John Ancrum Winslow
Encyclopedia
Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow (19 November 1811 – 29 September 1873) was an officer in the United States Navy
during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War
. He was in command of the steam sloop of war during her historic 1864 action off Cherbourg, France
with the Confederate
sea raider CSS Alabama
.
, North Carolina
, Winslow was a member of the old New England Winslow family, a descendant of Mayflower passenger Mary Chilton
and her husband John Winslow who was a brother of Pilgrim father Edward Winslow
. One of his first cousins was Francis Winslow (I) (1818–1862) who also joined the Navy, becoming a Commander, who also fought in the Civil War and who died of Yellow Fever in 1862 while in command of the USS R. R. Cuyler
. He was educated in the North and became an ardent abolitionist.
He entered the navy as a midshipman
on 1 February 1827, became a passed midshipman
, 10 June 1833, and was commissioned a lieutenant, 9 February 1839. During the Mexican war he took part in the expeditions against Tabasco, Tampico, and Tuxpan, and was present at the fall of Vera Cruz. For his gallantry in action he was allowed to have command of the schooner “Union,” which had been captured at Tampico, and was taken into service and named the “Morris”; but she was poorly equipped, and was lost on a reef off Vera Cruz, 16 December 1846. While serving at Tabasco
during the Mexican-American War, he was commended for gallantry in action by Commodore
Matthew Perry
. He shared a shipboard cabin with his later adversary, Raphael Semmes
. The two officers served together on USS Cumberland
, Semmes as the ship's flag lieutenant and Winslow as a division officer. The two, however, never mention this fact in their respective autobiographies.
He was executive of the sloop “Saratoga” in the Gulf of Mexico in 1848-1849, at the Boston Navy Yard
in 1849-1850, and in the frigate “St. Lawrence,” of the Pacific Squadron
, in 1851-1855. He was promoted to commander, 14 September 1855.
The outbreak of the Civil War found Winslow serving ashore as commanding officer of the 2d Lighthouse District. He decided to stay with the Union, probably due to his New England roots, anti-slavery views, and his wife, who was another of his first cousins, also from Boston
. After Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote
relieved Commander John Rodgers
in command of the Western Flotilla, he requested that Winslow be sent west to assist him as executive officer. At Cairo
, Illinois
, Winslow labored to fit out and man gunboats for service on the Mississippi River
and its tributaries. In October 1861, he assumed command of Benton
at St. Louis
, Missouri
. As that deep-draft gunboat was steaming down river to Cairo, she ran aground on a sandbar. While attempting to refloat the ship, Winslow was badly injured by a flying chain link and forced to return home late in the year to recover. When he was able to return to duty in the summer of 1862, Winslow was given comparatively minor assignments. He contracted malaria
, became discontented, and asked to be reassigned to other duty.
Detached from the Mississippi Squadron, Winslow returned to his home in Roxbury
, Massachusetts
, early in November and was confined to bed there for a month attempting to regain his health. On 5 December, orders arrived directing him to proceed via New York City
to the Azores
where he was to assume command of the screw sloop
Kearsarge. Two days later, he went to New York where he embarked in USS Vanderbilt for passage to Fayal. However, when he reached that island on Christmas Eve
, he found that Kearsarge had sailed to Spain
for repairs; and he was forced to remain at Fayal until spring. When the screw sloop finally returned early in April 1863, he assumed command.
In Kearsarge, he cruised among the Azores
seeking Confederate
commerce raider Alabama
until autumn when he shifted to Europe
an waters. At Ferrol, Spain
, Winslow learned that CSS Florida
, was at Brest
, France
, undergoing overhaul; and he promptly sailed for that port to prevent her from slipping out to sea again. While keeping track of the progress of the repair work on the Southern warship through the U.S. diplomatic and espionage network, he also made runs along the coast of western Europe, checking on rumors of other Confederate raiders in the area. He also rigorously drilled his crew in naval gunnery, which stood them in good stead in the battle to come.
In January 1864, Kearsarge returned to Cadiz
for naval stores and repairs; and, while she was away from Brest, Florida put to sea on 18 February. When Kearsarge returned and learned that the quarry had escaped, she shifted to Calais
, France, where CSS Rappahannock
was moored. On 12 June, while moored in the Scheldt
off Vlissingen (Flushing)
, Winslow received a telegram informing him that Alabama was at Cherbourg, a French naval port.
When Winslow turned to approach, the Alabama opened fire from a raking position at a distance of one mile at 10:57 a.m. He kept on at full speed, receiving a second broadside and part of a third, when he sheered off and returned the fire from his starboard battery. Both vessels circled around a common centre, and neared each other to within 600 yards. The sides of the Alabama were torn out by the shells, and at noon, after the action had continued for one hour, she headed for the shore to get into neutral waters, then five miles distant. This exposed her port side, and she could only bring two guns to bear. The ship was filling, and Winslow approached so rapidly that Semmes hauled down his flag. Winslow stopped the ship, but continued to fire, uncertain whether the Alabama had surrendered or the flag had been shot away. The reference used for the details of the battle with the Alabama is to a source found in an account written by a Union brigadier general after the war, and it is certainly not impartial. In fact, the CSN battle flag was white, and it is entirely possible that the Kearsarge mistook the CSN battle flag for a flag of surrender. That would explain the following two sentences, which would seem highly improbable otherwise.
A white flag was then shown, and Winslow ceased firing. The Alabama again renewed her firing, and Winslow also opened and fired three or four times, though the white flag was still flying. A boat from the Alabama then came alongside to announce the surrender, and was allowed to go back to bring off the Alabamas officers and crew, but she did not return. The yacht Deerhound then came up, and Winslow asked her to assist in rescuing the officers and crew of the Alabama, which was then sinking fast. The Deerhound picked up thirty-nine persons, including Semmes and fourteen of his officers, after which she went off and sailed to Southampton. Winslow's officers begged him to throw a shell at the Deerhound, but he refused.
The engagement lasted an hour and twenty minutes. After the last shot was fired the Alabama sank out of sight. She had about forty killed, and seventy were made prisoners, so that thirty-nine escaped. Only three men were wounded in the Kearsarge, one of whom died. The Alabama out shot the Kearsarge two to one. Only twenty-eight projectiles struck the Kearsarge out of the 370 that were fired by the Alabama, and none of these did any material damage, due to the anchor chains protecting the Kearsarge hull. One 100-pound shell exploded in the smoke-stack, and one lodged in the stern-post of the Kearsarge, but did not explode. The Kearsarge fired 173 projectiles, and few failed to do some injury.
Winslow's victory earned him promotion to commodore
, backdated to the day of the battle, and the Thanks of Congress
.
from that year to 1872. He was always known as a solid, courageous, determined officer. Shortly after his retirement, he died in Boston. His coffin was draped in the Kearsarge 's battle flag, and a slab of stone from Mt. Kearsarge covered his grave.
Two ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Winslow
for him. A third Winslow honored him and his first cousin once removed, Admiral Cameron McRae Winslow
(second son of Francis Winslow (I)).
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...
during the Mexican-American War and 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...
. He was in command of the steam sloop of war during her historic 1864 action off Cherbourg, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
with the Confederate
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...
sea raider CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never anchored in...
.
Early life and career
Although born in WilmingtonWilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Winslow was a member of the old New England Winslow family, a descendant of Mayflower passenger Mary Chilton
Mary Chilton
Mary Chilton was a Pilgrim and purportedly the first European woman to step ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.-Biography:...
and her husband John Winslow who was a brother of Pilgrim father Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow was an English Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. He served as the governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633, 1636, and finally in 1644...
. One of his first cousins was Francis Winslow (I) (1818–1862) who also joined the Navy, becoming a Commander, who also fought in the Civil War and who died of Yellow Fever in 1862 while in command of the USS R. R. Cuyler
USS R. R. Cuyler (1860)
USS R. R. Cuyler was a steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted by the Union Navy as a gunboat and was assigned to the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America....
. He was educated in the North and became an ardent abolitionist.
He entered the navy 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...
on 1 February 1827, 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....
, 10 June 1833, and was commissioned a lieutenant, 9 February 1839. During the Mexican war he took part in the expeditions against Tabasco, Tampico, and Tuxpan, and was present at the fall of Vera Cruz. For his gallantry in action he was allowed to have command of the schooner “Union,” which had been captured at Tampico, and was taken into service and named the “Morris”; but she was poorly equipped, and was lost on a reef off Vera Cruz, 16 December 1846. While serving at Tabasco
Tabasco
Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa....
during the Mexican-American War, he was commended for gallantry in action by Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry (naval officer)
Matthew Calbraith Perry was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy and served commanding a number of US naval ships. He served several wars, most notably in the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854...
. He shared a shipboard cabin with his later adversary, Raphael Semmes
Raphael Semmes
For other uses, see Semmes .Raphael Semmes was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 - 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 - 1865. During the American Civil War he was captain of the famous commerce raider CSS Alabama, taking a record sixty-nine prizes...
. The two officers served together on USS Cumberland
USS Cumberland (1842)
The first USS Cumberland was a 50-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first ship sunk by the ironclad CSS Virginia....
, Semmes as the ship's flag lieutenant and Winslow as a division officer. The two, however, never mention this fact in their respective autobiographies.
He was executive of the sloop “Saratoga” in the Gulf of Mexico in 1848-1849, at the 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 1849-1850, and in the frigate “St. Lawrence,” of the 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 1851-1855. He was promoted to commander, 14 September 1855.
Civil War service
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. After Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote
Andrew Hull Foote
Andrew Hull Foote was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war came, he was appointed to command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, predecessor of the...
relieved Commander John Rodgers
John Rodgers (naval officer, Civil War)
John Rodgers was an admiral in the United States Navy.-Early life and career:Rodgers, a son of Commodore John Rodgers, was born near Havre de Grace, Maryland. He received his appointment as a Midshipman in the Navy on 18 April 1828...
in command of the Western Flotilla, he requested that Winslow be sent west to assist him as executive officer. At Cairo
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Winslow labored to fit out and man gunboats for service on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and its tributaries. In October 1861, he assumed command of Benton
USS Benton (1861)
USS Benton was an ironclad river gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for American senator Thomas Hart Benton. Benton was a former center-wheel catamaran snagboat and was converted by James B. Eads, St...
at St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. As that deep-draft gunboat was steaming down river to Cairo, she ran aground on a sandbar. While attempting to refloat the ship, Winslow was badly injured by a flying chain link and forced to return home late in the year to recover. When he was able to return to duty in the summer of 1862, Winslow was given comparatively minor assignments. He contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, became discontented, and asked to be reassigned to other duty.
Detached from the Mississippi Squadron, Winslow returned to his home in Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, early in November and was confined to bed there for a month attempting to regain his health. On 5 December, orders arrived directing him to proceed via New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
where he was to assume command of the screw sloop
Screw sloop
A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's screws...
Kearsarge. Two days later, he went to New York where he embarked in USS Vanderbilt for passage to Fayal. However, when he reached that island on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, he found that Kearsarge had sailed to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
for repairs; and he was forced to remain at Fayal until spring. When the screw sloop finally returned early in April 1863, he assumed command.
In Kearsarge, he cruised among the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
seeking Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
commerce raider Alabama
CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never anchored in...
until autumn when he shifted to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an waters. At Ferrol, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Winslow learned that CSS Florida
CSS Florida
At least three ships of the Confederate States Navy were named CSS Florida in honor of the third Confederate state:* The blockade runner was commissioned in January 1862, captured by the U.S. Navy in April 1862, and became...
, was at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, undergoing overhaul; and he promptly sailed for that port to prevent her from slipping out to sea again. While keeping track of the progress of the repair work on the Southern warship through the U.S. diplomatic and espionage network, he also made runs along the coast of western Europe, checking on rumors of other Confederate raiders in the area. He also rigorously drilled his crew in naval gunnery, which stood them in good stead in the battle to come.
In January 1864, Kearsarge returned to Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
for naval stores and repairs; and, while she was away from Brest, Florida put to sea on 18 February. When Kearsarge returned and learned that the quarry had escaped, she shifted to Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, France, where CSS Rappahannock
CSS Rappahannock
CSS Rappahannock, a steam sloop-of-war, was built on the River Thames in 1855 as an Intrepid-class gunvessel for the Royal Navy and named HMS Victor. Although a handsomely modelled vessel, numerous defects occasioned her sale in 1863...
was moored. On 12 June, while moored in the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
off Vlissingen (Flushing)
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
, Winslow received a telegram informing him that Alabama was at Cherbourg, a French naval port.
Battle with Alabama
Capt. Winslow arrived off Cherbourg 14 June 1864, where he found the Alabama and blockaded her in the harbor. The Alabama made preparations for fight, and Capt. Raphael Semmes caused Winslow to be informed of this intention through the U. S. consul. On Sunday, 19 June 1864, he was lying three miles off the eastern entrance of the harbor when the Alabama came out, escorted by a French iron-clad and the English yacht Deerhound. Winslow steamed off seven miles from the shore so as to be beyond the neutral ground, and then steamed toward the Alabama. The armament of the Kearsarge was seven guns, and that of the Alabama eight guns, including a 100-pound Blakely rifle. The Kearsarge was slightly faster, and had 163 men, while the Alabama had 149.When Winslow turned to approach, the Alabama opened fire from a raking position at a distance of one mile at 10:57 a.m. He kept on at full speed, receiving a second broadside and part of a third, when he sheered off and returned the fire from his starboard battery. Both vessels circled around a common centre, and neared each other to within 600 yards. The sides of the Alabama were torn out by the shells, and at noon, after the action had continued for one hour, she headed for the shore to get into neutral waters, then five miles distant. This exposed her port side, and she could only bring two guns to bear. The ship was filling, and Winslow approached so rapidly that Semmes hauled down his flag. Winslow stopped the ship, but continued to fire, uncertain whether the Alabama had surrendered or the flag had been shot away. The reference used for the details of the battle with the Alabama is to a source found in an account written by a Union brigadier general after the war, and it is certainly not impartial. In fact, the CSN battle flag was white, and it is entirely possible that the Kearsarge mistook the CSN battle flag for a flag of surrender. That would explain the following two sentences, which would seem highly improbable otherwise.
A white flag was then shown, and Winslow ceased firing. The Alabama again renewed her firing, and Winslow also opened and fired three or four times, though the white flag was still flying. A boat from the Alabama then came alongside to announce the surrender, and was allowed to go back to bring off the Alabamas officers and crew, but she did not return. The yacht Deerhound then came up, and Winslow asked her to assist in rescuing the officers and crew of the Alabama, which was then sinking fast. The Deerhound picked up thirty-nine persons, including Semmes and fourteen of his officers, after which she went off and sailed to Southampton. Winslow's officers begged him to throw a shell at the Deerhound, but he refused.
The engagement lasted an hour and twenty minutes. After the last shot was fired the Alabama sank out of sight. She had about forty killed, and seventy were made prisoners, so that thirty-nine escaped. Only three men were wounded in the Kearsarge, one of whom died. The Alabama out shot the Kearsarge two to one. Only twenty-eight projectiles struck the Kearsarge out of the 370 that were fired by the Alabama, and none of these did any material damage, due to the anchor chains protecting the Kearsarge hull. One 100-pound shell exploded in the smoke-stack, and one lodged in the stern-post of the Kearsarge, but did not explode. The Kearsarge fired 173 projectiles, and few failed to do some injury.
Winslow's victory earned him promotion to commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...
, backdated to the day of the battle, and the Thanks of Congress
Thanks of Congress
The Thanks of Congress are a series of formal resolutions passed by the United States Congress originally to extend the government's formal thanks for significant victories or impressive actions by American military commanders and their troops. Although it began during the American Revolutionary...
.
Later career and legacy
Advanced to rear admiral in 1870, Winslow commanded the Pacific SquadronPacific 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...
from that year to 1872. He was always known as a solid, courageous, determined officer. Shortly after his retirement, he died in Boston. His coffin was draped in the Kearsarge 's battle flag, and a slab of stone from Mt. Kearsarge covered his grave.
Two ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Winslow
USS Winslow
USS Winslow may refer to one of several United States Navy ships:Named in honor of Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow:, a torpedo boat during the Spanish-American War, an O'Brien class destroyer, commissioned in 1915, served during World War I and decommissioned in 1922Named in honor of John Ancrum...
for him. A third Winslow honored him and his first cousin once removed, Admiral Cameron McRae Winslow
Cameron Winslow
Admiral Cameron McRae Winslow served in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War and World War I. A son of Commander Francis Winslow , he was a first cousin once removed of Rear Admiral John A...
(second son of Francis Winslow (I)).