Louis M . Goldsborough Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough ( February 18 , 1805 – February 20 , 1877 ) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy during the American Civil War . He held several sea commands during the Civil War , including that of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . He was also noted for contributions to nautical scientific research . His younger brother , John R . Goldsborough , was also a U . S . Navy officer who served during the Civil War and who later became a commodore . Biography . Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough was born in Washington , D . C in 1805 , the son of a chief clerk at the United States Department of the Navy . He was appointed midshipman in the United States Navy by Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton on June 28 , 1812 . At the time of his appointment , he was seven years old , and Goldsborough did not actually begin serving until February 13 , 1816 , when he reported for duty at the Washington Navy Yard . In 1831 Goldsborough married Elizabeth Gamble Wirt , daughter of William Wirt , U . S . Attorney General from 1817 - 1829 . Together , they had three children : William , Louis , and Elizabeth . In 1833 , after helping lead German emigrants to Wirt ' s Estates near Monticello , Florida , Goldsborough took leave from the Navy to command a steamboat expedition , and later mounted volunteers in the Seminole War . Naval service . During the Aegean Anti - Piracy Campaign , Goldsborough led a four - boat night expedition from " Porpoise " in October 1827 to rescue British merchant brig " Comet " from Mediterranean pirates . In 1830 he was appointed first officer in charge of the newly created Depot of Charts and Instruments at Washington , the crude beginning of the United States Hydrographic Office . Goldsborough suggested creation of the depot and initiated the collection and centralization of the instruments , books and charts that were scattered among several Navy yards . After two years he was relieved by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes . After cruising the Pacific in the frigate " United States " , he participated in the bombardment of Veracruz in " Ohio " during the Mexican - American War . He served consecutively as : commander of a detachment in the expedition against Tuxpan ; senior officer of a commission which explored California and Oregon ( 1849 – 1850 ) ; superintendent of the United States Naval Academy ( 1853 – 1857 ) ; and commander of the Brazil Squadron ( 1859 – 1861 ) . Civil War service . Goldsborough was given command of the Atlantic Blockading Squadron in September 1861 , relieving Flag Officer Silas Horton Stringham . In October of that year the Atlantic squadron was split into the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and South Atlantic Blockading Squadron ; Goldsborough took command of the North squadron , and Flag Officer Samuel Francis DuPont assumed command of the South squadron . During his command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , which he commanded from its inception to September 1862 , he led his fleet off North Carolina , where in cooperation with troops under General Ambrose Burnside , he captured Roanoke Island and destroyed a small Confederate fleet . Peninsula Campaign . After aiding the capture of Roanoke Island , Goldsborough and his command were sent to Hampton Roads at the request of Major General George B . McClellan to help protect Union forces landing on the Virginia Peninsula at the start of the Peninsula Campaign . Goldsborough refused to be placed under McClellan ' s direct command , telling Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Vasa Fox that he would instead " cooperate " with McClellan . After sending six of his vessels to attack the Gloucester Point batteries , Goldsborough withdrew them , saying the area was too dangerous for his ships — even though none of them sustained any damage — and fearful of a return appearance by CSS " Virginia " , which had laid waste to a Union naval force in Hampton Roads while Goldsborough was at Roanoke Island . At the start of the Seven Days Battles , Goldsborough was asked again , this time by President Abraham Lincoln , to come to McClellan ' s aid . Goldsborough continued to hold back his fleet , forcing Lincoln to accept a recommendation by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to detach ships under Goldsborough ' s command and place them under Commodore Charles Wilkes , who as a lieutenant had relieved Goldsborough at the Depot of Charts and Instruments ( see above ) , and who would report directly to Welles . This move , coupled with newspaper accounts critical of the Navy , so seriously hurt Goldsborough that he requested that he be relieved . He was promoted to Rear Admiral in August 1862 , and in September passed command of the squadron to Acting Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee . Goldsborough would finish the war performing administrative duties in Washington , D . C . Post - Civil War service and death . In June 1865 , Goldsborough became the first commander of the European Squadron , formerly the Mediterranean Squadron . In 1868 , Goldsborough returned to Washington and took command of the Washington Navy Yard , a position he held until he retired in 1873 . Rear Admiral Louis M . Goldsborough died on February 20 , 1877 . Namesakes . The United States Navy has named three ships USS " Goldsborough " in honor of Admiral Goldsborough . See also . List of Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy