) New York (state) lawyers People from West Point, New York People of New York (state) in the American Civil War United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy officers Union Navy officers