William Gwin (6 December 1832 – 3 January 1863) was an officer in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 who was killed in action during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. One of the most promising officers in the nation, with extensive command and combat experience, Gwin had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 by the time of his death.

Early life and career

Born in Columbus, Indiana

Columbus, Indiana

Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 44,061 at the 2010 census, and the current mayor is Fred Armstrong. Located approximately 40 miles south of Indianapolis, on the east fork of the White River, it is the state's 20th largest...

, Gwin was appointed a Midshipman

Midshipman

A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...

 7 April 1847. Gwin subsequently served in the frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 Brandywine on the Brazil Squadron

Brazil Squadron

The Brazil Squadron, the Brazil Station, or the South Atlantic Squadron was an overseas military station established by the United States in 1826 to protect American commerce in the South Atlantic during a war between Brazil and Argentina...

 until late in 1850. During the next five years he was assigned to the sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 of war Germantown

USS Germantown (1846)

USS Germantown was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy.Germantown was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 22 August 1846; sponsored by Miss Lavinia Fanning Watson; because of damaging ice, transferred 18 December to Norfolk Navy Yard for fitting out; and commissioned 9 March 1847,...

, flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of the African Squadron, the steamer Princeton

USS Princeton (1851)

USS Princeton was a large 1,370-ton steamer with powerful guns, some of whose timbers were those from the first USS Princeton, the U.S. Navy’s first screw steam warship....

 and the brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 Bainbridge

USS Bainbridge (1842)

The first USS Bainbridge was a brig in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for William Bainbridge.Bainbridge was launched on 26 April 1842 by Boston Navy Yard and commissioned on 16 December 1842, Commander Z. F...

. In September 1855, while serving in the latter, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. From late 1857 until after the outbreak of the American Civil War in the spring of 1861, Gwin was an officer of the steamer Saranac

USS Saranac (1848)

USS Saranac – a sloop of war -- was laid down in 1847 during the Mexican-American War; however, by the time she completed sea trials, the war was over. She was commissioned in 1850 and saw service protecting American interests in the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Pacific Ocean. When the American...

 and sloop of war Vandalia

USS Vandalia (1828)

The first Vandalia was an 18-gun sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Second Seminole War and the American Civil War. She was named for the city of Vandalia, Illinois.-Service history:...

, both in the Pacific, and of the steam frigate Susquehanna

USS Susquehanna (1847)

USS Susquehanna, a sidewheel steam frigate, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for a river which rises in Lake Otsego in central New York and flows across Pennsylvania and the northeast corner of Maryland to empty into the Chesapeake Bay.Her keel was laid down by the New York...

 in the Mediterranean.

Civil War

Returning to the United States in mid-1861, Lieutenant Gwin began Civil War combat service in the newly acquired cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 Cambridge

USS Cambridge (1860)

USS Cambridge was a heavy steamship purchased by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War.She was outfitted as a gunboat, with two powerful rifled guns, and assigned to the blockade of ports and waterways of the Confederate States of America.-Built in Massachusetts in 1861:Cambridge...

 and, later in the year, was assigned to the brig Perry

USS Perry (1843)

USS Perry was a brig commissioned by the Union Navy prior to the American Civil War. She was tasked by the Navy for various missions, including those related to diplomatic tensions with Paraguay, the Mexican-American War, the slave trade, and the American Civil War.Perry was launched in May 1843...

.

He commanded several ships of the Mississippi Squadron and was one of Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote

Andrew Hull Foote

Andrew Hull Foote was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war came, he was appointed to command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, predecessor of the...

's "can do" officers, displaying outstanding initiative, energy and dash. After the fall of Fort Henry

Fort Henry

Fort Henry is the name of:*Fort Henry , a 1646 fort near present-day Petersburg, Virginia*Fort Henry , a 1774 fort near present–day Wheeling, West Virginia...

 he swept with his wooden gunboats up the Tennessee River

Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...

 all the way to regions of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. This action was a major factor in the collapse of the Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 lines far behind him in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

. Fire support from two of his gunboats, Tyler

USS Tyler (1857)

USS Tyler was originally a merchant ship named A. O. Tyler, a commercial side-wheel steamboat with twin stacks and covered paddles positioned aft. Constructed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1857, it was acquired by the United States Navy, 5 June 1861 for service in the American Civil War and converted...

 and Lexington

USS Lexington (1861)

The third USS Lexington was a timberclad gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.-Purchase and conversion:Lexington was built as a sidewheel steamer at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1861 and was purchased by the War Department and converted into a gunboat at Cincinnati, Ohio,...

, helped save Union troops from disaster in the Battle of Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...

, bringing high praise from General Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

. He was wounded in action 27 December 1862, while commanding gunboat Benton

USS Benton (1861)

USS Benton was an ironclad river gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for American senator Thomas Hart Benton. Benton was a former center-wheel catamaran snagboat and was converted by James B. Eads, St...

 in the Battle of Haines Bluff on the Yazoo River

Yazoo River

The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. The exact meaning of the term is unclear...

.

He died from these injuries on 3 January 1863, on board a hospital ship

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

 in the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. In reporting his death to the Navy Department, Gwin's squadron commander, Rear Admiral

Rear admiral (United States)

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...

 David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

, remarked: "The country has lost one of its bravest officers."