From Find-A-Grave.
BENJAMIN WILBURNE GUTHRIE
BIRTH: 1841, Washington, North Carolina
DEATH: 21 May 1895, (aged 53-54), New York City, NY.
BURIAL: CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY, Portsmouth, Virginia Plot 4 297
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JOHN JULIUS GUTHRIE, JR.
BIRTH: 1844, Portsmouth, Virginia
DEATH: 3 December 1903 ( aged 58-59), Portsmouth City, Virginia
BURIAL: CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY, Portsmouth City, Virginia PLOT 4 297
--Old B-Runner
At one point earlier in my research on John J. Guthrie, I was wondering if this Confederate Navy officer was the son of John. He was.
From "Civil War Biographies on Western Waters" by Myron J. Smith.
GUTHRIE, BENJAMIN WILBURNE
Born (ca 1841) in Washington, North Carolina Died New York City May 21, 1895.
CSA / CSN
The son of John Julius Guthrie and brother of John Julius Guthrie, Jr..
Benjamin moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, with his family before he was five. Following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he enlisted in Company K. of the 9th Virginia Infantry on August 31, 1861.
After he was offered an appointment as a CSN master on February 24 and the opportunity to serve with his father and brother in western waters, he transferred from the infantry three days later.
--Old B-Runner
From "Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters" by Myron J. Smith, Jr..
JOHN JULIUS GUTHRIE
(1814, Washington, N.C.-- November 24, 1877, Nags Head, N.C.; CSN)
Appointed a USMA cadet in 1833, but preferring the life of a sailor, Guthrie resigned from West Point and was appointed a midshipman on February 26, 1834. He achieved the rank of lieutenant by the 1850s.
Active at sea, the Mexican War veteran participated in the Allied attack on the Chinese barrier forts at Canton (Second Opium War) in November 1856, where he hauled down the Chinese flag, which he presented to the state of North Carolina in 1858. (I wasn't able to find out if that Chinese flag was still in North Carolina.)
While on patrol off the Congo River in Africa in 1861, he led a boarding party from the USS Saratoga in the capture of the slaver Nightingale, with 900 slaves aboard.
--Old B-Runner
Continued from April 13, 2021 post.
Details about Lt. John Guthrie's action against the slave ship off Kabenda, Africa, are sketchy, but it is known that the overall mission was a complete success. The slaver Nightingale and her cargo of 900 slaves were captured.
After the slaves were released in Liberia, the Saratoga, with her prize Nightingale in tow, headed back for the United States.
No doubt that Guthrie dreamed of certain promotion in the U.S. Navy as one of its rising stars. In fact, since early childhood in Washington, North Carolina, Guthrie had been raised in a family with a rich military tradition. His great grandfather and two great uncles had served in the American Revolution. John Wilburn Guthrie, his grandfather, was a surgeon in the War of 1812.
His father, Dr. J.W. Guthrie, was also a well-respected U.S. Army surgeon who had talked John into leaving Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina) for an appointment to West Point. After only a year there, he switched to the U.S. Navy and entered as a midshipman in 1834.
--Old B-Runner
Upon return to the United States with the captured slaver Nightingale, John Guthrie resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Navy where he served as a captain for the duration of the war.
When asked about his role in the liberation of nearly 1000 slaves before the war, he replied in essence that "it was the right thing to do."
His military prowess was honed from his early childhood in Washington, North Carolina. His great grandfather and two great uncles served in the American Revolution. His grandfather, Dr. John Wilburn Guthrie, was a surgeon during the War of 1812.
His father, Dr. J.W. Guthrie, was a respected U.S. Army surgeon who talked young John into attending West Point. However, after just a year, John transferred to the U.S. Navy and he entered it as a midshipman in 1834 and continued his career as a naval officer.
After the war, President U.S. Grant appointed him as superintendent of life-saving stations along the North Carolina-Virginia coasts. He died on November 25, 1877.
--Old B-Runner
From the March 1, 2021, Washington (NC) Daily News "A local war hero you might not recognize" by Leesa Jones.
John Guthrie was born in Washington, N.C. on April 15, 1815, and found himself stationed aboard the USS Saratoga off the West Coast of Africa on April 21, 1861, while the rest of the country was getting into war.
At the time, the U.S. Navy was very active in the suppression of the slave trade. The Saratoga's commander, Alfred Taylor, and his executive officer, Lt. Guthrie, received a report that a large ship loaded with slaves was located up the Congo River, where they were stationed at the time. The ship's name was the Nightingale, one of the most notorious of the slavers.
As second in command, Lt. Guthrie was selected to lead a boarding party upriver and capture the slave ship. The mission was a success and 961 slaves were captured and later released in Liberia. The Saratoga then headed back to the United States with her prize (the Nightingale) in tow.
The Nightingale was the last slave ship captured by the U.S. Navy. The African Slave Trade Patrol was part of the suppression of the Atlantic Slave Trade between 1819 and the start of the Civil War. A squadron of Navy ships was kept busy at this and Guthrie's USS Saratoga was one of the most famous of these ships.
--Old B-Runner
