Melancthon Brooks Woolsey (11 August 1817 – 2 October 1874) was an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during and after 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 commodore of the South Atlantic Station in the 1870s.

Biography

Woolsey was the first son of Commodore Melancthon Taylor Woolsey and Susan C. Treadwell;''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Being the History of the United States Vol. VIII''
p. 99. James T White & Co, 1898 (digitized by Google 22 Jun 2007, from original held by New York Public Library) he was born at

Sacketts Harbor, New York Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who ...

. His brother James Treadwell Woolsey was born about 1820. M.B. Woolsey entered the Navy as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

on 24 September 1832. After duty at sea and a tour at the Naval School, Woolsey became a midshipman on 16 July 1840. Woolsey was a descendant of George (Joris) Woolsey, one of the earliest settlers of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

, and

Thomas Cornell (settler) Thomas Cornell Sr (c. 1595 – c. 1655) was one of the earliest settlers of Boston (1638), Rhode Island (1643) and the Bronx and a contemporary of Roger Williams (theologian), Roger Williams and the family of Anne Hutchinson. He is the ancesto ...

Cornell, Thomas Clapp
''Adam and Anne Mott: their ancestors and their descendants''
A.V. Haight, 1890 Retrieved November 10, 2013 He progressed through the rank of master to that of lieutenant by 1847. He was placed on the reserve list as lieutenant by the retiring board in September 1855. Lt. Woolsey was called back to active duty in 1861 as a result of the

. Assigned initially to the receiving ship at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Woolsey assumed command of the steamer ''Ellen'' by late 1861 and began patrol duty with the

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...

. During that tour, his ship fought

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

forces on three separate occasions. In May 1862, he engaged Fort Pemberton at Wapper Creek, South Carolina. On 1 June, his ship repelled a Confederate cavalry attack at Secessionville. Three days later, he commanded ''Ellen'' during the attack on James Island. In July 1862, he was promoted to commander and placed in command of the sloop ''Vandalia''. That duty lasted until early 1863, at which time he was transferred to command of the steamer ''Princess Royal''. That ship was assigned to the

West Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

and patrolled the coasts of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. On 28 June 1863, ''Princess Royal'' helped to defend the town of Donaldsville, Louisiana, against a determined Southern attack, and Comdr. Woolsey received high commendation from his superiors for his ship's contribution to the successful defense of the town. He remained with the blockade through the end of the war and, by July 1866, saw his name returned to the active list in the rank of captain. Following the Civil War, Capt. Woolsey commanded the

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

''Pawnee'' on the

South Atlantic Station The Commander-in-Chief South Atlantic was an operational commander of the Royal Navy from 1939. The South American area was added to his responsibilities in 1960, and the post disestablished in 1967. Immediately before the outbreak of the Sec ...

in 1867 and 1868. In 1869, he took command of the South Atlantic Station

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

''Guerriere''. In 1871, Woolsey was promoted to commodore, probably as flag officer in charge of the South Atlantic Station. His last tour of duty came in March 1873, when he took over as commandant of the navy yard at

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

. Commodore Woolsey received orders detaching him from command of the navy yard in the summer of 1874. At the time, an

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

raged at Pensacola, and he deemed it necessary to remain at his post to prevent panic. He contracted the highly infectious disease and died at Pensacola in the summer of 1874.

Honors

* The first USS ''Woolsey'' (Destroyer No. 77) was named in honor of his father. * The second USS ''Woolsey'' (DD-437) commemorated both him and his father.

References

External links

history.navy.mil: USS ''Woolsey''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolsey, Melancthon Brooks 1817 births 1874 deaths Deaths from yellow fever United States Navy officers People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Infectious disease deaths in Florida Woolsey family