Thomas Truxtun

Truxtun was born near Hempstead, New York, on Long Island, the only son of an English country lawyer.[1] He lost his father at a young age and was taken to Jamaica on Long Island with relatives and placed under the care of a close friend, John Troup.[2] Having little chance for a formal education, he joined the crew of the British merchant ship Pitt at the age of 12,[3] against his father's previous wishes for him to pursue a career in politics.[4][5]

Because of his skills, by the time he was twenty, Truxtun had garnered command of his own vessel, Andrew Caldwell. Before the Revolution he was impressed into the Royal Navy and was offered a midshipman's warrant, which he turned down.[1]

After being wounded an action against an American privateer, he decided never to fight against his countrymen again. He then operated as a U.S. privateer during the American Revolutionary War, commanding several ships: Congress, Independence, Mars, and St. James. Truxtun was highly successful in capturing enemy ships during this period, not once suffering a defeat.[6]

After the war he returned to the merchant marine, with a high reputation as a seaman. He was the author of a treatise on longitude and latitude, of a "System of masting a 44-gun frigate," and was an advocate for the foundation of a national navy.[6] He remained in the marine for 12 years. In 1786 he commanded Canton, operating from Philadelphia, one of the first American ships to engage in trade with China. When the United States Navy was reconstituted in 1798 he was one of the original corps of six captains.[6]

In 1794 and the war with France looming, Truxtun was one of the first six captains appointed by President Washington in the newly formed US Navy.[7] During the Quasi-War with France, Truxtun commanded USS Constellation. For his first assignment he had previously overseen her construction in Baltimore, Maryland, with Silas Talbot. After a rank dispute with captains Dale and Talbot, Truxtun was placed in charge of the ship by President Washington. He commanded her with considerable success.[8][9]

Etching of Truxtun's Congressional Gold Medal

USS President was launched on 10 April 1800 and, at the time, was considered America's fastest sailing ship.[17] She was the last of the original six frigates launched. After the vessel was fitted out for sea duty, she set sail for Guadeloupe on 5 August with Captain Truxtun in command, relieving Stephen Decatur. She conducted routine patrols during the latter part of the Quasi-War and recaptured several American merchant ships; however, her overall service in this period was uneventful. She returned to the United States in March after a peace treaty with France was ratified on 3 February 1801.[18] Truxtun's victories made Truxtun a hero of the time; when he arrived home he was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on 29 March 1800, becoming the eighth recipient of that body's "highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions."[19][20][21]

During this period, Truxtun was involved in a dispute over rank with Richard Dale. Truxtun took command of President for a few months in 1800, then retired from the Navy and located first in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and later in Philadelphia. He was offered command during the First Barbary War in 1801 but refused, settling firmly into retirement.

Truxtun had a thorough understanding of the art of celestial navigation and was one among few men of his day who possessed such intimate knowledge of this navigational art. He also designed the original Navy signal manual and wrote the predecessor to the Navy Regulations in use today.[22]

Truxtun ran an unsuccessful campaign for the United States House of Representatives in 1810. In 1816 he was elected sheriff of Philadelphia County, serving until 1819.[19] He also published several books, well known at the time, covering navigation, and naval tactics.

Truxtun died in Philadelphia on 5 May 1822 and is buried at Christ Church Burial Ground.[19] He was the grandfather of American historian Mary Henderson Eastman.[23] as well as naval officer Edward Fitzgerald "Ned" Beale, who became a national figure in 19h century as an explorer, frontiersman, Indian affairs superintendent, California rancher, and close friend of Kit Carson and President Ulysses S. Grant.

• Six U.S. Navy ships have been named in Truxtun's honor.
• The town of Truxton, New York, was named for him.
• Truxton Street in Brooklyn, New York.
• The village of Truxton, Missouri, was named after Thomas Truxtun.
• Washington, D.C. once had a traffic circle, Truxton Circle, named after him. Even after its demolition, the nearby neighborhood has retained his name.
• Truxtun, in Portsmouth, Virginia, one of the first federally funded planned communities in America, was named for him. It was built shortly after World War I for African-American workers at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
• Truxtun Arcade at the United States Merchant Marine Academy is named in honor of the American Merchant Mariner turned Naval Hero Thomas Truxtun.

• List of sea captains
• List of ships captured in the 19th century
• Bibliography of early American naval history
• Truxton Bowl

• Allen, Gardner Weld (1909). Our naval war with France. Boston, New York and Chicago: Houghton Mifflin & Co.
• Canney, Donald L. (2001). Sailing warships of the US Navy. Chatham Publishing / Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-990-5.
• Cooper, James Fenimore (1846). Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Carey and Hart. OCLC 620356.
• Frost, John (1845). The pictorial book of the commodores: comprising lives of distinguished commanders in the navy of the United States. New York: Nafis and Cornish. ISBN 1-55750-839-9.
• Guttridge, Leonard F. (2006). Our Country, Right Or Wrong: The Life of Stephen Decatur. New York, NY: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. ISBN 978-0-7653-0702-6.
• Hattendorf, John B. (2011). "XII The Formation and Roles of the Continental Navy, 1775–1785". Talking About Naval History: A Collection of Essays. Newport: Naval War College Press. ISBN 9781884733741.
• Harrison, Henry William (1858). Battlefields and naval exploits of the United States: ... H. C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, Philadelphia. p. 448.
• Loubat, Joseph Florimond (1881). The medallic history of the United States of America, 1776–1876. Vol. 1. Author/Loubat, New York.
• McBride, James (1815). Naval biography consisting of memoirs of the most distinguished officers of the American navy; to which is annexed the life of General Pike. Morgan, Williams & Co., Cincinnati.
• Roosevelt, Theodore (1883). The naval war of 1812. New York: G.P. Putnam's sons.
• Seawell, Molly Elliot (1898). Twelve naval captains: being a record of certain Americans who made themselves immortal. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner, & Co. Ltd.
• Toll, Ian W. (2006). Six frigates: the epic history of the founding of the U.S. Navy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-05847-5.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Truxtun.

• Excerpt from Truxtun's signal book Archived 2003-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
• Eugene S. Ferguson, Truxtun of the Constellation (322pp, 1956)
• Thomas Truxtun at Find a Grave