John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren
Born: November 13, 1809
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Father: Bernhard Ulrik Dahlgren (1784-1824)
(Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania)
Mother: Martha Rowan (1789–1838)
(Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania)
1st Wife: Mary Clement Bunker (1817–1855)
(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Married: January 8, 1839 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2nd Wife: Sarah Madeleine Vinton (1825-1898)
(Buried: Saint Michael's Catholic Church Cemetery, Poplar Springs, Maryland)
Married: 5pm on August 2, 1865 at the home of Rev. Dr. Cumins, pastor of St. Stevens Church, Washington, DC
Children:
Charles Bunker Dahlgren (1839–1912)
(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Ulric Dahlgren (1842–1864)
(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Paul Dahlgren (1846–1876)
(Buried: Saint Mary's Episcopal Churchyard, Portsmouth, Rhode Island)
John B. Dahlgren (1847–1847)
(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Lawrence Smith Dahlgren (1850–1851)
(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
John Vinton Dahlgren (1868-1899)
(Buried: Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart Crypt, Georgetown, Washington, DC)
Eric Bernard Dahlgren, Sr. (1866–1922)
(Buried: Saint Michael's Catholic Church Cemetery, Poplar Springs, Maryland)
Ulrica Dahlgren Pierce (1866–1925)
(Buried: Saint Michael's Catholic Church Cemetery Poplar Springs, Howard County, Maryland)
Signature:
Nickname: "Father of American naval ordnance"
Antebellum History:
1823 - Began his career as a common sailor, shipped out on the brig Mary Beckett bound for Trinidad de Cuba
1826 - Joined the United States Navy as an Acting Midshipman.
1826-1828 - Duty onboard 38-gun Frigate U.S.S. Macedonian, cruising in the Brazils.
1829-1830 - Duty on board the 22-gun Sloop-of-War, U.S.S. Ontario, cruising the Mediterranean.
1830-1831 - Duty on board the 44-gun Frigate, U.S.S. Brandywine, cruising the Mediterranean.
1831 - Duty on board the 38-gun Frigate, U.S.S. Constellation.
1832 - Appointed Midshipman
1833 - Four months duty on board the receiving ship, U.S.S. Sea Gull at the U.S. Naval Station, Philadelphia.
1834-1837 - Duty working on Coastal Survey, at Long Island, Connecticut, New York, & New Jersey, as well as duty in Astronomical Observation, and Triangulation.
1836 - Selected to make observations of Solar Eclipses of that year.
1837 - Promoted to Lieutenant, March 8.
1837-1838 - Suffered a period of partial blindness, took a leave of absence from the U.S. Navy, seeking treatment in Europe.
1838-1842 - On extended leave of absence from U.S. Navy, as he recuperated from blindness.
1842-1843 - Returned to duty after full vision recovery, on Receiving Ship at the U.S. Naval Station, Philadelphia.
1843-1845 - Duty as Flag Lieutenant on board the 50-gun Frigate, U.S.S. Cumberland, sailing the Mediterranean.
1843 - Dahlgren begins to show his capacity for Gunnery
1845 - On January 10th, while aboard the Cumberland, makes first successful attempts at Ordnance Invention with a spring percussion lock.
1845 - On June 11th, witness to a gun accident during gunnery practice aboard the Cumberland, two men loosing an arm each.
1847 - Assigned Ordnance Duty in Washington, DC, made Head of Ordnance Department at Navy Yard on August 18.
1847 - Appointed part-time Professor of Gunnery at Naval School in Annapolis in addition to his duties at the Washington Naval Yard.
1848 - Made first proposal for creating a Naval Light Artillery Boat Howitzer of Bronze.
1849 - On November 13th, Dahlgen's Birthday, very narrowly escaped death from accidental bursting of an Experimental 32-pdr. Battery, witnessed death of gunner. Made safety of Naval Ordnance his top concern thereafter.
1850 - On January 9, Submitted a plan to the Navy for a 9-inch shell gun of nine-thousand pounds. On January 15th he submitted a plan for a 50-pounder gun of eight-thousand pounds. Test specimens were cast at West Point Foundry, and ready for testing by May.
1852 - Published The System of Boat Armament in the United States Navy
1853 - Elected as a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
1853 - Issued Ordnance Memoranda: Naval Percussion Locks and Primers, Particularly Those of the United States
1855 - On October 11, Commissioned as a Commander in the U.S. Navy
1856-1858 - Sloop of War U.S.S. Plymouth assigned to Dahlgren's command as an Ordnance and Gunnery Practice Ship, with permission to equip her to Dahlgren's wishes with heavy and light guns.
1856 - Published a book entitled Shells and Shell Guns
1857 - On June 24, U.S.S. Plymouth left port for a six-month cruise into the Atlantic with Dahlgren in command.
1858 - On May 29th, U.S.S. Plymouth left port for a cruise to Cuba
Civil War History:
1861 - On April 22, Captain Buchanan who's duty was to the Naval Yard resigned, leaving the Dahlgren unofficially in charge.
1861 - On August 2, Congress Authorized Commanders to Take Charge of the Yard, officially confirming Dahlgren the duty as Commandant of the Naval Yard in Washington, DC.
1861 - On August 6th, Dahlgren was issued 4 Patents:
- U.S. Patent #32,983 was issued for Dahlgren's Cast Iron Ordnance Design
- U.S. Patent #32,984 for Method of Improvement in Cast-Iron Ordnance
- U.S. Patent #32,985 for Improvements in the Manufacture of Cast-Iron Ordnance (Pattern for casting the cannon without cascabel or trunnions)
- U.S. Patent #32,986 for Improvements in Elongated Projectiles for Rifled Cannon
1862 - On July 18th, Dahlgren was given a commission as Chief of Bureau of Ordnance in the U.S. Navy.
1862 - August 5th, Received appointment as a Captain in the U.S. Navy.
1863 - February 7, Confirmed as a Rear-Admiral in the U.S. Navy.
1863 - Beginning on July 6th, Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
1863 - Led the Union Navy in the blockade and siege of Charleston, South Carolina.
1864 - February, led a successful expeditionary up the St, John's River.
1864 - December 23, cooperated with General Sherman in the capture of Savannah.
1865 - Relinquished command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Postbellum History:
1866-1868 - Assigned as Commander of the South Pacific Squadron
1868 - Appointed Chief of Bureau of Ordnance
1869-1870 Commander of the Washington Navy Yard
1870 - Early in July, Dahlgren visited Gettysburg to see the Battlefield and search for the site of a new Summer Home near Chambersburg. On his return trip, he was soaked by a rainstorm, and had to endure his train ride home wet, which lead to a chest cold he never recovered from.
Died: July 12, 1870
Age at Death: 60 years old
Place of Death: In his home at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Chest Pains following a Chest Cold
Burial Place: Washington Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC
Reinterred: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Section L, 50-56
Historical Legacy:
1882 - Dahlgren's Memoirs are published by his wife:
Dahlgren, Madeleine Vinton. Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, Rear-admiral United States Navy. Boston, J. R. Osgood, 1882.
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