Foxhall A. Parker Jr.

Foxhall Alexander Parker Jr. (August 5, 1821 – June 10, 1879) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and became one of the founders of the United States Naval Institute.

Not to be confused with Foxhall A. Parker Sr.

Foxhall A. Parker Jr.
Born(1821-08-05)August 5, 1821
New York, New York
DiedJune 10, 1879(1879-06-10) (aged 57)
Annapolis, Maryland
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1837–79
RankCommodore
Commands held
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Relations
Signature

Biography

He was born in New York on August 5, 1821, the son of Foxhall A. Parker Sr.[1] and Sarah Jay Bogardus (born 1794), daughter of Robert Bogardus (1771–1841).[2]

Parker was appointed a midshipman March 11, 1837. He was attached to the West Indian Squadron, then transferred to the Philadelphia Naval School, graduating in 1843. In 1842, he served under his father, Foxhall A. Parker Sr., in Constitution. He also served under his father in Brandywine. On September 21, 1850, he was commissioned lieutenant. He served against the Florida Indians, on the Great Lakes, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and on various coast surveys.[1]

From 1861 to 1862, he was executive officer of the navy yard at Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, he cooperated with the Army of the Potomac, protecting Alexandria, Virginia, after the First Battle of Bull Run. His capable manipulation of the forces at his command went far toward restoring order and confidence at Washington. He built Fort Dahlgren, and drilled 2,000 seamen in the exercise of artillery and small arms, thereby promoting the success of Admiral Andrew H. Foote's operations with the Mississippi Flotilla.

He became commander on July 16, 1862, had charge of the steam gunboat Mahaska in active service off Wilmington and Yorktown, and of the gunboat Wabash off Charleston from June to September 1863. He commanded a naval battery at the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Later, until the close of the war, he commanded the Potomac Flotilla, which consisted at one time of 42 vessels, and frequently engaged Confederate forces.

In 1866, he received the rank of captain. In 1872, as commodore and chief of staff of the North Atlantic Fleet, he drew up a code of signals for steam tactics. In 1877/8 he was in charge of the Boston Navy Yard. He became superintendent of the United States Naval Academy in 1878 and was one of the founders of the United States Naval Institute.[3][4]

Parker died at Annapolis, Maryland. His brother was William Harwar Parker, who served in the U.S. Navy and in the Confederate States Navy.[1]

Writings

Textbooks for the U.S. Naval Academy:

  • Fleet Tactics Under Steam (1863)
  • Squadron Tactics under Steam (1863)
  • The Naval Howitzer Afloat (1865)
  • The Naval Howitzer Ashore (1865)

History:

  • The Fleets of the World: the Galley Period (1876)
  • The Battle of Mobile Bay (1878)

Namesakes

Two ships have been named USS Parker for him.

See also

Notes

References
  1. Nasuti, Guy (November 10, 2016). "Parker I (Destroyer No. 48)". Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  2. "The Parker Family. Of Essex, the Northern Neck, &c". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 6. No. 3. Virginia Historical Society. January 1899. p. 303. JSTOR 4242168. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  3. Allin, Lawrence C. (Summer 1978). "The Naval Institute, Mahan, and the Naval Profession". Naval War College Review. U.S. Naval War College Press. 31 (1): 29–48. JSTOR 44643153. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  4. Schultz, Fred (October 9, 2013). "Proceedings: Naval Institute at 140". USNI News. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
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