Samuel Barron (1809–1888)
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Samuel Barron (November 28, 1809 – February 26, 1888) was an American naval officer who served in the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
and later for the
Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...
. He also served in politics by acting as a representative in Europe for the Confederacy 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 ...
.


Early life and career

Born to a prominent military family in
Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...
, Barron was entered into the US Navy at age two on January 1, 1812 (presumably because his father, Commodore Samuel Barron (1765-1810), had commanded the nearby naval base). In 1820, Barron began serving as a midshipman. He rose through the ranks and was commissioned a lieutenant on March 3, 1827. He was promoted to commander on July 15, 1847 during 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, ...
. Commanding the from 1849 to 1853, Barron was made a captain in September 1855. He then was captain of the steam frigate , whose crew included
George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, wi ...
, from 1858 until 1859. He was appointed chief of the Bureau of Detail in 1860, and thus held considerable influence within the US Navy. Following Lincoln's inauguration the following year, he was suspected of attempting to gain control over 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 ...
.


Civil War

In April 1861, after Virginia announced its secession from the Union, Barron resigned from the U.S. Navy and, although his resignation was denied by the United States (later being listed by Navy Secretary
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 ...
on April 22 as dismissed), he accepted a commission as Captain in the Virginia Navy and, as chief of the Office of Naval Detail and Equipment, later assisting in organizing a coastal defense of the Virginia and North Carolina coastlines. After Virginia's fleet was integrated with the Confederate Navy, Barron was issued a commission as commander and appointed chief of the Office of Orders and Details on June 10. Barron would remain in that post until July 20, when Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory agreed to Barron's request to be assigned as commander of coastal defences of Virginia and North Carolina, an important port for
Pamlico Sound Pamlico Sound ( ) is a large estuarine lagoon in North Carolina. The largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, it extends long and wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of similar lagoons that includes Albemarle Sou ...
-based Confederate privateers. Arriving at his headquarters on Fort Hatteras on August 28, Barron commanded the defense of both the forts Hatteras and
Clark Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...
against Union Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham during the Battle of Hatteras Inlet on August 28–29. Barron was captured following the surrender of the two fortresses. Held at Fort Columbus on
Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...
in New York harbor, then at Ft. Warren, Boston harbor, Barron was eventually released in a prisoner exchange the next year. In 1862 while imprisoned at Ft. Warren, Boston, Lt. William T. Glassell stated: "Generals Buckner and Tilghman were then rooming with me, and together with Commodore Barron..." In November 1862, Barron was briefly reassigned command of naval forces in Virginia before he was sent to Great Britain to take command of the two ironclad rams, CSS ''North Carolina'' and CSS ''Mississippi'' (also known as the 'Laird Rams'), that were being built under the direction of Commander
James D. Bulloch James Dunwoody Bulloch (June 25, 1823 – January 7, 1901) was the Confederate States of America, Confederacy's chief foreign agent in Great Britain during the American Civil War. Based in Liverpool, he operated Blockade runners of the American ...
for the Confederacy. After the ships were seized by British authorities the following year, Barron traveled to France, remaining in Paris as "Flag Officer" commanding Confederate States Naval Forces in Europe acting as a contact for Confederate naval officers as well as blockade runners and privateers until February 25, 1865 when he resigned his commission, returning to the United States shortly before the Confederacy's surrender a month later. Retiring to his home in
Essex County, Virginia Essex County is a County (United States), county located in the Middle Peninsula in the U.S. state of Virginia; the peninsula is bordered by the Rappahannock River on the north and King and Queen County, Virginia, King and Queen County on the s ...
, Barron took up farm life until his death on February 26, 1888.


References

* McHenry, Robert. ''Webster's American Military Biographies''. Springfield, Mass.: G & C. Merriam Co., 1978. * Spenser, Warren F. ''The Confederate Navy in Europe''. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: The University of Alabama Press., 1983.


External links


Civil War Biographies – Samuel Barron

Samuel Barron
in ''
Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...
''
Letters To Capt. Samuel Barron, Gosport Navy Yard – August to October 1855


{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Samuel 1809 births 1888 deaths Confederate States Navy captains United States Navy officers People of Virginia in the American Civil War American Civil War prisoners of war held by the United States