Samuel W. Preston was born near London, Ontario, on 6 April 1840 (one source says 6 April 1841). Appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1858, he stood first in the Class of 1862 when it graduated a year early in response to urgent needs of the Navy's rapid Civil War expansion. Given the rank of Acting Master in October 1861, he became Flag Lieutenant to Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, who commanded operations against South Carolina and Georgia. Preston was promoted to Lieutenant at the beginning of August 1862, and his distinguished service with DuPont and Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren made him one of the Navy's foremost young officers. Taking part in some of the combat operations that he had helped to plan, he was captured on 8 September 1863 during an unsuccessful attempt to capture Fort Sumter, at the entrance to Charleston harbor, S.C.
Lieutenant Preston spent more than a year as a prisoner of war before being released on parole, and was formally exchanged in December 1864. Now legally free to return to active service, he became Flag Lieutenant to Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and participated in the abortive Christmastime Army-Navy attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Renewing the effort three weeks later, Union warships hammered the fort with gunfire while troops and a large force of Sailors landed. In the afternoon of 15 January 1865, Preston was killed while leading part of the Navymen's ground assault. Though repulsed, this gallant charge assisted the Army in capturing Fort Fisher, thus closing one of the Confederacy's few remaining seaports.
The U.S. Navy has named several ships in honor of Samuel W. Preston, including two steamers that served briefly in 1865 and four destroyers: USS Preston (Destroyer # 19), 1910-1919; USS Preston (DD-327), 1921-1932; USS Preston (DD-379), 1936-1942; and USS Preston (DD-795), 1944-1969.
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Page made 30 April 2004