Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/121

 DAHLGREX

DAHLGREN

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DAHLGREN, Charles Bunker, naval officer and mining engineer, was born near Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 23, 1839; eldest son of Rear-Admiral John A. and Mary Clement (Bunker) Dahlgren. He studied steam engineering and at the outbreak of the civil Avar in the United States entered the naval service and served as an officer continuously tlarough the war. He was serving on board the U.S.S. San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, when Mason and Slidell were captured in 1861 ; took part, under Porter, in the passage of the forts and the capture of the city of New Orleans in 1862 ; and in the pass- age of the batteries and the investment and capture of Arkansas Post and Vicksburg, 1863. He commanded the siege battery of IX. -inch Dahlgren sheU-guns at Vicksburg, which destroyed the powerful batteries inside the beleaguered city; was fleet ordnance officer on the iron-clad squadron com- manded by his father in front of Charleston and in the North Atlantic blockading squadron, 1864 ; senior watch officer of the U.S.S. Onondaga, which jirotected the right flank of Grant's army at Petersburg; and was executive officer of the U.S. steamer Gettysbitrg, 7 guns, in the attack and •capture of Fort Fisher in 1865. He received honorable mention in orders and reports, and for his services was promoted first lieutenant and captain during the progress of the war. Upon tendering his resignation in 1865 he -was asked by the secretary of the navy to reconsider and accept service in the regular establishment. He declined the honor and engaged in mining and mechanical engineering in the far west and Mexico. He was married in 1867 to Augusta Smith, great^ granddavighter of the Hon. Henry Wisner, delegate to the Continental congress from Orange county, N.Y., and a Revolutionary patriot. After twenty-five years' residence in the far west, he removed to the east, residing at Nantucket, Mass., and at Trenton, N.J., alter- nately. In 1898 he commanded a battalion of the New Jersey naval reserves and furnished the officers and crews for two ships in the Spanish war, the U.S.S. monitor Montank and the U.S.S. liesolnte. He named one son John Adolph for his father, and one Ulric, for his brother, a colonel of cavalry killed before Richmond. He was elected a fellow of the American geographical society and a member of the Long Island his-

torical society, the G.A.R., the Loyal legion, the Naval order and the Masonic order. He published : Historic Mines of Mexico (1883) ; The Dahlgren Gun and Its Services during the late Civil War (1889); ahd numerous historical, biographical and tech- nical papers.

DAHLGREN, Charles Gustavus, planter, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1808; son of Bernard Ulric and Martha Rowan (McConnell) Dahlgren, and brother of Rear-Admiral John A. Dahlgren. He was cashier of the Natchez, Miss., branch of the United States bank, 1830-48, and removed to Mississippi fti 1848, acquiring a fortune as a cotton planter. At the beginning of the civil •war he raised and equipped the 8d Mississippi regiment and was commissioned brigadier-gen- eral in the Confederate army. He participated in the defence of Vicksburg, the battles of Corinth, luka, Chickamauga, Atlanta, and the final operations of General Hood"s army, rising to the rank of major-general. After the war he lived in New Orleans, La., removing to Brook- lyn, N.Y., in 1870, where he died Dec. 18, 1888. DAHLGREN, John Adolph, naval officer, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 13, 1809; son of Bernard Ulric and Martha Rowan (McConnell) Dahlgren. His father was the son of an eminent Swedish surgeon and came to America in 1807, landing in Pliiladelphia. He at once applied for naturalization pa- pers, which were granted in 1812. He became a merchant and was made Swed- ish and Norwegian consul. He died July 19, 1824. The mother was a member of a well-known Philadel- phia family and died in 1838. John A. ob- tained an appoint- ment in the U.S. navy as midshipman, Feb 1, 1826. served ^^.^^.^^^^^ m his first cruise '•

on the U.S. frigate Macedonian, and was at- tached to the Ontario of the Mediterranean squadron, 1830-32. In 1832 he passed an exam- ination and by reason of his proficiency in mathematics was detailed for duty under Supt. Ferdinand Randolph Hassler in the U.S. coast survey service. He was commissioned lieutenant in 1837 and was by advice of Dr. Sichel of Paris given leave of absence. He spent two years of rest on a farm to recover his sight tlien greatly impaired by reason of an injury to the optic nerve. In 1839 he was married to ]\Iary Clement Bunker of Philadelphia, Pa. In 1840 he returned