RoadTrippin': Edward Simpson-- Part 2: Service Before the Civil War

From Find-A-Grave.

U.S. Navy Rear Admiral.

His first service was as a midshipman in 1840 aboard the sloop of war USS Decatur which was on patrol off the coast of Brazil.  His next assignment was to the frigate USS Congress in the Mediterranean and Brazil squadrons.

After a year on station, he returned to Annapolis.  In 1846, he was promoted to the rank of midshipman and next served on the USS Vixen during the Mexican War where he was present on the attacks on the forts of Alvarado under Commodore Conner, and at two attacks on Tabasco under Commodore Perry and at the capture of Tampico.  He was also involved with the siege of Vera Cruz.

After them Mexican War, he returned to the Brazil Squadron and a short time later returned to the Naval Academy and was assigned as  an instructor in naval gunnery and infantry tactics.

Prior to the Civil war, he was promoted to  Master, then Lieutenant.

--Old B-Runner

Civil War Service of Charles V. Gridley

From the Nation Cyclopaedia.

In 1860, he was appointed from Hillsdale, Michigan, to the United States Naval Academy  by Representative  Henry Waldron.  The opening of the civil War advanced the graduation of the Class of 1864, to which he belonged by one year; and on October 1, 1863, he was appointed ensign and assigned to the steam sloop-of-war USS Oneida, attached to the West Coast Blockading Squadron.

He was in a number of engagements, and while on the Oneida specially distinguished himself at the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864.  He was  favorably mentioned in the Oneida's official report of the ship's executive officer:  "The conduct of  acting ensign Charles V. Gridley is beyond all praise.  He had charge of the master's division and assisted in the conning the ship from the gallant forecastle."

At the end of the war,  he was ordered to the steam sloop  USS Brooklyn, flagship of the Brazilian Station.

--Old B-Runner

A Rebel Captured the Last Slave Ship for the Union-- Part 3: Service in the Far East and the Mexican War

Visiting Portsmouth and Gosport, Virginia, for the first time,  he was ordered to serve on the sloop of war John Adams.  He next served on the frigate USS Columbia on her voyage to China and after three years passed his his naval officer's examination.    Returning to Portsmouth, Guidry took some time in 1840 for a courtship and married a local girl from one of the city's prominent families, Louisa S. Spratley.  The couple settled in what is today Swimming Point.

After service in the Mexican War on blockade duty, Guthrie was sent in 1852 to the frigate USS Brandywine on the Brazil Station.  There he learned how to speak Spanish and translate a history of his host nation.  (Well, this should be Portuguese).  Unfortunately, that translation was lost at sea while in route to its publishers.

Guthrie next received orders to report to  Captain Matthew  Fontaine Maury, who was establishing the  U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C..

Guthrie's second tour to China was aboard the USS  Levant, proved very eventful.  He arrived in time for the Anglo-French War in the Far East as the two European powers fought for control over the tea and spice in the Orient.  This is also called the Second Opium War.

--Old B-R'er

Edward Simpson, USN-- Part 6: Quite Busy During the Mexican War

His first service in the Navy was as a midshipman aboard the sloop of war USS Decatur on patrol along the coast of Brazil in 1840.  The next assignment was on board the frigate USS Congress  in the Mediterranean and Brazil squadrons.  Both of these ships saw service during the Civil War.

After a year on the station, he attended the new U.S. Naval Academy as a member of its first graduating class.

His Class of 1846, had 47 graduates and he was promoted to the rank of passed midshipman.  His next service  was aboard the USS Vixen during the Mexican War.  He was present at the attacks on the Mexican forts of Alvarado under Commodore Conner, and at two attacks on Tabasco under Commodore Perry, at the capture of Tampico.

Next, was the siege of Vera Cruz.

After the war, he returned to the Brazil Squadron and a short time later returned to the naval academy, this time as an instructor.

--Old B-Runner

Welles' Annual Report for 1865-- Part 3: Re-establishing the Foreign Squadrons

Secretary Welles went on to report the joint operations leading to the evacuation of Mobile and the capitulation of the Confederacy through the Gulf coast.  "On the 2nd of June, Galveston was surrendered, and the supremacy of the government was once more established on the entire coast, from Maine to and including Texas.

"With only limited means at the command of the department to begin with," he wrote, "the navy became suddenly an immense power."

During the war, the Navy had increased from 42 active commissioned ships to a fleet of nearly 700.  Welles noted that 208 ships had been built or begun during that period, and 418 others, primarily steamers, had been purchased.  The number of men in the service grew from 7,600 at the outset of the war to 51,500 at its close.

"An unrelaxing blockade was maintained for four years from the capes of the Chesapeake to the Rio grande, while a flotilla of gunboats, protecting and aiding the army in its movements, penetrated and patrolled our rivers, through an internal navigation almost continental, from the Potomac to the Mississippi.

"After the capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark, in August, 1861, port after port was wrested from the insurgents, until the flag of the Union was again restored in every harbor along our coast, and the rebellion was eventually wholly suppressed."

Welles continued:  "As soon as our domestic troubles were overcome, the duty of attending to our interests abroad prompted the re-establishing of the foreign squadrons which had been suspended.  The European, Brazil, and the East India squadrons have been organized anew upon as economical a scale as is consistent with their efficiency, the interests of commerce, and a proper regard for our position as a nation.""

--Old B-Runner

Rear Admiral Godon Takes Command of the Brazil Squadron: Return to Normalcy

AUGUST 12TH, 1865:  Rear Admiral Godon arrived in his flagship USS Susquehanna in te harbor of Bahia, Brazil, pursuant to orders from the Navy department appointing him to the command of the Brazil squadron.  This squadron, dating back to the early 1820s was reactivated after being temporarily discontinued during the Civil War.

Its station extended from the Amazon River to the Magellan Straits and its commander was directed to protect "our flag from insult and property of our citizens from unlawful seizure."

Godon's command consisted of the USS Monadnock, Chippewa, Canonicus, Monticello, Shawmut, Fahkee and Wasp.  (Several of these had been at Fort Fisher.)  The Monadnock and Canonicus were monitors.

Resuming Regular Duties.  --Old B-Runner

Sylvanus Godon Takes Command of Brazil Squadron

MARCH 28TH, 1865:  Secretary Welles advised Commodore Sylvanus W. Godon that he had been appointed as acting Rear Admiral and was to command the Brazil Squadron.  Welles' letter was a significant comment on the progress of the war afloat:  "It is proposed to reestablish the Brazil Squadron, as circumstances now admit of the withdrawal of many of the vessels that have been engaged in the blockade and in active naval operations and sending them on foreign service...."

--Old B-Runner