Ninian Pinkney " For other persons named Pinkney , see " Pinkney Ninian Pinkney , born in the Hammond - Harwood House in Annapolis , Maryland , on 7 June 1811 , graduated from St . John ' s College , Annapolis , Maryland , in 1829 , and from Jefferson Medical College , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in 1833 . He spent his entire naval career in the Navy helping to develop the field of surgery and medicine . He was especially prominent — and praised — during the American Civil War . Military service . Appointed an assistant surgeon in the United States Navy on 26 March 1834 , Pinkney received orders to the sloop of war " Erie " on 5 May . Ordered to report by 20 June , he joined the ship at Boston , Massachusetts , on 24 June , shortly before she sailed for the Brazil Station . Detached from " Erie " on 18 September 1837 , he began two months of leave on 20 September , later changed to " waiting orders . " Ordered to duty at the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 9 April 1838 , he was detached from that duty on 2 April 1839 , receiving one month of leave . He then joined the frigate " Brandywine " , assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron , on 17 August , shortly after she was recommissioned . On 12 February 1840 , Commodore Isaac Hull , commanding the squadron , ordered Pinkney to return to the United States , and the assistant surgeon reported his arrival on 24 April . Ordered thence , on 12 October 1840 , to the storeship " Relief " , on the Pacific Squadron , Pinkney later served again on board " Erie " . He was promoted to surgeon on 27 October 1841 . Commodore Alexander J . Dallas , commanding the Pacific Squadron , granted Surgeon Pinkney permission to return to the United States in February 1844 , and he arrived there in April of the same year . Ordered to the Receiving Ship and Naval Station , Baltimore , Maryland , on 24 June 1844 , he received orders to " discharge duties " at the Naval Rendezvous ( recruiting station ) as well , on 21 April 1845 . Detached from the Baltimore Station on 19 September 1846 and placed in the status of " waiting orders , " Pinkney was ordered to Albany on 14 October ; he reported to that new sloop of war , assigned to the Home Squadron , a little less than a fortnight later , on 27 October . Transferred to sloop of war " Germantown " , also in the Home Squadron , three days after Christmas the following year 28 December 1847 , he was detached from that ship on 23 February 1848 . Carried on the status of " waiting orders " on 1 January of the following year [ 1849 ] , Pinkney was ordered to the new sidewheel sloop of war " Saranac " on 4 February 1850 , to report for duty on the 24th of that month . Detached from that ship on 22 July 1851 , the surgeon was then ordered [ 10 September ] to review candidates for admission to the U . S . Naval Academy . Following another period of " waiting orders , " he was ordered to the Naval Academy on 3 April 1852 . Detached from the Academy on 5 July 1855 , Pinkney subsequently received orders to the sidewheel frigate " Susquehanna " on 31 March 1856 , and served in that ship as she cruised in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Central America , and later operated in assistance of the steam frigate " Niagara " in her unsuccessful attempt to lay the Atlantic Cable in August 1857 . Detached from " Susquehanna " on 19 April 1858 , he was ordered to the U . S . Naval Hospital at Norfolk , Virginia , on 21 October , his actual time of reporting delayed from 1 November to 1 December 1858 . Detached from that medical facility ashore on 9 June 1859 , Pinkney received orders to join the screw frigate " San Jacinto " as she prepared for a cruise to the coast of Africa . Illness , however , shortened Pinkney ' s tour of duty in " San Jacinto " , as he was detached from the ship at Cadiz , Spain , and ordered home " because of ill health " on 28 March 1860 . Arriving back in the United States on 23 April , he went to Easton , Maryland , where he apparently remained until he was ordered to special duty in Washington , D . C . , on 8 June 1861 . Detached from duty in the capitol on 12 December 1861 , he received orders to report as the Fleet Surgeon , Mississippi Squadron , on the last day 1861 . Civil War service . Pinkney served in the Mississippi Squadron for the duration of the American Civil War , performing " the most arduous duty in caring for the sick and wounded . " He succeeded in getting possession of the Commercial Hotel , in Memphis , Tennessee , a building " admirably located and well adapted for hospital purposes " in March 1863 . The shortage of assistant surgeons compelled " Pinkney " to serve on board the U . S . Navy Hospital Ship " Red Rover " , " where he has been of great service fitting out his department . " Acting Rear - Admiral David Dixon Porter , Commanding the Mississippi Squadron , called Pinkney ' s presence Porter used the occasion to dispel any misgivings about the fleet surgeon ' s " little peculiarities " ( Pinkney was known to be of " a ' peppery ' nature and stood firmly on his dignity and rights " ) , writing to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on 30 March 1863 of Pinkney that " . . . a more zealous , devoted officer to the profession , and to the country , does not exist anywhere . . . " Soon thereafter , the fleet surgeon directed the provision of new ships fitting out at St . Louis , Missouri , and Cincinnati , Ohio , with medical stores during June , 1863 , and later that summer supervised the conversion of a seized Rebel building at Memphis , Tennessee , into a hospital . Pinkney received the wounded from the fall of Fort Pillow in April 1864 , on board the Hospital Ship " Red Rover " , and treated them . Subsequently , one of the nursing Sisters , employed on board " Red Rover " , wrote to express her appreciation for the kindness Pinkney had extended to them . " Through them , " Sister Angela , of the Order of the Holy Cross , wrote on 11 August 1864 , Post - Civil War service . Detached on 15 June 1865 , Pinkney , over the next four years ( until 8 November 1869 ) , performed a succession of duties , serving as a member of the Board of Visitors of the U . S . Naval Academy , presided over the board that examined candidates for admission to the Academy , and served as a delegate to represent the Medical Department of the Navy to the Medical Department in England . Ordered to duty at Washington , D . C . , on 1 October 1870 , he was promoted to the rank of Medical Director on 3 March 1871 . Final years . Detached from the Washington Navy Yard and retired with that rank on 7 June 1873 , Pinkney , who received a doctor of laws degree from his alma mater , St . John ' s College , Annapolis , in 1873 , ultimately died in Easton , Maryland , on 15 December 1877 . Honored in ship naming . The United States Navy ship USS " Pinkney ( APH - 2 ) " which saw action in the Pacific Ocean during World War II was named in his honor .