Oscar Walter Farenholt Rear Admiral Oscar Walter Farenholt ( May 2 , 1845 – June 30 , 1920 ) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War , the Spanish - American War and is the first enlisted man in the Navy to reach flag rank . Early life . Farenholt was born to German immigrants in San Antonio , Texas , who had settled on a ranch on the Salado River 1842 , not far from the famous Alamo Mission . Speaking only German until the age of eight , he was sent to New Orleans to a French school where he learned English for the first time . He continued his schooling until twelve years of age , entering a preparatory school , near Baton Rouge , Louisiana . Farenholt eventually broke off his studies believing dismissal from this institution to be in short order due to a boyish scrape , traveled to New Orleans , and shipped out to New York aboard the American sailing ship Saint Charles . He continued sailing as a merchant sailor until the outbreak of the American Civil War . American Civil War . Farenholt entered the Navy as a seaman April 24 , 1861 , after 3 years in the merchant service . He participated in engagements and battles at Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries , Battle of Port Royal , Battle of Fort Pulaski , and numerous others . On Oct 22 , 1862 while serving as a member of the howitzer gun crew aboard the , ordinary seaman Farenholt was severely wounded at the Battle of Pocotaligo , South Carolina and was discharged from the Navy . He reentered the U . S . Navy in February , 1863 after recovering and was assigned to the monitor participating in almost daily engagements with defenses of Charleston , South Carolina from April 1863 to April 1864 . He participated in the unsuccessful storming party of Fort Sumter in September , 1863 . Distinguished service led to his appointment as Acting Ensign on August 19 , 1864 and he was in command of the mortar schooner attached to the squadron in the Sounds of North Carolina later that year . He also participated in the recapture of Plymouth , North Carolina , and several engagements on the Roanoke , Chowan , and Blackwater rivers as well as the capture of Fort Fisher , North Carolina . Post Civil War . Farenholt was assigned various duties and was promoted to Ensign on March 12 , 1868 , Master on December 18 , 1868 , Lieutenant on March 21 , 1870 , Lieutenant Commander on May 11 , 1882 , and Commander on June 19 , 1892 . In 1890 he was on sea duty attached to the which was in port in Sitka Borough , Alaska . Spanish - American War . During the Spanish - American War , Farenholt was put in command of the . The ship was an old vessel with about 50 crew members . The " Monocacy " was once said to be " only fit for a museum shelf . " His ship was used as base of procurement at Shanghai for Dewey ' s fleet . Farenholt spent no time in the Caribbean during the war , even though that was where the majority of the fighting took place . He was given the task of obtaining a source for coal and supplies for the Asiatic Squadron through a Chinese intermediary . The efforts were kept secret , because this was against the neutrality laws . Post Spanish - American War . He served at the Boston Navy Yard and at the Naval War College in February , 1899 . He was promoted Captain in September , 1900 , served as Commandant of the Navy Yard at Cavite in the Philippine Islands in 1901 , was Commander of the monitor in the Asiatic station during 1901 , and was promoted Rear Admiral September 1 , 1901 . He was the first enlisted man in the Navy to reach flag rank , and voluntarily retired after giving 40 years of active service . Oscar married Miss Ella Mortimer Ames ( born 1848 in Massachusetts ) . Rear Admiral Farenholt retired September 1 , 1901 and died June 30 , 1920 at Mare Island , California . Ella died March 21 , 1925 in California and both are buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery in San Francisco , California . Two ships have been named for Farenholt , and .