James Iredell Waddell(July 3, 1824 – March 15, 1886) was an officer in theUnited States Navyand later in theConfederate States Navy.
James Iredell Waddell | |
|---|---|
 Commander James Iredell Waddell, c. 1864-65 | |
| Born | July 3, 1824 Pittsboro, North Carolina |
| Died | March 15, 1886(aged 61) Annapolis, Maryland |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | |
| Service | |
| Years of service | 1841–1861 (USN) 1862–1865 (CSN) |
| Rank |  Lieutenant(USN) Commander(CSN) |
| Commands | CSSShenandoah |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
During theAmerican Civil War,Waddell took command of theCSS Shenandoah,which he used to sail around the globe and launch raids against the U.S. Navy. It was not until August 1865 that he learned the war had ended. He eventually surrendered his vessel to British authorities inLiverpoolon November 6, marking the last official surrender of the Civil War.
Early life and career
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Waddell was born inPittsboro,North Carolina.He joined theUnited States Navyas aMidshipmanin September 1841, and later graduated from theUnited States Naval Academy.His nearly two decades in the U.S. Navy included early service inUSSPennsylvania,Mexican–American Waroperations offVeracruzaboardUSSSomers,a tour offSouth AmericainUSSGermantown,an assignment as aUnited States Naval Academyinstructor, easternPacificduty inUSSSaginawand a cruise with theEast IndiesSquadron withUSSJohn Adams.LieutenantWaddell resigned his commission while returning home in the latter ship late in 1861 at the outbreak of theAmerican Civil Warand was dismissed from the U.S. Navy in January 1862.
American Civil War
editIn March 1862, Waddell was appointed a Lieutenant in theConfederate States Navy.Sent toNew Orleans,he was assigned to the incompleteironcladCSSMississippiuntil her destruction in late April. The next month, while serving as anartilleryofficer ashore, he participated in thebattlebetweenConfederateshore batteries andFederalironclads atDrewry's Bluff,Virginia.He saw more shore-battery service atCharleston,South Carolina,during the rest of 1862 and into 1863. Sent abroad in March 1863,First LieutenantWaddell was stationed inEnglandawaiting the availability of a seagoing position.[citation needed]
That opportunity finally arrived in October 1864 at sea in the centralAtlantic,where he converted the Britishsteam/sailerSea Kingto the ConfederatecruiserCSSShenandoah.As her commanding officer,CommanderWaddell made a long and productive cruise through the south Atlantic, across theIndian Oceanand into the north Pacific. In theArcticwaters there, he devastated the United States-flaggedwhalingfleet during June 1865.[citation needed]
On June 27, 1865, he learned from a prize, theSusan & Abigail,that GeneralRobert E. Leehad surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia. Her captain produced a San Francisco newspaper reporting the flight fromRichmond, Virginia,of the Confederate Government 10 weeks previously. However, the newspaper also contained Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis's proclamation that the "war would be carried on with re-newed vigor".[1]Waddell then captured 10 more whalers in the space of 7 hours just below theArctic Circle.
On August 3, 1865, Waddell finally learned of the war's end when he met at sea the LiverpoolbarqueBarracouta,which was bound for San Francisco.[2]He received the news of the surrender of GeneralJoseph E. Johnston's army on April 26,Kirby Smith's army's surrender on May 26, and crucially the capture of President Davis and a part of his cabinet. Captain Waddell then knew that the war was over.[1]
Waddell lowered his Confederate flag, and the CSSShenandoahunderwent physical alteration. Her guns were dismounted and stored below deck, and her hull was painted to look like an ordinary merchant vessel.[3]
Captain Waddell presided over the last official lowering of theConfederate flagwhen he surrendered the CSSShenandoahto Captain Paynter ofHMSDonegalon November 6, 1865, in mid-river on theRiver Merseyat Liverpool. The banner was lowered in front of the crew and of a Royal Navy detachment who had boarded the vessel - this marked the last surrender of the American Civil War. The very last act of the Civil War involved Captain Waddell walking up the steps ofLiverpool Town Hallwith a letter to present to theMayor of Liverpoolsurrendering his vessel to the British government.[4]
Later life
editWaddell did not return to the United States until 1870,[5]when he becamecaptainof the commercial steamerCity of San Francisco.He later was in charge of the State ofMaryland'soysterregulation force.
He died atAnnapolis, Marylandon March 15, 1886, and was buried atSt. Anne's Cemeteryin Annapolis.
Namesake
editTheCharles F. Adams-classguided missile destroyerUSSWaddell(DDG-24)was named for him.
See also
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References
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This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- ^abLAST CONFEDERATE CRUISER by CORNELIUS E. HUNT one of her officers. 267
- ^"Surrender of the Shenandoah".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-04-13.
- ^Gaines, W. Craig (2008).Encyclopedia of Civil War shipwrecks.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 13–25.ISBN978-0-8071-3274-6.OCLC255822065.
- ^ "Surrender of the Shenandoah".Liverpool Mercury.When Liverpool was Dixie. 7 November 1865. Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2014.Retrieved17 January2013.
- ^1870 U.S. Federal Census,Maryland,Anne Arundel City, Annapolis
Further reading
edit- Stern, Philip Van Doren (1962).The Confederate Navy.Doubleday & Company, Inc.
External links
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- James Iredell WaddellatFind a Grave
- Chaffin, Tom (2006).Sea of Gray: The-Around-The-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah.Hill and Wang.ISBN9780809085040.
- James I. Waddell Diary, 1863-1864 MS 144andAnn Sellman Iglehart Waddell Scrapbooks, 1842-1949 MS 8held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy