George Balch George Beall Balch ( 8 January 1821 – 18 April 1908 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served during the Mexican - American War and the American Civil War . Biography . Early career . Balch was born in Shelbyville , Tennessee , on 3 January 1821 , and was appointed acting midshipman on 30 December 1837 . After serving in the sloop during a cruise to the Mediterranean between 24 June 1838 and 16 May 1841 , Balch saw duty in the schooner and the sloop before attending the Naval School in Philadelphia , where he was promoted to passed midshipman on 29 June 1843 . Mexican - American War . Eventually assigned to the steamer , Balch served in her during the war with Mexico . He participated in the abortive August 1846 assault on Alvarado , where strong currents in the river prevented the flotilla ' s boats from landing , and in the successful 9 March 1847 landing of General Winfield Scott ' s army at Vera Cruz . During the latter campaign , Balch served as acting master of captured schooner . Returning to " Princeton " , he accompanied the steamer on a two year cruise to the Mediterranean , sailing east on 17 August 1847 and returning to the Boston Navy Yard on 17 July 1849 . He then saw service at the Naval Observatory in Washington , D . C . , where he was promoted to lieutenant on 16 August 1850 . Expedition to Japan . Balch then served as executive officer of the sloop - of - war , sailing to the Orient on 23 August 1851 for an extended cruise on the East Indies Station . While there , " Plymouth " joined Commodore Matthew C . Perry ' s expedition to Japan and , in company with side - wheel steamers and and sloop - of - war , entered Tokyo Bay on 8 July 1853 for trade negotiations with the Tokugawa shogunate . The squadron departed on 17 July after presenting a letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese asking for the opening of two ports to American trade and better treatment for shipwrecked sailors . The squadron spent the fall in Canton , Hong Kong and Shanghai , helping to protect American trade interests there ( primarily tea and silk ) following the continued spread of the Taiping Rebellion in southern China . While most of Perry ' s squadron returned to Japan in February 1854 , where the Commodore eventually signed a limited trade agreement on 31 March 1854 , " Plymouth " remained at Shanghai to help protect American - owned warehouses and other property ashore . In February , soon after the squadron ' s departure to Japan , Imperial Chinese troops began assaulting foreigners , sacking warehouses and exacting tolls on boats sailing up and down the Huangpu River . On 3 April , after two British citizens were accosted by sword - wielding soldiers , the commanders of the British ships " Encounter " and " Grecian " , as well as Commander Kelly from " Plymouth " , together resolved to drive off the Chinese troops , who had established fortified camps in the city . The next day , Balch led 60 sailors and marines and 30 sailors from American merchant ships against the left flank of the entrenchments , while a force of 150 British sailors and marines , and additional " Shanghai volunteers , " attacked on the right . Supported by gunfire from two privately owned field pieces and a howitzer , the Allied force routed the Chinese defenders , who " " fled in great disorder , leaving behind them a number of wounded and dead . " " Balch suffered wounds in the action , which also saw one sailor killed and two marines wounded . The sloop - of - war returned to Norfolk on 11 January 1855 before conducting a spring cruise off the east coast as a Naval Academy school ship . After an assignment to the Washington Navy Yard in 1855 - 57 , Balch again went to sea in " Plymouth " to support a training cruise . He later served in the sloop , joining her in December 1857 for a cruise in the West Indies before he traveled to Mare Island , California , for service in sloop - of - war . After a short cruise off the west coast of Central America between August 1858 and February 1859 , Balch returned to the east coast via Panama . American Civil War . Upon the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 , Balch was ordered to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , where he helped put frigate in commission on 30 August . The ship - rigged sailing ship joined the Atlantic blockading squadron on 9 September . " Sabine " helped rescue 500 men from the chartered troop transport " Governor " during a storm on 2 November 1861 . Balch then assumed command of steamer , leading a flotilla of boats during the Tybee Island landings on 26 December before cruising off the Carolina coast , to keep a watchful eye for Confederate raiders and blockade runners . He was promoted to Commander on 16 July 1862 . Given command of screw - sloop at Philadelphia later that year , Balch coordinated the towing of ironclad south to Port Royal , South Carolina , in February before joining the South Atlantic Squadron . There , the screw - sloop conducted coastal reconnaissance off the southern states , engaging shore batteries as required and watching for blockade runners . On 1 February and 18 June 1864 , " Pawnee " assisted in the capture of Confederate steamers " General Sumter " and " Hattie Brock " respectively , seizing their valuable cargoes of cotton , turpentine , rosin and railroad iron . The warship also participated in the Stono River expedition in early July and Broad River expedition in November 1864 . The following year , on 9 February 1865 , Balch directed " Pawnee " up the Togoda Creek where , in company with side - wheel gunboat and side - wheel steamer , the warships destroyed three Confederate batteries near North Edisto , South Carolina . The ships then landed sailors and marines to occupy Georgetown on 23 February 1865 , clearing the way for Union ships to supply Major - General Sherman ' s Army operating in the area . Balch was commended to the Navy Department by Rear - Admiral John A . Dahlgren for his services during this operation . Later career . After " Pawnee " decommissioned at Portsmouth on 26 July 1865 , Balch received shore service at the Washington Navy Yard , where he was promoted to captain on 25 July 1866 . He commanded the flagship in the North Atlantic Squadron between 1868 and early 1870 . Balch then returned to the Washington Navy Yard for duty with the Bureau of Navigation , where he was promoted to commodore on 13 August 1872 . He served as governor of the Philadelphia Naval Asylum , between 1873 - 76 before his appointment to the Light House Board in 1877 - 78 . After a term as a member of the Board of Examiners in 1878 , during which time Balch was promoted to rear admiral on 5 June 1878 , Balch undertook a two - year assignment as Superintendent of the Naval Academy between 1879 and 1881 . Balch then took command of the Pacific Squadron on 21 June 1881 . That assignment lasted until he retired from the service in January 1883 , initially taking up residence in Baltimore , Maryland , before eventually moving to Raleigh , North Carolina , where he died on 16 April 1908 . He was a member of the Loyal Legion and Military Order of Foreign Wars . Namesake . Two ships , , have been named for him .