Henry A . Walke Henry Walke ( 24 December 1809 – 8 March 1896 ) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican – American War and the American Civil War . Early life . Born in Princess Anne County , Virginia , Walke was appointed a midshipman on February 1 , 1827 , and reported for duty at the Gosport Navy Yard , Virginia . He received his initial naval training at Gosport and , from July 1827 to November 1828 , cruised the Caribbean in sloop in the campaign against pirates in that area . He made a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea on between August 1829 and November 1831 . Walke received his warrant as a passed midshipman on July 12 , 1833 , and , after several months of post - sea duty leave , transferred to duty ashore at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on March 7 , 1834 . Between January 1836 and June 1839 , he cruised the Pacific Squadron in the 74 - gun ship of the line , primarily along the western coast of South America protecting American commerce during a period of unrest caused by strained relations between the United States and Mexico and the war between Peru and Chile . During service in the receiving ship at New York , Walke was promoted to lieutenant before reporting on board on October 5 , 1840 . While Walke was assigned to that sloop of war , she made a cruise to the East Indies . Returning home in 1843 , he went ashore for an extended leave before returning to sea in the brig in May 1844 for a cruise along the Brazilian coast . He returned home early in 1846 and , after a year assigned to the receiving ship at New York , made an eight - month voyage in during which his ship participated in the Mexican – American War , blockading Laguna and supporting landings at Tuxpan and Tabasco . In October 1847 , Lt . Walke went home for another extended leave after which he reported back to the receiving ship at New York on September 22 , 1848 . On June 23 , 1849 , he returned to sea in for a cruise to the Mediterranean Sea which lasted until mid - January 1851 . Following a post - voyage leave , he reported to the Naval Observatory on April 22 for a very brief tour before beginning further duty in the receiving ship at New York Harbor . That tour lasted three years , from July 17 , 1851 to July 17 , 1854 , but consisted of two distinct periods separated by a very short tour of duty in during September 1853 . Civil War . In January 1861 , as the Civil War approached , Commander Walke was in command of at Pensacola , Florida . On the 12th , Captain James Armstrong surrendered the navy yard to Confederate forces from Alabama and Florida . After providing temporary support for the defenders of Fort Pickens who refused to follow Armstrong ' s example , Walke took off some of the loyal sailors and navy yard employees and got underway for New York on the 16th . After arriving at New York on February 4 , the commander and his ship loaded supplies and reinforcements for Fort Pickens . " Supply " set sail on March 15 and anchored near the fort on April 7 and landed the troops and supplies . Operations supporting the nascent Union blockade occupied the ship for the next month , at the end of which Walke received orders to New York to take command of one of the Navy ' s newly acquired steamers . Following that service — during the summer of 1861 — and a four - day tour as lighthouse inspector for the 11th District early in September , Walke headed west in response to orders to special duty at St . Louis , Missouri . That assignment proved to be the command of , one of the river gunboat s of the Army ' s Western Flotilla . In September and October , he took his gunboat downriver to bombard Confederate shore batteries at Hickman and Columbus in western Kentucky and traded a few shots with the Confederate gunboat . Early in November , his ship supported Ulysses S . Grant ' s move on the Southern camp at Belmont , Missouri , escorting troop transports , bombarding shore batteries and , finally , covering the withdrawal of Grant ' s forces from the Battle of Belmont . In mid - January 1862 , Commander Walke assumed command of the ironclad warship , also assigned to the Western Flotilla . In February 1862 , during his tenure as " Carondelet ' s " commanding officer , Walke led her during the captures of Forts Henry and Donelson which guarded the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers , respectively . In April , he led her in the passing of heavily fortified Island Number Ten and in the attack on and spiking of shore batteries below New Madrid , Missouri , in Battle of Island Number Ten . From April through the end of June , his ship participated in the drawn - out series of operations against Plum Point Bend , Fort Pillow , and Memphis . On July 15 , Commander Walke almost met his match when the Confederate ironclad ram made its move down the falling Yazoo River toward Vicksburg . " Carondelet " supported by and Walke ' s former command , " Tyler " , engaged the Southern ironclad . During the brisk opening exchange , " Carondelet " suffered heavy damage and was forced out of action in a disabled , though floating , condition . " Queen of the West " retreated immediately , leaving only little " Tyler " to face the powerful ram . The Southern warship , consequently , made it safely to the stronghold at Vicksburg . On August 4 , 1862 , Walke was promoted to captain and assumed command of the ironclad ram then under conversion from a river steamer at St . Louis . He put her in commission on February 27 , 1863 , and commanded her during the dash past Vicksburg on April 6 and during the duel with shore batteries at Grand Gulf on the 29th . That summer , his ship briefly blockaded the mouth of the Red River early in June . Later , on July 24 , Captain Walke was ordered back to the East Coast to prepare the sidewheeler for service . He put her in commission on August 18 , 1863 at New York , but his command of that steamer proved brief . On September 22 , he was transferred to the screw sloop , which he commanded through the final two years of the Civil War , cruising the South American coast in search of Confederate commerce raiders . On August 17 , 1865 , he was detached from " Sacramento " and returned home to await orders . Post - war years . On July 31 , 1866 , Walke was promoted to commodore . From May 1 , 1868 until April 30 , 1870 , he commanded the naval station at Mound City , Illinois . While waiting orders to his next assignment , Walke was promoted to rear admiral on July 20 , 1870 . He was placed on the retired list on April 26 , 1871 . However , his service to the Navy did not end , for , on that same day , he reported for some variety of special duty under the senior admiral of the Navy , Admiral David Dixon Porter . That tour lasted until October 1 , at which time he was appointed to the United States Lighthouse Board . Detached on April 1 , 1873 , he retired to a life of writing and sketching until his death in Brooklyn , New York . Namesake . Three ships in the United States Navy were named for him .