squadron, Buchanan rammed and sank the
wooden frigate Cumberland with little diffi-
culty, although the Virginialost its ram. He
next engaged the frigate Congress,a ship on
which his brother was serving, and ran it
aground to burn. Buchanan characteristically
exposed himself to danger throughout the bat-
tle and sustained a serious leg wound. Conse-
quently, he missed the next day’s historic en-
counter with the newly arrived Union ironclad
Monitorand spent several months recuperat-
ing. His actions nonetheless announced the
dawn of a new age in naval warfare.
Promoted to admiral as of August 1862,
Buchanan became the Confederacy’s senior
officer for the rest of the war. He assumed
control of Confederate naval forces at Mobile,
Alabama, and directed construction of a new
ironclad, the CSS Tennessee. Within two years
his vessel was ready for action, but on August
5, 1864, the Union fleet under Admiral David
Farragut broke the defenses of Mobile and en-
tered Mobile Bay. Buchanan would probably
have had better luck in mooring his fleet to
the shore as floating batteries, but his tem-
perament would not allow such passive be-
havior. He therefore sortied against the in-
truders and, heavily outnumbered, repeatedly
tried ramming Farragut’s flagship, the Hart-
ford. At length, the Tennesseewas disabled
and Buchanan was wounded and taken pris-
oner. He remained in captivity until March
1865 and, after being exchanged, reported
back for duty at Mobile. Buchanan surren-
dered there a second time in May and was
mustered out of the navy. He subsequently
served as president of Maryland Agricultural
College (now the University of Maryland) and
died at his home in Talbot County, Maryland,
on May 11, 1874.Bibliography
Bradford, James C., ed. Captains of the Old Steam
Navy: Makers of the American Naval Tradition.An-
napolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1986; Campbell, R.
Thomas. Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia.
Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press, 2001; Hoeling,
A. A. Thunder at Hampton Roads.Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976; Quarstein, John V., Richard
G. Hoffeditz, and J. Michael Moore. C.S.S. Virginia:
Mistress ofHampton Roads.Appomattox, VA: H. E.
Howard, 2000; Still, William N. The Confederate
Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1861–65.
Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999; Still,
William N. “Iron Afloat: Buchanan and the Mobile
Squadron.” Journal of Confederate History1, no. 1
(1988): 83–177; Symonds, Craig L. Confederate Admi-
ral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan.An-
napolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999; Walter, Fran-
cis X. The Naval Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5,
1864.Birmingham, AL: Prester Meridian Press, 1993.BURGOYNE, JOHN
Burgoyne, John
(February 24, 1723–August 4, 1792)
English General
A
dapper sophisticate of some ability,
“Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne con-
ceived a plan to win the American Rev-
olution for England in a single campaign—or
so he boasted. Had Burgoyne in fact been
properly supported, and cognizant of the ge-
ography and enemy opposing him, he may
very well have prevailed. However, his capitu-
lation at Saratoga was one of the most deci-
sive defeats in history and led to French inter-
vention on America’s behalf.
John Burgoyne was born in London on
February 24, 1723, the son of a Lancashire
aristocrat. He was educated at the Westmin-