Franklin Buchanan was an officer in the United States Navy who became an admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He was the captain of the ironclad (formerly ) during the Battle of Hampton Roads in Virginia. He climbed to the top deck of "Virginia" and began furiously firing toward shore with a carbine as was shelled. He soon was brought down by a sharpshooter's minie ball to the thigh. He would eventually recover from his leg wound. He never did get to command "Virginia" against . That honor went to Catesby ap Roger Jones. But Buchanan had handed the US Navy the worst defeat it would take until Pearl Harbor.