Henry Knox Thatcher was a rear admiral

Rear admiral (United States)

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, who served during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Early life and career

He was born in Thomaston, Maine

Thomaston, Maine

Thomaston, Maine is a town on the coast of Maine the United States. The name may also refer to:*Thomaston , Maine, a census-designated place comprising the center of the town*South Thomaston, Maine, an adjacent town...

 to Ebenezer Thatcher and Lucy Flucker Knox, the daughter of Major General Henry Knox

Henry Knox

Henry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....

. Appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1822, Thatcher was absent on sick leave for most of the first year and resigned in April 1823. He then received an appointment as a midshipman

Midshipman

A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...

 in the Navy on 4 March 1823.

Thatcher spent most of the next four years on board the frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

  in the Pacific. He became a passed midshipman

Passed midshipman

A Passed Midshipman, sometimes called as Midshipman, Passed, is an unused and historic term which describes a Midshipman who had passed the Lieutenant exam and was eligible for promotion to Lieutenant as soon as there was a vacancy in that grade....

 on 4 March 1829, and in 1830-1831 served in the schooner and sloop of war in the West Indies.

He was promoted to lieutenant on 28 February 1833 and served aboard the schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

  in Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

.

He then served on the frigate in the Mediterranean Squadron

Mediterranean Squadron

The Mediterranean Squadron, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was part of the United States Navy in the 19th century that operated in the Mediterranean Sea. It was formed in response to the Barbary Wars. Between 1801 and 1818, the squadron was composed of a series of rotating squadrons...

 in 1834-35; had special duty in 1837; and returned to the Mediterranean in the frigate in 1840. He served aboard the receiving ship at Boston in 1843-46, then in the sloop-of-war , part of the Africa Squadron

Africa Squadron

The Africa Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy that operated from 1819 to 1861 to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West Africa...

 in 1847-50. After duty at Boston Navy Yard

Boston Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...

 in 1851, he commanded the storeship in 1852.

Promoted to commander on 14 September 1855, while serving as Executive Officer of the Naval Asylum

Philadelphia Naval Asylum

The Philadelphia Naval Asylum, later the Naval Home, was a hospital, the Philadelphia Naval School, and a home for retired sailors for the United States Navy from 1834 to 1976, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 at Philadelphia, Thatcher then commanded the small sloop of war in the Pacific in 1857-59. He was Executive Officer of the Boston Navy Yard from November 1859 to November 1861, and thus played a role in the vast expansion of the Navy that began with the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861.

Civil War

He was promoted to captain in 1861, and while commanding the large sloop of war in the Mediterranean, attained the rank of commodore on 3 July 1862.

He commanded the screw frigate

Screw frigate

Steam frigates and the smaller steam corvettes were steam-powered warships.The first vessel that can be considered a steam frigate was the Demologos which was launched in 1815 for the United States Navy....

  in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1864-65, and a division of Admiral Porter's

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

 Squadron at the two battles of Fort Fisher

Battle of Fort Fisher

Two battles were fought over Fort Fisher during the American Civil War. The first battle was a failed attempt by the Union army and Navy to capture the fort. The second battle was a successful operation which led to the fall of the fort and the city of Wilmington, North Carolina.* First Battle of...

 in December 1864 and January 1865. Thatcher was then appointed to command of the Western Gulf Squadron, immediately commencing operations in co-operation with General Canby

Edward Canby

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War, Reconstruction era, and the Indian Wars...

, commander of the Army of West Mississippi

Army of West Mississippi

The Army of West Mississippi was a Union army that served in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was virtually the same force as the Army of the Gulf, but was renamed when it became a part of the Military Division of West Mississippi, in the Department of the Gulf commanded by Maj....

, in the capture of Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

. After a brief and vigorous bombardment Spanish Fort

Battle of Spanish Fort

The Battle of Spanish Fort took place from March 27 to April 8, 1865 in Baldwin County, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the Western Theater of the American Civil War....

 and Fort Blakely

Battle of Fort Blakely

-Sources:**-External links:*...

 were captured by the Union Army on 9 April 1865. With the key defences of the city lost, the Confederate troops evacuated Mobile on the 12th. A formal surrender was demanded by General Granger

Gordon Granger

Gordon Granger was a career U.S. army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Chickamauga.-Early life & Mexico:...

 and Acting-Rear Admiral Thatcher, and possession taken of the city.

On 10 May, the Confederate naval forces

Confederate States Navy

The Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...

 in the Gulf surrendered to Thatcher. Sabine Pass

Sabine Pass

Sabine Pass is the natural outlet of Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico. It borders Jefferson County, Texas, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana.Two major battles occurred here during the American Civil War, known as the First and Second Battles of Sabine Pass....

 and Galveston

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

, the only remaining rebel-held fortified points on the Gulf Coast

Gulf Coast of the United States

The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States...

 capitulated on 25 May and 2 June.

Post-war career

Thatcher remained in command in the Gulf of Mexico until May 1866, receiving promotion to rear admiral on 25 July 1866, and commanded the North Pacific Squadron

Pacific Squadron

The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...

 in 1867-68. There he was presented with a medal and made a Knight of the Order of Kamehameha I

Royal Order of Kamehameha I (decoration)

The Royal Order of Kamehameha I was founded on 11 April 1865 by King Kamehameha V in memory of his grandfather King Kamehameha I and in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This Order was granted to both native Hawaiians and foreigners for distinguished...

 by King Kamehameha V

Kamehameha V

aloghaKamehameha V , born as Lot Kapuāiwa, reigned as monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1863 to 1872. His motto was "Onipa`a": immovable, firm, steadfast or determined; he worked diligently for his people and kingdom and was described as the last great traditional chief...

 of the Hawaiian Islands

Kingdom of Hawaii

The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...

, an honor that he was permitted to accept by virtue of a special Act of Congress.

Though put on the retired list on 26 May 1868 when he reached the age of 62, Thatcher served as Port Admiral

Port Admiral (United States Navy)

Port admiral is an honorific rank in the United States Navy, for the senior officer of the ships in a naval dockyard. Examples include Samuel Livingston Breese from 1869 to 1870 in Philadelphia. The port admiral usually has a flagship, examples of which include for the New York port admiral from...

 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, in 1869-70.

Thatcher and his family settled in Winchester, Massachusetts

Winchester, Massachusetts

Winchester is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, eight miles north of Boston. With its agricultural roots having mostly disappeared, it is now an affluent suburb...

, where he spent the remaining nine years of his life. Rear Admiral Thatcher died at his home on 5 April 1880.

Namesakes

• Two U.S. Navy destroyers have been named in honor of Rear Admiral Thatcher; (1919–1940), and (1943–1948).