- Lewis Warrington
Lewis Warrington (
3 November 1782 –12 October 1851 ) was an officer in theUnited States Navy during theBarbary Wars and theWar of 1812 . He temporarily served as theSecretary of the Navy .Born at
Williamsburg, Virginia , Warrington attended theCollege of William and Mary briefly before accepting an appointment as amidshipman in the Navy on 6 January 1800. His first duty, in thefrigate "Chesapeake", took him to theWest Indies where his ship cruised with a squadron during the last year of theQuasi-War withFrance . His ship appears to have engaged in one action near the end of the cruise. On New Year's Day 1801, she took the French privateer "La Jeune Creole".Following the cessation of hostilities with France, Midshipman Warrington remained in the Navy. His ship spent most of 1801 in ordinary at
Norfolk, Virginia . The following year, Warrington was transferred to the frigate "President" for service in theMediterranean against the Barbary pirates. Over the next five years, he remained with theMediterranean Squadron , serving successively in "President", "Vixen", and "Enterprise". Promoted to lieutenant in 1805, he returned home in 1807 to assume command of agunboat at Norfolk. In 1809, Lt. Warrington voyaged toEurope in "Syren" as a dispatch courier. He next served a tour of duty in "Essex".When the war with
England began in June 1812, Warrington was in "Congress" serving as the frigate's first lieutenant while she patrolled the North Atlantic. During his tour of duty in that warship, she made two successful war cruises, capturing nine prizes off the east coast of the United States during the first and four off the Atlantic seaboard ofSouth America during the second.Promoted to
Master Commandant in July 1813, he took command of thesloop -of-war "Peacock" later in the year. On 12 March 1814, he put to sea with his new command bound for the naval station atSt. Mary's, Georgia . After delivering supplies to that installation, he encountered the Britishbrig "Epervier" offCape Canaveral, Florida . "Peacock" emerged victorious from a brisk 45-minute exchange with that opponent, inflicting 10 times her own losses on the enemy. For his role in the victory, Warrington received theThanks of Congress in the form of aCongressional Gold Medal , and of the state ofVirginia in the form of a gold-hilted sword.Warrington took his prize into
Savannah, Georgia , and then embarked upon his second cruise on 4 June. On that voyage—which took him to theGrand Banks , the Irish coast, theShetland Islands , and theFaroe Islands —he took 14 prizes.After returning via the West Indies to New York, Warrington took "Peacock" on her third and final war cruise. His sloop-of-war stood out of New York with "Hornet" and "Tom Bowline" on 23 January 1815, sailed around the
Cape of Good Hope , and entered theIndian Ocean . Unaware that peace had been concluded in December 1814 atGhent, Belgium , Warrington led his little force on another successful foray against British commerce. After taking three prizes in the Indian Ocean, he entered theEast Indies in search of more game. On 30 June, he encountered the East India Companycruiser "Nautilus" in theSunda Strait and attacked her. After a sharp action which cost the British ship 15 men including her first lieutenant, she surrendered to Warrington and his force. At this point, Warrington learned of the peace, and he therefore released the prize and started for home. "Peacock" arrived back in New York on 30 October 1815.In 1816, he commanded "Macedonian" briefly for a voyage to
Cartagena, Spain , to convey thereChristopher Hughes , the representative of the United States at negotiations over the release of some Americans imprisoned by Spanish authorities. In 1819 and 1820, Captain Warrington commanded "Java", followed by "Guerriere" in 1820 and 1821. Each ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron during his tenure as her commanding officer. Captain Warrington returned home and received orders to duty at theNorfolk Navy Yard . In February 1825, he relievedDavid Porter (naval officer) as commander of the
David PorterWest Indian Squadron during the latter stages of the piracy suppression campaign and thereafter bore the title, commodore.In 1826, Warrington returned home and served ashore for the remainder of his career. After four years in
Washington, D.C. —1826 to 1830—as one of three commissioners on the Navy Board, a body charged with the administration of naval materiel, Warrington returned to Norfolk for a decade as commandant of theNorfolk Navy Yard . In 1840, he was reassigned to Washington for another two years as commissioner on the Navy Board. After the 1842 reorganization of the Navy Department, Warrington became Chief of theBureau of Yards and Docks .On 28 February 1844, he took over temporarily the duties of the Secretary of the Navy after Secretary
Thomas W. Gilmer died as a result of wounds received when the large cannon "Peacemaker" exploded during a firing demonstration on board "Princeton" at Washington. Near the end of March, Warrington relinquished those duties to the new secretary,John Y. Mason , and resumed his former assignment. In 1846, he became Chief of theBureau of Ordnance , which office he held until his death on 12 October 1851.Text of Congressional Gold Medal
:Friday, 21 October 1814
:Resolution, expressive of the sense of Congress relative to the victory of the "Peacock" over the "Epervier".
:Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be requested to present to Captain Lewis Warrington, of the sloop of war "Peacock", a gold medal, with suitable emblems and devices, and a silver medal, with like emblems and devices, to each of the commissioned officers, and a sword to each of the midshipmen, and to the sailing master of the said vessel, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of the gallantry and good conduct of the officers and crew, in the action with the British brig "Epervier", on the twenty-ninth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, in which action the decisive effect and great superiority of the American gunnery were so signally displayed.
Legacy
Three ships in the United States Navy have been named USS "Warrington" for him.
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