William Harwar Parker William Harwar Parker ( October 8 , 1826 – December 30 , 1896 ) was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy . His auto - biography , entitled " Recollections of a Naval Officer 1841 - 1865 " , provides a unique insight into the United States Navy of the mid - 19th century during an era when the Age of Sail was coming to an end and the advent of steam power and ironclads was beginning . Early life and entrance to the Navy . He was born in New York City , the son of Commodore Foxhall A . Parker , Sr . and Sarah Jay Bogardus ( b . 1794 ) , daughter of Robert Bogardus ( 1771 – 1841 ) . Commodore Foxhall A . Parker , Jr . was his brother . William H . Parker became a United States Navy midshipman at the early age of 15 , recalling in his biography that he had held his father ' s hand while being escorted to his first ship . Parker ' s appointment date as a Midshipman was on October 19 , 1841 , just after his 15th birthday . His first assignment was to the receiving ship USS " North Carolina " , and he reported on board October 27 when the ship was moored at New York City . Midshipman cruises . In April 1842 , Parker was issued his first sea orders and reported to the USS " Columbus " . The " Columbus " set sail on August 29 , 1842 and proceeded to Gibraltar , arriving in the fall and spending the winter in that port . In the spring of 1842 , the " Columbus " sailed to the port of Mahón with a port call to Toulon . The ship then returned to Gibraltar and , in June 1843 , set sail for Madeira and then on to Gata , Cape Verde . At the start of July 1843 , the " Columbus " made for Rio de Janeiro . The " Columbus " arrived at Rio de Janeiro on July 29 , 1843 and spent two months in port before proceeding to Buenos Aires . It was in Buenos Aires that Parker personally met Juan Manuel de Rosas and quickly recognized him as a " cruel ruthless dictator " . In February 1844 , the " Columbus " returned to Rio de Janeiro and in March set sail for a return to the United States . The ship arrived in New York City in 1844 and put in lay - up . Parker was granted a three month leave and then , in September 1844 , reported to the USS " Potomac " moored at Philadelphia . The " Potomac " set sail in November 1844 for Norfolk and then onward to Port - au - Prince in Haiti . Arriving in December 1944 , the ship then proceeded to Port Royal , Jamaica and then on to Havana . It was in Havana that Parker recalls his ship almost running aground due to heavy winds off of Morro Castle . After spending the winter in Havana , the " Potomac " set sail for the United States and arrived in Pensacola in February 1845 . The United States was by this time preparing for the Mexican War , which , although yet undeclared , was already causing both the US and Mexico to mobilize troops . Parker states in his biography that he recalls seeing the 7th Infantry Regiment beginning to mass in Florida for the coming invasion of Mexico . In February 1845 , the " Potomac " sailed for Veracruz and for the rest of the summer practiced gunnery exercises off the coast of Mexico . In August 1845 , the ship returned to Pensacola and then was sent north to Norfolk for major structural repairs . The ship arrived in Norfolk on December 20 , 1845 and was put in lay - up with the bulk of the crew reassigned . During his Midshipman years , Parker also contracted Yellow Fever on two separate occasions . The first time was in the summer of 1846 , and the second infection was in 1847 . Parker ' s private observations of the disease , in that the sickness did not seem to spread from man to man , but rather by some other unknown element , was confirmed by Walter Reed some 50 years later when it was proven that Yellow Fever was caused by the mosquito . Mexican – American War . In February 1846 , Parker applied to rejoin the crew of the USS " Potomac " and was assigned as a Midshipman under the command of Captain John H . Aulick . Parker served as Aulick ' s aide , and remarks in his biography indicate that the Captain was very stern with the crew . The " Potomac " sailed for Mexico in March 1846 and anchored off of Sacrificios Island ( near Veracruz ) . The vessel was assigned to a larger blockade squadron under the command of Commodore David Conner . In May 1846 , the " Potomac " relocated to Brazos Santiago and put troops ashore at Point Isabel . It was here that Parker witnessed the Battle of Palo Alto with the assigned naval personnel manning batteries supporting the advancing troops of Winfield Scott . Following the engagement at Palo Alto , the " Potomac " returned to Veracruz and anchored off of Green Island , where it supported the blockade of Veracruz . It was during the blockage that Parker participated in his first actual combat engagement , this occurring when Parker was attached to a detail refilling ship ' s water flasks at the Antigua River . Attacked by a small force of the Mexican Army , Parker ' s detail , as well as a contingent of United States Marines , was able to repel the Mexicans and withdraw with few casualties . The engagement was consideraed insignificant in the overall scheme of the Mexican War , but did cause the U . S . Navy to contract for water shipped in from Texas rather than attempt foraging operations off the Mexican shoreline . In late 1846 , the " Potomac " became part of the large naval force preparing for the all out invasion of Veracruz . As the fleet gathered some 12 miles to the southeast of Veracruz , Parker witnessed the grounding of the fleet flagship , the USS " Cumberland " . The " Cumberland " was then rotated out of action to be replaced by the USS " Raritan " . Parker recalls in his biography that one of the ranking squadron commanders at the time ( Matthew C . Perry ) blamed the grounding on Commodore David Conner , but Conner was not relieved of his command , but rather simply transferred his flag to the " Raritan " . On February 24 , 1847 , shortly after the Battle of Buena Vista , the U . S . Navy began to offload the first elements of the 4th Infantry Regiment . The main offload of the entire American invasion force then began on March 9 . During this period , Parker met and conversed with both then Lieutenant Ulysses S . Grant and Captain Joseph E . Johnston . The Battle of Veracruz began on March 22 , 1847 . The day before , the squadron to which the " Potomac " was assigned had shift to the command of Commodore Matthew Perry . On the 23rd of March , Perry ordered several naval units ashore to set up shore batteries . Parker was assigned to the shore battery from the " Potomac " with all batteries under the overall command of Captain Alexander Slidell Mackenzie . The Army liaison officer to the Naval Shore Battery was Captain Robert E . Lee . During the bombardment of Veracruz , Parker was slightly wounded when a bullet grazed his knee and also witnessed his first close quarters casualty when a gunner a few feet away was decapitated by an enemy round shot . Parker also witnessed extreme bravery from a fellow Midshipman , Charles M . Fauntleroy , who would later become an important officer in the Confederate Army . After Veracruz surrendered less than a week later , Parker returned aboard the " Potomac " , which then proceeded to anchor off of a fortress overlooking Veracruz . At the start of June 1847 , the " Potomac " departed , under the command of Commodore Perry on board the USS Spitfire , to capture the region of Alvarado . Arriving to find the town already surrendered to Lieutenant Charles G . Hunter , Perry had Hunter reprimanded for acting without authority , even though the town had surrendered without firing a shot ( it was later revealed that Perry had hoped to occupy the town in force and capture all of the livestock and supplies ) . Perry then led his squadron on to capture Tuspan and from there planned what became known as the Tabasco Expedition . On June 16 , 1847 , Parker was transferred to the USS " Raritan " in order to participate in the expedition and volunteered to serve in a formation of naval pioneers being sent ashore to capture Tabasco . Again arriving to find the town already surrendered to a pair of steam gunboats , Parker returned to the " Raritan " , which then set sail for Norfolk , Virginia . The " Raritan " arrived at Norfolk in late July 1847 and , for Parker at least , the Mexican War was over . The conflict on the Gulf Coast came to an effective end when Mexico City fell in September 1847 , and a peace treaty was signed the next year in February 1848 . Naval Academy and Africa service . In August 1847 , Parker was detached from the USS " Raritan " and placed on leave ; he spent the time visiting his father in Boston before reporting to the United States Naval Academy in September . The school then being just a few years old , and most of the students coming from at - sea assignments , Parker was placed in an advanced curriculum with graduation scheduled for the next summer . The Superintendent of the Naval Academy was in those days Commander George P . Upshur , and Parker ' s primary instructor in naval warfare was Lieutenant John A . Dahlgren ( who would later become a Rear Admiral ) . During Parker ' s few months at the Academy , he also witnessed two duel s , one of which was fought on the traditional dueling ground of Bladensburg and the other which was fought on the Academy grounds itself . Dueling was by then illegal , and those involved were dismissed from the Academy by direct order of President James Polk ; Zachary Taylor overturned two of the dismissals three years later . On July 1 , 1848 , Parker was declared a graduate of the Naval Academy after passing a board of examination and declared a Passed Midshipman . In August 1848 , Parker received orders to the USS " Constitution " but requested a change of orders to the sloop of war USS " Yorktown " , which was then slated to perform anti - slave trade duties in African waters . Parker reported to the " Yorktown " in September , and the ship set sail for Africa on November 22 , 1848 . Parker recalls in his biography that the voyage was over some very rough seas and , for one of the few times in his entire naval career , Parker became violently seasick . In December 1848 , the " Yorktown " arrived at Madeira and then sailed on the Cape Verde . The rest of the month was spent at the cape , and then , in January 1849 , the " Yorktown " sailed to Porto Praya . It was here that several of the " Yorktown " officers rotated off the ship and Parker was made Acting Master . The " Yorktown " then sailed to Bathurst , off the Gambia River , where the ship put in for repairs to her rudder . In February 1849 , the " Yorktown " sailed to Liberia , where she participated as an observer in a Liberian attack against several native tribes living in the interior jungle . It was here that Parker met the President of Liberia ( Joseph Jenkins Roberts ) who traveled as a guest of honor on board the " Yorktown " . The " Yorktown " moored at Monrovia in November 1849 and spent the winter in this port . In January 1850 , the " Yorktown " sailed for Cape Palmas and then on to several port calls in the Gulf of Guinea . These included the ports of Accra , Elmina , and Cape Coast Castle . In February 1850 , the " Yorktown " headed for Ouidah , which was then in the Kingdom of Dahomey . Along the way , the " Yorktown " met up with both the British brig " HMS Contest " under the command of Archibald McMurdo and the USS " Perry " , which was then under the command of Captain Andrew H . Foote . In June 1850 , the " Yorktown " made ready for its return to Porto Praya . The ship moored at Funchal on July 1 , and it was here that the ship celebrated Independence Day . The ship then continued to Porto Praya and then , on August 1 , sailed for the Canary Islands . Parker remarks in his biography that the ship ' s crew was in very high spirits at this point , having completed a deployment to Africa with only two deaths , both to a sickness which Parker called " African fever " . On August 30 , 1850 , the " Yorktown " moored at Las Palmas then continued on towards the port of Boa Vista and the island of St . Jago . On September 4 , the ship sailed toward Mayo Island and , on September 6 , 1850 , struck a reef . Over the course of two days , the ship capsized and was lost , but the crew was able to offload most of the supplies and suffered no casualties . The crew of the USS " Yorktown " lived on Mayo Island for over a month , during which time Parker recalls that relaxation was the norm , and the crew did little more than " relax and play in donkey races " . On October 8 , the USS " Dale " arrived to pick up the crew , and they were transferred to the USS " Portsmouth " , which sailed for Norfolk , arriving in December 1850 . The 1850s . In the summer of 1851 , Parker spent three months on leave and then reported to the USS " Washington " , which was then assigned to perform coastal survey duties . For the remainder of the summer , Parker sailed with the " Washington " along the Nantucket Shoals , surveying such areas as Block Island and the so - called " No man ' s land " . The cruise of the " Washington " ended in October 1851 when the ship sailed to New York City for a lay - up . The crew was discharged and reassigned , and Parker reported to the Washington Navy Yard for administrative duties . In the spring of 1852 , Parker was ordered to proceed to Boston , where he had orders to report aboard the USS " Princeton " , which was the first propeller - driven ship in the United States Navy . Reporting to the vessel , and foreseeing it as a " dismal failure " , Parker applied for a transfer to a regular sail ship . Parker ' s feelings were somewhat prophetic , since the " Princeton " would in fact suffer a major accident several months later when one of its guns exploded and killed several high - ranking dignitaries who were then on board . Parker reported aboard the USS " Cyane " in July 1852 , the ship then being under the command of George N . Hollins . In the weeks leading up to vessel making sail , Parker lived in Boston and had the chance to meet one of the leading mystics of the time , Margaret Fox . Fox attempted to talk Parker into giving up the Navy for a career as a psychic , but Parker amusingly declined the offer . In August 1852 , the " Cyane " sailed for Havana and nearly went aground near the Abaco Islands due to , what Parker believed , was incompetence on the part of the ship ' s sailing master . The ship then made port in Havana before sailing for Pensacola for supplies and provisions . In Pensacola , the ship found orders to return to Havana and , on this trip , the vessel was not as lucky and did ground itself near to Bahia Honda . As a result , the sailing master was transferred and Parker become Acting Master of the " Cyane " . When the ship transferred one of its Lieutenants only a few days later , Parker was appointed an Acting Lieutenant . During this same period , Parker met the Vice President of the United States ( William R . King ) , who was then traveling aboard the USS " Fulton " . The " Cyane " next sailed for Key West , where it put in for " decontamination " due to a major rat infestation . Spending the winter in Key West , the ship sailed for Greytown , on the Mosquito Coast , in the spring of 1853 . Here , the " Cyane " spent 70 days safeguarding American steamer companies who were operating in an area frequented by pirates as well as hostile townspeople living in Greystown ( this town would be bombarded and destroyed in 1854 after holding the United States Ambassador to Nicaragua hostage for several days ) . Towards the end of the summer , the " Cyane " departed Greytown and proceeded to Pensacola for supplies then headed north to Portsmouth , New Hampshire . The vessel was placed under the overall command of Commodore W . B . Shubrick and was then assigned to fishery guarding duties . To this end , the ship sailed for Eastport , Maine and then on to Saint John , New Brunswick . By the fall of 1853 , the " Cyane " had made a tour of the Bay of Fundy , the Straights of Canso and had made its way into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence . Ending its tour in September , the " Cyane " returned to New Hampshire and then proceeded to Philadelphia for layup and refit . In October 1853 , Parker was detached and proceeded to the Naval Academy for duty as an instructor . Parker served as an instructor at the United States Naval Academy from October 1853 until the fall of 1857 . From 1853 to 1855 he was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and in 1855 become a Professor of Navigation and Astronomy . In December 1853 , Parker married Margaret Griffin , and the two would remain married until Parker ' s death , but the couple never had any children . During the summer of 1855 , Parker participated as an instructor on a Midshipman training cruise as part of his duties as a Naval Academy instructor . The ship , the USS " Preble " , visited the ports of Eastport , Cape Cod , Portland , and Boston before returning to Annapolis in the fall . In September 1855 , Parker was also promoted to the permanent rank of Lieutenant in the United States Navy . In the fall of 1857 , Parker was detached from the Naval Academy and reported aboard the USS " Merrimack " , which was then under the command of Commander Robert B . Hitchcock . On October 17 , 1857 , the " Merrimack " sailed from Boston on a mission to the United States Minister to Brazil ( Richard Kidder Meade ) to his new assignment . The ship made port in Rio de Janeiro in December 1957 and then proceeded to round Cape Horn to enter the Pacific Ocean at the start of the new year . In February 1858 , the " Merrimac " made port in Talcahuano , Chile , and from there sailed to the Chincha Islands . At the end of February , the ship put into port in the small coastal town of Callao with shore leave authorized for the crew . Parker took the opportunity to travel to Lima , where he witnessed " some type of revolution " which was underway under the leadership of Lizardo Montero Flores . In March 1858 , the " Merrimac " sailed for Panama , where Parker had the foresight to predict that a Panama Canal would one day be constructed . After a layover at Perico Island , the " Merrimac " headed into the open Pacific Ocean , reaching the Sandwich Islands ( now Hawaii ) in September 1858 . The ship remained in Honolulu until October and then set course for a return to Central America . In December 1858 , the " Merrimac " arrived at El Realejo , Nicaragua , and remained in this port for a total of three months , during which time Parker met the President of Nicaragua . In March , the ship then returned from Panama , where it was placed under a new squadron commander , Commodore John B . Montgomery ; the ship then headed to Valparaiso , arriving in June 1859 , and remained at this station until October when the " Merrimac " was relieved by the USS " Lancaster " . The ship then set a return course for the United States , stopping in Rio de Janeiro in November . It was at this time that the crew was informed of the John Brown Raid and , according to Parker ' s biography , he had already come to the conclusion that civil war between the North and South was inevitable . In December 1859 , the " Merrimac " reached Norfolk , and the vessel was laid up for an overhaul and the crew discharged . During the voyage , Parker had written a naval guide entitled " Instructions for Naval Light Artillery " ( New York , 1862 ) and had translated a French instruction , entitled " Tactique Navale " , into English . Confederate Navy service . As the United States broke up in 1861 , the Parker brothers followed separate paths . Foxhall A . Parker remained in the U . S . Navy , while William " went south " to join the Virginia State Navy and , in June 1861 , the Confederate States Navy . He commanded the gunboat CSS " Beaufort " into 1862 , taking part in the Roanoke Island battle on February 7 – 8 , 1862 and the actions in Hampton Roads on March 8 and March 9 , 1862 . In mid - May , he served at Drewry ' s Bluff when the batteries there were attacked by Union warships . After several months ' shore duty , First Lieutenant Parker was sent to Charleston , South Carolina , where he was executive officer of the ironclad CSS " Palmetto State " and participated in her attack on Union blockaders in January 1863 . In October 1863 , he became superintendent of the Confederate States Naval Academy , based on board CSS " Patrick Henry " in the James River , Virginia . He also commanded the ironclad CSS " Richmond " . In April 1865 , as the Confederate capital at Richmond , Virginia was evacuated , he led the Naval Academy ' s midshipmen as a guard for their failing Government ' s archives and treasury . Post - war activities . Following the end of the American Civil War , William H . Parker was captain of a Pacific Mail steamship and then served as president of Maryland Agricultural College ( later known as the University of Maryland at College Park ) . Parker attempted to institute a Naval Cadet Corps in much the same manner as some other private colleges had done with Army styled groups ( see Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets as an example ) . When the school began dropping in its enrollment , and after Parker attempted to have the name of the college changed , he was asked to resign , which he did reluctantly in 1882 . In his later years , Parker suffered from alcoholism , but this did not prevent his being appointed the Minister to Korea ( the predecessor title to the United States Ambassador to Korea ) in June 1886 . Recognized as a " hopeless drunkard " by the former Minister ( George Clayton Foulk ) Parker was relieved of his position less than a year later . Parker returned to live in Washington , D . C . , where he enjoyed retirement and focused on writing . He died suddenly at the age of 70 on December 30 , 1896 . Naval service record . Over a career which lasted 24 years , Parker served in three different navies ( the United States Navy , Virginia State Navy , and the Confederate Navy ) and he performed duty on several different naval vessels of various types and sizes . The largest of these was the 74 gun warship USS " North Carolina " , and the smallest was the 85 - foot gunboat , the CSS " Beaufort . Shore assignments included three tours at the United States Naval Academy ( one as a student and two as an instructor ) , administrative duty in the Washington Navy Yard , and various detached duties in the first months of the American Civil War serving as a Navy officer attached to various Confederate Army installations . Parker ' s last assignment was as the Commander of the Confederate Naval Academy . Since Parker ' s service was before the creation of any significant military awards , his only official decorations are a commendation from the United States Secretary of State , for diplomatic actions in the 1850s , and the thanks of the Confederate Congress for gun fire support during the Battle of Roanoke Island . His service in the civil war also grants him entitlement to the Civil War Campaign Medal , but this decoration was created after Parker ' s death . Parker ' s highest permanent rank , in all of the navies with which he served , was that of Lieutenant . While commanding the " Beaufort " , however , photographic evidence indicates Parker wore the insignia of a Commander and , while head of the Confederate Naval Academy , was referred to as a Captain . Thus , for practical purposes , Parker ' s highest rank on active duty was that of Captain .