Thomas Turner (23 December 1807 – 24 March 1883) was a

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 ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. He served as commander of the

Pacific Squadron The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval s ...

from 1869 to 1870. Turner fought in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

and, though a Virginian, served in the

Union Navy ), (official) , colors = Blue and gold , colors_label = Colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label ...

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 ...

Biography

Turner was born at the Marengo plantation in

King George County, Virginia King George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 26,723. Its county seat is the town of King George. The county's largest employer is the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center ...

in 1807 and raised at the Kinloch plantation in

Fauquier County Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

. He was appointed to the U.S. Navy as a midshipman on 21 April 1825. Turner received his training at sea attached to the Mediterranean Squadron, joining the frigate in 1827 and the sloop-of-war in 1830. He became a passed midshipman on 4 June 1831. Remaining with the Mediterranean Squadron, Turner rejoined the ''Constellation'' in 1834 and then was reassigned to the frigate in 1835. He was promoted to lieutenant on 22 December 1835. From 1837 to 1838, Turner served aboard the frigate in the West Indies Squadron. From 1838 to 1841, he was assigned to the frigate in the

East India Squadron The East India Squadron, or East Indies Squadron, was a squadron of American ships which existed in the nineteenth century, it focused on protecting American interests in the Far East while the Pacific Squadron concentrated on the western coast ...

, participating in the

Second Sumatran expedition The Second Sumatran expedition was a punitive expedition by the United States Navy against inhabitants of the island of Sumatra. After Malay warriors or pirates had massacred the crew of the American merchant ship ''Eclipse'', an expedition of t ...

. In 1843, Turner was assigned to the receiving ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. During the Mexican–American War, he was deployed with the

Home Squadron The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the Atlantic slave trade, make coastal surveys, ...

. In April 1847, Turner commanded the schooner during the

First Battle of Tuxpan The First Battle of Tuxpan was the only major battle fought during the Mexican–American War at Tuxpan, Mexico. Background Commodore Matthew C. Perry's Home Squadron extended its blockade of Mexico's eastern ports to include Tuxpan and Tabas ...

. From June to October 1847, he commanded the stores ship . Turner was then reassigned to the sloop-of-war . In 1850, he returned to the receiving ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. From 1851 to 1853, Turner served aboard the frigate in the

Brazil Squadron The Brazil Squadron, the Brazil Station, or the South Atlantic Squadron was an overseas military station established by the United States in 1826 to protect American commerce in the South Atlantic during a war between Brazil and Argentina. When th ...

. On 14 September 1855, he was promoted to commander. From 1858 to 1860, Turner served as the commanding officer of the sloop-of-war . In March 1860, he participated in the

Battle of Antón Lizardo The Battle of Antón Lizardo was a naval engagement of the Mexican civil war between liberals and conservative governments, (the Reform War), which took place off the Gulf Coast town of Antón Lizardo, Veracruz, Antón Lizardo, Mexico in 1860. A M ...

at Veracruz, capturing the steamers ''Marques de Habana'' and ''General Miramón''. Though born and raised in Virginia and a first cousin once removed of Robert E. Lee, Turner remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. He was promoted to captain on 16 July 1862 and then to commodore on 13 December 1862. Turner was given command of the armored frigate and commended by Rear Adm.

Samuel F. Du Pont Samuel Francis Du Pont (September 27, 1803 – June 23, 1865) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, and a member of the prominent Du Pont family. In the Mexican–American War, Du Pont captured San Diego, and was made commander of the Ca ...

for his actions during the

First Battle of Charleston Harbor The First Battle of Charleston Harbor was an engagement near Charleston, South Carolina that took place April 7, 1863, during the American Civil War. The striking force was a fleet of nine ironclad warships of the Union Navy, including seven m ...

in April 1863. He was assigned to special duty at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1864 and then at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1866.

Turner was promoted to rear admiral effective 27 May 1868. He served as commander of the South Pacific Squadron from 1868 to 1869. Turner's ships provided aid after the August 1868 Arica, Peru earthquake in present-day Chile. In June 1869, he assumed full command of the entire

. Turner retired from active duty on 21 April 1870 after forty-five years of military service.

Personal

Turner was the son of Thomas Turner IV and Elizabeth Carter "Eliza" (Randolph) Turner. His father was a planter who served in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

. His mother was a first cousin of Robert E. Lee. Thomas and his sister Marietta served as groomsman and bridesmaid at Lee's June 1831 wedding. Thomas Turner's younger brother Henry Smith Turner (1 April 1811 – 16 December 1881) was an 1834 graduate of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. He accompanied and helped document

Stephen W. Kearny Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost History of the United States (1789–1849), antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significan ...

's 1845–1847 expedition to the Rocky Mountains, California and New Mexico. Capt. Henry S. Turner was wounded at the

Battle of San Pasqual The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican–American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. The series of military skirmishes ...

in December 1846 and brevetted major for gallant and meritorious conduct at the Battles of San Pasqual, Río San Gabriel and La Mesa. He left military service in July 1848 and settled in Missouri, becoming a banker and serving in the state

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

(1858–1859) and on the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

common council. On 1 June 1836, Thomas Turner married Frances Hales "Fanny" Palmer in Philadelphia. The officiant at the ceremony was Episcopal bishop William White. His wife's older brother was naval officer

James Shedden Palmer James Shedden Palmer (October 13, 1810 – December 7, 1867) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Civil War. He was later promoted to rear admiral. Biography Palmer was born at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He entered the United Stat ...

. Turner and his wife had eight children. After his retirement, Turner and his wife settled in Philadelphia. They later moved to nearby

Glen Mills, Pennsylvania Glen Mills is an unincorporated community in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States about 27 miles west of Philadelphia. The ZIP code for Glen Mills is 19342. History The area around Glen Mills was part of the original ...

, where he died in 1883. His remains were interred at the Evergreen Cemetery in Union County, New Jersey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Thomas 1807 births 1883 deaths People from King George County, Virginia People from Fauquier County, Virginia Military personnel from Virginia United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War People of Virginia in the American Civil War Union Navy officers United States Navy admirals Military personnel from Philadelphia People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Hillside, New Jersey)