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HARLES STANHOPE COTTON, rear admiral in the United States navy, was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, February 15, 1843, a son of Lester Holt and Mary Ann (White) Cotton. He is descended from Reverend John Cotton, a Puritan preacher, and native of Boston, England, who settled in Massachusetts in 1633. His preparatory education was obtained in the schools of Milwaukee and Detroit, and on September 23, 1858, he was appointed from the first district of Wisconsin, acting midshipman, at the United States naval academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

His active duty in the navy began in 1861, when he was detailed for service on board the frigate St. Lawrence, at the beginning of the Civil war, during which assignment he took part in the capture of the Confederate privateer Petrel. From November 19, 1861, to February 24, 1863, he served on board the flagship Minnesota (of the North Atlantic blockading squadron) which participated in the action between the Merrimac and Monitor, in Hampton Roads, March 8 and 9, 1862. He was then successively transferred to the Iroquois, Hartford, Kineo, and Oneida, serving on the last during the battle of Mobile Bay and until the reduction of Fort Morgan, August 5 to 23, 1864. From 1865 to 1869, he cruised on board the Shenandoah, to the East Indies and China, returning in the latter year to duty at the naval academy.

For three years, during 1871-74, he was the executive officer of the Ticonderoga, at the Brazil station; during 1880-83 he commanded the Monocacy at the Asiatic station and conveyed to Seoul the American minister, the first diplomatic representative of an occidental power accredited to and received by Corea. During 1894-97 he commanded the flagship of the Pacific station, Philadelphia. In the various interims he was inspector of ordnance at Norfolk, Virginia; light-house inspector of the fifteenth district; under-torpedo-instructor at Newport; was for several years on duty at the New York navy yard; and served in connection with a number of minor assignments.