Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John Adolphus Bernard DAHLGREN
Dahlgren, John Adolph, naval officer, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 13, 1809; son of Bernard Ulric and Martha Rowan (McConnell) Dahlgren. His father was the son of an eminent Swedish surgeon and came to America in 1807, landing in Philadelphia. He at once applied for naturalization papers, which were granted in 1812. He became a merchant and was made Swedish and Norwegian consul. He died July 19, 1824. The mother was a member of a well-known Philadelphia family and died in 1838. John A. obtained an appointment in the U.S. navy as midshipman, Feb. 1, 1826, served in his first cruise on the U.S. frigate Macedonian, and was attached to the Ontario of the Mediterranean squadron, 1830-32. In 1832 he passed an examination and by reason of his proficiency in mathematics was detailed for duty under Supt. Ferdinand Randolph Haasler in the U.S. coast survey service. He was commissioned lieutenant in 1837 and was by advice of Dr. Sichel of Paris given leave of absence. He spent two years of rest on a farm to recover his sight then greatly impaired by reason of an injury to the optic nerve. In 1839 he was married to Mary Clement Bunker of Philadelphia, Pa. In 1840 he returned [p.102] to duty, his eyesight fully restored. In 1843 he sailed to the Mediterranean on the frigate Cumberland, returning late in 1845 by reason of the threatened war with Mexico. He was assigned to ordnance duty at Washington in 1847, much against his wish, as his inclination was for active service afloat. His progress and promotion was rapid and he introduced improvements and innovations that made the ordnance department of the U.S. navy the most efficient and formidable in the world, and this in spits of determined opposition from the older ordnance officers. He continued in the department for sixteen years, reaching the position of chief of ordnance. The Dahlgren shell gun and its accessories was the crowning result of his inventions, and when in 1861 the civil war put it to the severest tests it proved the wisdom and forethought of its inventor and projector. He instituted the foundry for cannon, the gun-carriage ship, and the experimental battery. He was made commander in 1855, and in order to test his apparent innovations, he was allowed to equip the sloop-of-war Plymouth with his XI.-inch guns and other modern ordnance considered too heavy for sea service. In 1857 he visited the European coast from Portugal to Holland, and in 1858-59 cruised in the West Indies, testing the gun's efficiency and adaptability to naval warfare. In the civil war his guns and heavy ammunition quieted the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, opened the Mississippi at New Orleans and Vicksburg, gave Port Royal to the Union forces as a naval station, sealed Charleston, Wilmington and Savannah to blockade runners, captured Mobile, and sunk the Alabama. In 1861 Commander Dahlgren was at the Washington navy yard and because of the disaffection in the navy, he was the senior officer left in that yard loyal to the government. He held the yard for four days, until Federal troops relieved him. He was promoted captain in July, 1861, remaining commander of the yard. In July, 1862, he was made chief of the Bureau of ordnance, and in February, 1863, he received from congress a vote of thanks and was made rear-admiral. In July, 1863, he succeeded to the command of the South Atlantic blockading squadron which comprised ninety vessels of war including the iron-clad monitor fleet at Charleston, and guarded three hundred miles of coast and twenty-five ports. He succeeded in silencing Fort Sumter and the batteries on Morris Island, put a stop to blockade running, led a successful expedition on the St. John's river, cooperated with Sherman in the capture of Savannah and entered Charleston in February, 1865. He commanded the South Pacific squadron in 1866 and was again chief of ordnance, 1869-70, being relieved at his own request and appointed to the command of the Washington navy yard. He was married after he returned to Washington, in 1865, to Mrs. Madeleine Vinton Goddard, only daughter of the Hon. S. F. Vinton, representative in congress from Ohio. His published works include: 32 pdr. Practice for Rangers (1848); Exercise and Manoeuver for the Boat Howitzer (1852); Boat Armament (1852, 2d ed., 1856); Percussion System (1853); Ordnance Memoranda (1853); Shells, and Shell-guns (1856); and Memoir of Ulric Dahlgren (1872); besides numerous reports, memoranda and notes on ordnance published in pamphlet. He died suddenly in Washington, D.C., July 12, 1870, and was buried in the family burying ground at Laurel Hill, Philadelphia.
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