Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

Cicero Price (2 December 1805 – 24 November 1888) was an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

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 ...

. He served in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and was commander of 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 ...

Naval career

Price was born in

Lancaster, Kentucky Lancaster is a home rule-class city in Garrard County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. As of the year 2010 U.S. census, the city population was 3,442. Located south of Lexington, Lancaster is the site of the Kenn ...

, on 2 December 1805. He was appointed 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 Af ...

from Kentucky on 1 February 1826 and was attached to the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

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 ...

from 1826 to 1828 and to 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'' en ...

and the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

in the West Indies Squadron during periods between 1828 and 1831. He was promoted to

passed midshipman A passed midshipman, sometimes called as "midshipman, passed", is a term used historically in the 19th century to describe a midshipman who had passed the lieutenant's exam and was eligible for promotion to lieutenant as soon as there was a vacan ...

on 28 April 1832. Price served aboard the schooner from 1834 to 1837 and on the

ship-of-the-line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

in 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 1837 to 1838, and was promoted to lieutenant on 6 September 1837. He next had duty aboard the sidewheel steamer along the

United States East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

in 1840 and aboard the ship-of-the-line in the Brazil Squadron and the Mediterranean Squadron from 1841 to 1843 and during part of 1844. He was assigned to a receiving ship at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, during 1845 and to the sloop-of-war in the

Africa Squadron The Africa Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy that operated from 1819 to 1861 in the Blockade of Africa to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West Africa. However, the term was often ascribed generally to anti-slavery ope ...

during 1846. He was aboard ''Marion'' again in 1848 and 1849 while she was in the Mediterranean Squadron. After duty at the

Memphis Navy Yard Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

, in 1850, Price served on the staff of the Pacific Squadron in 1851, was on

ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense * Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Uni ...

duty during 1853, and was assigned to the receiving ship at

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility t ...

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

, in 1854. Promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 14 September 1855, he was

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

aboard the sloop-of-war in the Mediterranean Squadron during parts of 1855 and 1856. After the

broke out in April 1861, Price was

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the steamer in the

Gulf 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 Atlan ...

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, taking part in the

Union blockade 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 Atlanti ...

of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 16 July 1862, he was commanding officer of the sloop-of-war from 1862 to 1865, serving also as commander of the

from 23 September 1862 to 11 August 1865, engaged in the protection of American commerce from Confederate

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s in East Asia and the Western Pacific through the end of the war in April 1865. Promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

on 28 September or 29 December 1866 (sources vary), Price retired from the Navy on 2 December 1867 upon reaching the statutory retirement age of 62.

Personal life

Price was married to the former Elizabeth Homer Paine (1828–1910). They had a son and three daughters, Lilian Warren Price Hammersley (1854–1909), Lucy Price Renshaw (1858–1896), and Cora Elizabeth Price (1857-1875). After the death of her first husband, the New York real-estate millionaire Louis Carré Hamersley, Lilian became the Duchess of Marlborough, marrying George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough, about five months before Price's death.Anonymous, "Commodore Price Dead," ''The New York Times'', November 25, 1888.
/ref>

Death

After a few days of illness, Price died of pleuropneumonia in Troy on the evening of 24 November 1888.

Notes

References

Naval History and Heritage Command: Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-1900.Hamersly, Lewis Randolph. ''The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, Fourth Edition'', Philadelphia: L. R. Hamersly & Company, 1890.Tolley, Kemp, ''Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1971
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Cicero 1805 births 1888 deaths United States Navy commodores Union Navy officers People of Kentucky in the American Civil War People from Lancaster, Kentucky Deaths from lung disease Infectious disease deaths in New York (state) Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Troy, New York)

Naval career

Personal life

Death

See also

Notes

References