Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard

Life Span
to
    Full name
    John Adolphus Dahlgren
    Place of Birth
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Free State
    No. of Spouses
    2
    No. of Children
    10
    Family
    Bernard Ulric Dahlgren (father), Martha Rowan (mother), Mary C. Bunker (first wife, 1839), Madeleine Vinton Goddard (second wife, 1865)
    Occupation
    Military
    Military
    US military (Pre-Civil War)
    Union Navy
    US military (Post-Civil War)

    John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren (American National Biography)

    Scholarship
    Dahlgren was at the Washington Navy Yard in April 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War. The yard's commander Franklin Buchanan resigned to "go South," and Dahlgren was appointed to replace him. On 16 July 1862 he was promoted to captain, and two days later he took command of the Bureau of Ordnance. Dahlgren's reputation and his proximity to the White House often brought him in contact with President Abraham Lincoln, outside of the normal chain of command, which was looked upon with some suspicion by Dahlgren's peers. On 7 February 1863 he was promoted to rear admiral. Four months later, 24 June, Dahlgren was ordered to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

    As commander of the Blockading Squadron, Dahlgren's chief goal was the capture of the port of Charleston. His predecessor, S. Francis Du Pont, had tried and failed in this attempt and was recalled as a result. During Dahlgren's command Charleston was kept under siege for almost two years. Pressed at sea by Dahlgren's forces and from the land side by William Tecumseh Sherman's advancing army, the Confederates evacuated Charleston 17-18 February 1865. Dahlgren was ordered to transfer his command of the squadron 9 June, when the force was integrated with the Northern Blockading Squadron and returned to its prewar status as the Atlantic Squadron.
    William M. Fowler, "Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00291.html.
    Chicago Style Entry Link
    Symonds, Craig L. Lincoln and his Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. view record
    How to Cite This Page: "Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/11992.