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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --
Captain Josiah Tattnall, Confederate States Navy, (1795-1871)
Josiah Tattnall was born near Savannah, Georgia, on 9 November
1795. He became a Midshipman in the Navy in January 1812, saw
action during the War of 1812 and in the Barbary campaign that
followed. During the last part of the decade, Lieutenant Tattnall
served in the Pacific Squadron. In the 1820s and 30s, his activities
included participation in campaigns against piracy in the West
Indies, coast survey duty and command of the schooner Grampus.
After promotion to Commander in 1838, he was in charge of several
Navy facilities, served at sea in the Mediterranean and off Africa,
and was wounded in combat during the Mexican War. As a Captain
during the 1850s, he commanded the large frigate Independence,
the Sacketts Harbor Naval Station on Lake Erie, and U.S. Navy
forces in the Far East. While in the latter post, on 25 June 1859
he intervened in a battle between the Chinese and the British,
aiding the latter. He justified his unneutral actions with the
comment "blood is thicker than water".
In February 1861, as southern states were leaving from the
Union, Captain Tattnall resigned his commission to become an officer
in the Georgia Navy and, soon after, in the Confederate States
Navy. During 1861, he commanded the naval defenses of Georgia
and South Carolina, participating in the battle of Port Royal,
S.C., on 7 November. He was placed in charge of the naval defenses
of Virginia in March 1862, and took over command of the pioneer
ironclad Virginia
after her battles with Federal warships on 8 and 9 March 1862.
After two months of naval stalemate in the Hampton Roads area,
the Confederate evacuation of Norfolk forced Tattnall to destroy
the Virginia, an act supported by a subsequent court-martial.
For the rest of the Civil War, Tattnall commanded naval forces
in Georgia and the Savannah naval station. He lived in Canada
for four years after the war, then returned to Georgia to serve
as inspector of the port of Savannah. Josiah Tattnall died on
14 June 1871.
This page features all our pictures of Captain Josiah Tattnall,
CSN.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 43939
Captain Josiah Tattnall, USN
Portrait showing him in pre-Civil War uniform. Following a long
and distinguished U.S. Navy career, including command of the
East India squadron in 1858-60, he served as a senior officer
in the Confederate Navy.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 156KB; 590 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 66595
Captain Josiah Tattnall, CSN
Engraved portrait, published during the 19th Century.
He commanded CSS Virginia following her battle with USS
Monitor, and later was in charge of the Naval defenses
of Georgia.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 84KB; 545 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 43940
Captain Josiah Tattnall, CSN
Artwork reproduced as a halftone in Fiveash, "Virginia-Monitor
Engagement", Norfolk, Va., 1907.
He commanded CSS Virginia following her battle with USS
Monitor, and later was in charge of the Naval defenses
of Georgia.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 103KB; 595 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 44520-KN (Color)
Confederate Navy Leaders
Painting by Creative Arts Studio, prepared for use in an official
film on Naval history, circa the early 1960s.
It depicts an imaginary meeting of some of the Confederacy's
naval leaders, including (seated, left to right): Captain Franklin
Buchanan, Captain Josiah Tattnall, and Commander Matthew F. Maury.
Shown standing (from left to right) are Captain George N. Hollins,
Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes, and Secretary of the Navy Stephen
Mallory.
Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 350 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 66324-KN (Color)
"Bombardment of the Forts at the Entrance to the Peiho
River, 25th June 1859"
"About half-an-hour after the commencement, as seen from
the junks, in which were two battalions of Marines. Commencement
of action 2:30 P.M."
Colored lithograph by T.G. Dutton after a drawing by Major W.G.R.
Masters, Royal Marines Light Artillery, published by Day & Son,
Gate St., Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, July 18, 1861.
The print identifies the steamer in center as "the U.S.A.
chartered steamship 'Toey-Wan' (Captain Josiah Tattnall) which
rendered conspicuous service to the English and French gunboats".
Courtesy of the Beverly Robinson Collection, U.S. Naval Academy
Museum.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 540 pixels |
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Page made 16 June 2001