Abner Read Abner Read ( 5 April 1821 – 7 July 1863 ) was an officer of the United States Navy who distinguished himself in the American Civil War . He died of injuries sustained while patrolling the Mississippi River , in command of the . At the time of his death , he had attained the rank of lieutenant commander . Education and early career . Abner Read was born in Urbana , Ohio to Ezra Read and Nancy Read ( née Clark ) . Abner ' s brother Daniel Read served as the President of the University of Missouri . His other brother , Nathaniel Read , would later serve as a Ohio Supreme Court Justice . A third brother , Ezra Read , would go on to become a well respected doctor in Terre Haute , Indiana and the father - in - law of Ambassador Bayless W . Hanna . Abner Read studied at Ohio University , but left that institution a year before graduating to accept a warrant as a midshipman , effective 2 March 1839 . Assigned to , he departed New York City in that schooner on 16 March 1840 and proceeded to South American waters where he served first in " Enterprise " and then in until the latter sailed for home early in 1844 . Following a year of study at the naval school in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , Read was promoted to passed midshipman on 2 July 1845 . then took him to the Atlantic coast of Africa where she operated against slavers through the summer of 1847 . Sea and shore duty , 1848 – 1860 . Next ordered to , the promising young officer departed New York in that storeship on 9 January 1848 and proceeded to Veracruz where she arrived a week after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . His vessel promptly began issuing supplies to the warships of Commodore Matthew C . Perry ' s squadron and continued such duty until heading home in June . " Fredonia " again left New York on 11 December 1848 , bound for California . Gold recently had been discovered there , greatly increasing the importance of and the interest in that newly acquired territory . The ship proceeded south along the Atlantic coast of the Americas , rounded Cape Horn , reached San Francisco Bay on 31 July 1849 , and operated on the west coast during the most tempestuous year of the gold rush . She got underway homeward on 4 July 1850 , and reached New York on 7 January 1851 . Leave and a tour of duty in , the receiving ship at Philadelphia , ensued before Read reported to the side - wheel steamer in the autumn of 1853 . She took him to the Mediterranean , but he left that ship while she was still in European waters and returned to the United States for duty at the Portsmouth Navy Yard . Meanwhile , Read had been rising in rank . He received his commission as master effective 12 April 1853 and was promoted to lieutenant on 6 February 1854 . Read joined the wardroom of the sloop - of - war in the fall of 1854 , departed Norfolk , Virginia , in her on 16 December 1854 , and cruised through the West Indies unsuccessfully seeking information concerning . That sloop - of - war had departed Aspinwall , Colombia , ( now Colón , Panama ) , on 29 September 1854 and had not been heard from since sailing . Soon after " Falmouth " returned to New York in August , Read was shocked to be " dropped from the Navy " on 13 September 1855 in compliance with the recommendation of a board of officers charged with carrying " . . . into execution an act [ of Congress ] to promote the efficiency of the Navy . " He appealed this decision and was reinstated in rank by a board of inquiry in 1858 . His first ship following his return to duty was which departed New York in the autumn of 1858 and took him back to South American waters as a part of Commodore Shubrick ' s expedition to demand an apology and retribution for the death of ' s helmsman . That sailor had been killed by fire from Paraguayan batteries upon his side - wheel steamer as she explored the Paraná River and its tributaries . Following the resolution of the dispute between the United States and Paraguay through diplomacy backed by a highly visible display of American seapower , " Supply " operated off the coast of Africa , along the Atlantic coast of the United States , and in the Gulf of Mexico . Civil War service . " Supply " arrived at Pensacola , Florida , on 7 December 1860 , just a month and a day after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States , precipitating the secession crisis . Just over a week later , entered the navy yard at that port to have her hull scraped . That screw steamer was short of officers due to the resignation of Southerners , so Read was detached from " Supply " and assigned to the new arrival . In her he helped to prevent Fort Pickens from falling into Confederate hands . However , while doing so , he became ill and was sent home to recuperate . In command of the USS " New London " . Ready for duty again , Read took command of the newly acquired when she was commissioned at New York on 29 October 1861 . Assigned to the Gulf Squadron , his screw steamer was stationed in Mississippi Sound where she joined screw gunboat in taking the lumber - laden schooner " Olive " shortly before midnight on 21 November 1861 . In ensuing months , " New London " took over 30 prizes . Her success was so remarkable that Flag Officer David Farragut felt that he must hold " New London " in his new command even though she had been assigned to the eastern group when the Navy divided its force in the gulf into two squadrons . " . . . Lieutenant Read ' s having made her such a terror to the Confederates in this quarter " , he explained , " . . . that justice to the service required me to keep her . . . " She was , he maintained , " . . . absolutely necessary to command the inland passage . . . " Read and his ship were ever ready to face up to any challenge which confronted them . When he found " . . . two rebel steamers . . . at Pass Christian . . . " on 25 March 1862 , " New London " headed straight for and and drove them off to the protection of Southern shore batteries after a two - hour engagement . Read was promoted to lieutenant commander on 16 July 1862 , and on 18 April 1863 , he led a boat expedition which landed near the lighthouse at Sabine Pass . It was attacked by a large force of Confederate troops who had been hiding behind the light keeper ' s house . All but one member of Read ' s crew were wounded as they raced back to their boat and rowed to " New London " . Read himself suffered a serious gunshot wound of the eye . Yet , despite his painful injury , he remained on duty until " New London " returned to New Orleans , Louisiana , late in May for repairs . While work on " New London " was still in progress Read was detached from her on 22 June and ordered to relieve Captain Melancton Smith in command of . Six days later his new ship headed up the Mississippi River to defend Donaldsonville , Louisiana , which was then being threatened by Southern troops . As its beleaguered riparian fortresses at Vicksburg , Mississippi , and Port Hudson were about to slip from its grasp , the Confederacy was struggling desperately to maintain some hold on the river . " New London " spent the ensuing days patrolling the Mississippi between Donaldsonville and New Orleans . On the morning of 7 July 1863 , Southern forces opened fire on the ship with artillery and musketry when she was about ten miles below Donaldsonville . A shell smashed through the bulwarks on her port quarter wounding Read in his abdomen and his right knee . He was taken to a hospital at Baton Rouge , Louisiana , where he died on the evening of the next day . Farragut and the other officers of the squadron were lavish in praise of their fallen comrade . The admiral said that Read had " . . . perhaps done as much fighting as any man in this war . . . The very mention of his name " , Farragut maintained , " was a source of terror to the rebels . " On another occasion , the Admiral said , " I know nothing of him prejudicial as a man , but I do know that no Navy can boast a better officer and I deem him a great loss both to the Navy and to his country . " Namesake . The destroyer s and were named for him .