Existing comment:
The Academy Divided:
The dissolution of the Union wrought great changes in the Naval Academy. Midshipmen and faculty from southern states, whose allegiance was to their states rather than to the Nation, "went South" followed by the good wishes of their former colleagues. The Academy, itself, left Annapolis for temporary quarters in Newport, Rhode Island. And the Academy grounds, formerly an Army fort, once again hosted troops in Army blue.
On April 26, 1861, the regiment of midshipmen sailed in Constitution for Newport, Rhode Island. Ten members of the Class of 1861, one half of the class, did not sail with the regiment; they received immediate orders to active duty. A few days after their arrival in Newport, the remainder of the Class of 1861, and all of the Classes of 1862 and 1863, received orders taking them to the war.
Initially, midshipmen were housed on board Constitution, soon to be joined by the frigate Santee. With the approach of winter, the Atlantic House was leased. The ground floor was used as the midshipmen's mess and officer quarters, the second floor for classrooms, and the third and fourth floors for upper class dormitory rooms. In the lobby was displayed Oliver Hazard Perry's battle flag, bearing the motto "Dont Give Up The Ship."
Plebes were quickly indoctrinated into life on board ship. The rapidly expanded classes of plebes lived and studied on board the Constitution and Santee. Conditions were described as dark, dank, and ill smelling.
Confederate Naval Academy:
Although much smaller than the Union Navy, the Confederacy recognized the need for specialized education for midshipmen in their navy. In the spring of 1862, the Confederate Congress authorized the establishment of an academy with 106 acting midshipmen.
The paddlewheel steamer CSS Patrick Henry, anchored a few miles below Richmond, Virginia, was selected as the Confederate Naval Academy. Classes began in October 1863 with most classes held on board the ship; infantry and artillery drills were held ashore.
Training on board Patrick Henry was frequently interrupted by gunfire from nearby battles, and, on occasion, by practical application of the midshipmen's lessons. Parties of midshipmen took part in actions in North Carolina, and the entire battalion engaged Union forces at Bermuda Hundred near Richmond. At the fall of Richmond in 1865, sixty midshipmen were selected to guard the train carrying the Confederate treasury away from the capital. Completing their mission, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory granted them leave. For them, the war was over.
Lt William H Parker was head of the Seamanship Department at the Naval Academy at the outbreak of war. He was one of the officers who "went South," and received an appointment to command the Confederacy's naval academy.
James Harmon Ward: Killed June 27, 1861:
Ward, the first Union naval officer killed in the Civil War, was one of the young leaders to reform in the United States Navy. He received his appointment as midshipman in 1823 and his commission as lieutenant in 1831. He was a recognized leader in ordnance and naval tactics, publishing three books on the subject. He was an instructor at the midshipman's school in Philadelphia, and a vocal proponent of a Naval Academy. During the Mexican War, he commanded Commo Matthew C Perry's flagship Cumberland, then commanded the sloop-of-war Jamestown in the African squadron. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Ward proposed the idea of a "flying squadron" to protect the capital. Ward was given command of the squadron, known as the Potomac Flotilla. On June 27, 1861, troops from the flotilla landed [at] Matthias Point on the Virginia shore. They were attacked by Confederate troops. While providing covering fire from his flagship Thomas Freeborn, Ward was shot. He died an hour later.
Cost of Service:
Of the 410 midshipmen who graduated from the Naval Academy through the Class of 1860, 174 remained with the Union and 72 served the Confederacy. Sixteen graduates died in the service of the North; seven in Southern service, a casualty rate of almost ten percent. Hardest hit was the Naval Academy Class of 1863; of its 55 members, eight were killed in action, five for the North and three for the South.
Many members of the Academy faculty also gave great sacrifices for their cause:
Franklin Buchanan, the first Superintendent, commanded the CSS Virginia and was wounded in action trying to break the Union blockade of Hampton Roads. He was promoted to rear admiral and commanded the Confederate naval forces at Mobile Bay where he was taken as a prisoner of war.
Samuel L Marcy was killed while in command of the USS Vincennes on blockade duty off the Mississippi River.
Henry Lockwood, a West Point graduate, returned to the army, received a commission as brigadier general of volunteers and fought at Gettysburg.
James Harmon Ward, the first Commandant of Midshipmen, was the first naval officer killed in the war.
Return to Annapolis:
Several towns, including Newport, vied for the honor of becoming the permanent home of the Naval Academy following the war. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles held out for a return to Annapolis and Congress enacted a law requiring the Academy to return to Annapolis before October 1865. On August 9, 1865, the Academy returned from Newport, to find it wrecked by four years of wartime occupation. A "Graduate" wrote in October 1864 that "Thousands of dollars will be required to restore this valuable institution to its original condition."
Return, Rebuild, Reform:
The demands of war led to a serious deterioration in the caliber of midshipmen, quality of instructors, and maintenance of the Naval Academy grounds. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles chose Read Admiral David Dixon Porter to lead the Academy back to its pre-war standards. Under Dixon's dynamic leadership, midshipmen, faculty, morale, and facilities improved. Recognizing the technological changes wrought by the Civil War, new courses were instituted which demanded new buildings. And the midshipmen got new quarters, which were called "New Quarters," until they were torn down almost a half-century later.
International Naval Academy:
Ever since 1860, when Pierre d'Orleans, the grandson of the former king of France, Louis Philippe, entered the Naval Academy, foreign students have been admitted as midshipmen. Many have gone on to distinguished careers in their own navies.
Pierre d'Orleans, Duc de Penthievre, USNA 1864, was admitted to the Academy in 1860 on the condition that there would be no expense to the United States.
Sotokichi Uriu, USNA 1881, later taught at the Japanese Naval Academy at Eta Jima, commanded a cruiser force in the Russo-Japanese War that destroyed two Russian cruisers in a battle off Inchon, Korea, and fought in the naval battle of Tshumia.
The Start of Sports:
Superintendent Porter encouraged, for the first time at the Academy, athletic competitions. In 1865, a sword master was hired and two years later a physical education instructor. Bowling alleys, shooting galleries, and a gymnasium were built at Fort Severn. In 1869, in one of the first non-intramural competitions, the Academy crew team beat a team from Philadelphia in a three-mile race on the Severn.
Mission:
To develop Midshipmen morally, mentally, and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government. |