Albert Kautz Rear Admiral Albert Kautz ( January 29 , 1839 – February 6 , 1907 ) was an officer of the United States Navy who served during and after the American Civil War . Biography . Kautz was born in Georgetown , Ohio , one of seven children of Johann George and Dorothy Kautz . When a child , his family moved to Levanna , where they farmed , growing grapes and tobacco . Kautz entered the U . S . Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland , on September 28 , 1854 , and graduated with the rank of midshipman on June 11 , 1858 . He was promoted to passed midshipman on January 28 , 1861 , to master on February 28 , then to lieutenant on April 21 , 1861 , soon after the start of the Civil War . Kautz served aboard the steamer , on blockade off Savannah , Georgia . On June 20 , 1861 , " Flag " captured the Confederate blockade runner " Hannah Balch " , and Kautz was given command of the prize , and ordered to take her to Philadelphia . However , his ship was recaptured by the Confederate privateer " Coffee " on June 25 , and Kautz and his crew were taken prisoner . He gave his parole , and used his relative freedom to negotiate an exchange of prisoners . Finally , in November 1861 , Kautz , John L . Worden , and another officer , plus 368 enlisted men were swapped for a similar number of Confederate prisoners . Eventually this process was formalised in the Dix – Hill Cartel of July 1862 . Kautz then was assigned to David Farragut ' s flagship in the Gulf of Mexico , and took part in the campaign to capture New Orleans , forcing a passage up the Mississippi past Forts Jackson and St . Philip and arriving at the city on April 25 , 1862 . Farragut sent Captain Theodorus Bailey and Lieutenant George Perkins to meet John T . Monroe , the mayor of New Orleans , and demand the surrender of the city , the lowering of the state flag on the City Hall , and the raising of the flag of the United States over the Post Office , Custom House , and Mint . Monroe refused , claiming that only Major General Mansfield Lovell , the military commander in the city , had that authority . Lovell , however , having withdrawn his troops , passed the responsibility back to the civil authorities . Having failed in their mission Bailey and Perkins then had to leave City Hall by a back door , as an angry crowd attempted to kick down the front doors of City Hall , while calling for the two officers to be lynched . The next day , April 26 , Kautz and Midshipman John H . Read were sent to the City Hall with a formal written demand for the city ' s surrender . They were forced to leave their 20 - strong Marine escort behind on the waterfront , and were led through a hostile crowd by a police officer to a meeting with Mayor Monroe , who once again declined to surrender . At the same time men from had raised the Stars & Stripes over the Mint , which was promptly taken down by a group of citizens led by William B . Mumford , who ripped up the flag and flung it through the window of City Hall . For their own safety Kautz and Read left City Hall by a back door to a carriage , accompanied by Marion Baker , the mayor ' s secretary , and returned to their ship . Monroe continued to temporize , despite Farragut ' s threats to bombard the city , until news of the surrender of Forts Jackson and St . Philip arrived on April 29 . That day Kautz and Captain Henry H . Bell landed with a detachment of sailors , a battalion of marines , and two boat howitzers , and raised the flag over the Custom House and City Hall . New Orleans was finally officially captured . He subsequently served aboard the steam sloop in the Gulf , and the steam gunboat . By early 1865 , he was serving as executive officer of the sloop in the Pacific . Kautz was promoted to lieutenant commander on May 31 , 1865 , then to commander on September 3 , 1872 , and to captain on June 2 , 1885 . Promoted to commodore on 6 April 1897 , he served as President of the Naval Examining and Retiring Boards until October 1897 , then as commander of Naval Station Newport until October 1898 . On October 24 , 1898 , Kautz was promoted to rear admiral , and was appointed Commander - in - Chief of the Pacific Squadron . In March 1899 , Kautz , flying his flag on , landed troops at Apia during the Second Samoan Civil War , and remained there until May . In February 1900 he transferred his flag to . Kautz retired in January 1901 , and he and his wife moved to Florence , Italy . He died there on February 6 , 1907 , and his ashes were returned to the United States aboard for interment at Arlington National Cemetery . Personal life . He married Esther Hemphill ( 1844 – 1922 ) , the sister of Rear Admiral Joseph N . Hemphill , and had one son , Albert Hemphill Kautz ( 1871 – 1933 ) .