John Grimes Walker John Grimes Walker ( 20 March 1835 – 16 September 1907 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served during the Civil War . After the war , he served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation and head of the Lighthouse Board . In retirement , he led commissions to investigate the construction of a Central American canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . Early life and career . Born in Hillsborough , New Hampshire , Walker was appointed a midshipman on 5 October 1850 and graduated at the head of his class at the Naval Academy in 1856 . He served in and in 1858 and 1859 ; in in 1860 and 1861 ; in in 1861 ; and in in 1861 and 1862 . Civil War service . Walker distinguished himself under David Dixon Porter during the Mississippi River campaigns while serving in " Winona " , ( which he commanded ) , and . He participated in the engagements with Forts Jackson and St . Philip , as well as the Chalmette batteries during the operations which resulted in the fall of New Orleans . He later took part in the Navy ' s operations against Vicksburg . During the winter of 1862 and 1863 , Walker participated in the thrusts against Haines Bluff and Arkansas Post . He also took part in the Yazoo Pass expedition , the attack on Fort Pemberton , and the capture of Yazoo City . At the siege of Vicksburg , Walker commanded the naval gun battery attached to the 15th Army Corps . His subsequent war service included operations which resulted in the capture of Fort Fisher , and he participated in the ensuing bombardments of Forts Anderson and Caswell on the Cape Fear River and in the capture of Wilmington , North Carolina . Post - Civil War service . Promoted to commander in 1866 , Walker served as Assistant Superintendent of the Naval Academy from 1866 to 1869 . After commanding in 1869 and 1870 — during which time he took the ship to Europe on a midshipman training cruise — he served as secretary to the Lighthouse Board from 1873 to 1878 . From 1881 to 1889 , Walker held the post of Chief of the Bureau of Navigation before he went to sea commanding the White Squadron in 1889 , with his flag in . Created in 1882 , the Office of Naval Intelligence ( ONI ) , directed its reports to the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation until 1889 when it was seconded to the assistant secretary of the navy ' s office . Flag assignments . Appointed rear admiral in 1894 , he took the White Squadron to Hawaii in 1895 when a coup d ' etat posed a threat to American interests . He received a commendation for his attitude of watchful waiting and his squadron ' s posture of readiness to respond to a possible emergency . Upon his return to shore duty in 1896 , he headed the Lighthouse Board and concurrently chaired the committee investigating locations for deep - water harbors in southern California . Post - Navy activities . Soon after retiring as a rear admiral in 1897 , Walker was chosen to serve as President of the Nicaragua Canal Commission . Two years later , in 1899 , he was appointed President of the Isthmian Canal Commission to look into possible routes for a canal across the Central American isthmus . Admiral Walker was a Veteran companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and an hereditary companion of the Military Order of Foreign Wars . Admiral Walker died at the age of 72 , at Ogunquit , Maine . Namesakes . Two destroyer s have been named in his honor .