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Thomas Turner (naval officer)

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Thomas Turner
Born(1807-12-23)23 December 1807
King George County, Virginia
Died24 March 1883(1883-03-24) (aged 75)
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Navy
Union Navy
Years of service1825–1870
RankRear Admiral
Commands
Battles / warsSecond Sumatran Expedition
Mexican–American War
Reform War
American Civil War
Signature

Thomas Turner (23 December 1807 – 24 March 1883) was a United States Navy rear admiral. He served as commander of the Pacific Squadron from 1869 to 1870. Turner fought in the Mexican–American War and, though a Virginian, served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

Biography

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Turner was born at the Marengo plantation in King George County, Virginia in 1807 and raised at the Kinloch plantation in Fauquier County.[1][2] He was appointed to the U.S. Navy as a midshipman on 21 April 1825. Turner received his training at sea attached to the Mediterranean Squadron, joining the frigate USS Constellation in 1827 and the sloop-of-war USS Warren in 1830. He became a passed midshipman on 4 June 1831.[3][4]

Remaining with the Mediterranean Squadron, Turner rejoined the Constellation in 1834 and then was reassigned to the frigate USS Delaware in 1835. He was promoted to lieutenant on 22 December 1835. From 1837 to 1838, Turner served aboard the frigate USS Macedonian in the West Indies Squadron. From 1838 to 1841, he was assigned to the frigate USS Columbia in the East India Squadron, participating in the Second Sumatran expedition.[3][4]

In 1843, Turner was assigned to the receiving ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. During the Mexican–American War, he was deployed with the Home Squadron. In April 1847, Turner commanded the schooner USS Reefer during the First Battle of Tuxpan. From June to October 1847, he commanded the stores ship USS Fredonia. Turner was then reassigned to the sloop-of-war USS Albany. In 1850, he returned to the receiving ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.[3][4]

From 1851 to 1853, Turner served aboard the frigate USS Congress in the Brazil Squadron. On 14 September 1855, he was promoted to commander. From 1858 to 1860, Turner served as the commanding officer of the sloop-of-war USS Saratoga. In March 1860, he participated in the Battle of Antón Lizardo at Veracruz, capturing the steamers Marques de Habana and General Miramón.[3][4]

Though born and raised in Virginia and a first cousin once removed of Robert E. Lee,[5] Turner remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. He was promoted to captain on 16 July 1862[3] and then to commodore on 13 December 1862.[4][6] Turner was given command of the armored frigate USS New Ironsides and commended by Rear Adm. Samuel F. Du Pont for his actions during the First Battle of Charleston Harbor in April 1863.[3][4] He was assigned to special duty at New York City in 1864 and then at Philadelphia in 1866.[3][7]

With Capt. George H. Preble and Cmdr. Philip C. Johnson Jr. in August 1869

Turner was promoted to rear admiral effective 27 May 1868.[3] He served as commander of the South Pacific Squadron from 1868 to 1869. Turner's ships provided aid after the August 1868 Arica, Peru earthquake in present-day Chile.[4] In June 1869, he assumed full command of the entire Pacific Squadron.[8] Turner retired from active duty on 21 April 1870 after forty-five years of military service.[4]

Personal

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Turner was the son of Thomas Turner IV and Elizabeth Carter "Eliza" (Randolph) Turner.[1][2] His father was a planter who served in the Virginia General Assembly. His mother was a first cousin of Robert E. Lee. Thomas and his sister Marietta served as groomsman and bridesmaid at Lee's June 1831 wedding.[5][9]

Thomas Turner's younger brother Henry Smith Turner (1 April 1811 – 16 December 1881) was an 1834 graduate of the United States Military Academy.[1][10] He accompanied and helped document Stephen W. Kearny's 1845–1847 expedition to the Rocky Mountains, California and New Mexico.[11] Capt. Henry S. Turner was wounded at the Battle of San Pasqual in December 1846[2] and brevetted major for gallant and meritorious conduct at the Battles of San Pasqual, Río San Gabriel and La Mesa.[10][12] He left military service in July 1848[10] and settled in Missouri, becoming a banker and serving in the state House of Representatives (1858–1859) and on the St. Louis common council.[2]

On 1 June 1836, Thomas Turner married Frances Hales "Fanny" Palmer in Philadelphia. The officiant at the ceremony was Episcopal bishop William White. His wife's older brother was naval officer James Shedden Palmer. Turner and his wife had eight children.[13][14]

After his retirement, Turner and his wife settled in Philadelphia. They later moved to nearby Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1883.[7][15][16] His remains were interred at the Evergreen Cemetery in Union County, New Jersey.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b c The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. XXI. Richmond, Virginia: The Virginia Historical Society. 1913. pp. 315–316, 421. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  2. ^ a b c d "Turner, Henry Smith". The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. XVI. New York, New York: James T. White & Co., Publishers. 1918. pp. 90–91. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Hamersly, Lewis R. (1878). "Rear-Admiral Thomas Turner". The Records of Living Officers of the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps: Compiled from Official Sources. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. B. Lippincott & Co. pp. 30–31. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1889). "Turner, Thomas". Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. VI. New York, New York: D. Appleton and Company. pp. 187–188. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  5. ^ a b Dulany, Ida Powell (2009). In the Shadow of the Enemy: The Civil War Journal of Ida Powell Dulany. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University of Tennessee Press. pp. XVIII–XIX. ISBN 978-1-57233-658-2. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  6. ^ Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, Including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to January 1, 1868. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1868. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  7. ^ a b "Obituary.: Rear-Admiral Thomas Turner" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 March 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  8. ^ "California: Naval Matters at Vallejo". Daily Alta California. Vol. XXI, no. 7039. San Francisco, California. 27 June 1869. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  9. ^ Long, A. L.; Wright, Marcus J. (1886). Memoirs of Robert E. Lee: His Military and Personal History. London, England: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. p. 32. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  10. ^ a b c Heitman, Francis B. (1903). "Turner, Henry Smith". Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army: From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 974. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  11. ^ Clarke, Dwight L. (1966). The Original Journals of Henry Smith Turner with Stephen Watts Kearny to New Mexico and California, 1846–1847. University of Oklahoma Press. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  12. ^ "Henry Smith Turner". 13th Annual Reunion of the Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy, at West Point, New York. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Times Printing House. 12 June 1882. pp. 57–66. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  13. ^ The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Vol. XII. New York, New York: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. January 1881. p. 23. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  14. ^ Quertermous, Grant (1 October 2020). A Georgetown Life: The Reminiscences of Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon of Tudor Place. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-1647120412. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  15. ^ "Current Capital Notes". The Washington Post. 25 March 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  16. ^ Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States, Including Officers of the Marine Corps, to January 15, 1884. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1884. p. 148. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
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