John Wilkinson was born in
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
on November 6, 1821. He was a Lieutenant and Captain in the
Confederate States Navy
The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...
(CSN) during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. He was commander of several
blockade runner
A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...
s, including the
CSS Robert E. Lee
CSS ''Robert E. Lee'' was a fast paddle-steamer, originally built as a Glasgow-Belfast packet boat named ''Giraffe'', which was bought as a blockade runner for the Confederate States during the American Civil War, then subsequently served in t ...
and the
CSS Chickamauga. For the CSS Robert E. Lee, he persuaded the owner in Scotland to sell it to the CSN for the same price that they had just bought her for. Wilkinson died on December 25, 1891, and is buried in Saint Anne's Cemetery in
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
.
See also
*
Blockade runners of the American Civil War
The blockade runners of the American Civil War were seagoing steam ships that were used to get through the Union blockade that extended some along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines and the lower Mississippi River. The Confederate stat ...
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, John
1821 births
1891 deaths
Confederate States Navy captains
Blockade runners of the American Civil War
People of Virginia in the American Civil War