Henry S. Stellwagen, USN-- Part 1: Surrendered to CSS Palmetto State

I recently wrote about the USS Mercedita which was dispatched to the Dominican Republic at the end of the war to protect American lives and interests.  This ship was originally commanded by Henry S. Stellwagen, a name I have come across on occasion.

However, there is no entry for him on Wikipedia, so I did some of my own research.  I did not find a lot.

Henry Stellwagen died shortly after the end of the war, on July 5, 1866 and is buried at Forest Hill Memorial Park in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania.  After the Mercedita, he commanded the USS Constellation (as of Jan. 1, 1864)and USS Pawnee.

He was in command of the USS Mercedita when the CSS Palmetto State attacked it in 1863 in Charleston harbor.  Although he surrendered, the Confederate ship did not place a prize crew on board and Stellwagen had the ship leave and go to a Union base for repairs.

On September 24, he married Mary Anne Cook of Philadelphia in Philadelphia.at some point, but i couldn't find the date.

--Old B-R'er