Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote had been recovering from wounds he had sustained during his successful Mississippi River campaign the year before and was serving as the chief of the navy's Bureau for Equipment and Recruiting. He was named commander of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, replacing Admiral Alfred DuPont. He visited his family in New Haven and proceeded to New York City to take passage to Port Royal in South Carolina. He died after a short illness, however, at the Astor Hotel in New York City on June 26, 1863. (By John Osborne)