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Photo # NH 56838:  Passed Midshipman Edward F. Beale, USN.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Brigadier General Edward F. Beale, U.S. Volunteers, (1822-1893). Formerly Lieutenant, USN

Edward Fitzgerald Beale was born in Washington, D.C., on 4 February 1822. He entered U.S. Navy service in December 1836 and received the rank of Passed Midshipman in July 1842. When war began with Mexico in 1846, Beale was serving in the frigate Congress in the eastern Pacific. After landing at San Diego, California, he distinguished himself in service ashore, taking part in battle with Mexican forces, carrying messages through enemy-held territory and crossing the continent to keep the Government informed of events in the far west. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1850, Beale resigned from the Navy in March 1852.

He then became Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California and Nevada. During a conflict with Native Americans in California, Beale was appointed a Brigadier General and held that rank during the Civil War. During much of the 1850s and 1860s he was active in survey work in the western states, later becoming a rancher in California. He was U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary in 1876-1877, then returned to his ranch. Edward F. Beale died in Washington, D.C., on 22 April 1893.

The Navy has named two destroyers in honor of Edward F. Beale: USS Beale (Destroyer # 40, later DD-40), 1912-1934; and USS Beale (DD-471, later DDE-471), 1942-1969.

This page features all the views we have concerning Edward F. Beale.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

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Photo #: NH 56838

Passed Midshipman Edward Fitzgerald Beale, USN


Who destinguished himself carrying dispatches in California in December 1846, during the Mexican War.
Engraved portrait published in John C. Fremont: "Memoirs of My Life", Volume I, page 580.
Note Midshipman Beale's Mexican style jacket, wide-brimmed hat and the brace of pistols worn on his belt.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 108KB; 540 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 56839

Edward Fitzgerald Beale
,
Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers, and former Lieutenant, U.S. Navy

Engraved portrait published in Bonsel: "Edward Fitzgerald Beale".

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 123KB; 520 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 56840

Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale, U.S. Navy


Sword, scabbard and epaulettes presented to Lieutenant Beale by his fellow officers, circa 1847, and inscribed: "Presented by the Officers of the United States Navy on the station at San Diego, California, to Lieutenant Edward F. Beale, of the United States Navy, for his gallant conduct in the charge upon the Mexican forces at San Pasqual and San Bernadino, and his carrying intelligence to San Diego of the position of General Kearny through the enemy's lines at great personal risk on the 6th and 7th of December 1846."
Photographed by PH1 B.L. Mason, USN, 3 September 1964.

Courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Decatur House Collection.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 56841

Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale, U.S. Navy


Sea chest which belonged to Lieutenant Beale, who served in the Navy from 1836 to 1852.
Photographed by PH1 B.L. Mason, USN, 3 September 1964.

Courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Decatur House Collection.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 64595

Benicia Arsenal, California


Camel barns at the Benicia Arsenal, photographed in September 1967 by Aero Photographers of Sausalito, California.
In the 1850s the U.S. Government brought dromedaries to the West for experimentation in logistics. Lieutenant Edward F. Beale, USN, used them in survey work. In November 1863 thirty-four of the animals were moved from southern California to the Naval Arsenal at Benicia, where they were sold at auction on 26 February 1864.
This photograph shows the buildings in which they were kept. Whether the buildings have been bricked over, or restored, is unknown.

Courtesy of Benicia Industrial Park, Benicia, California.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 162KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 2 September 2006