BARRETT, Edward, naval officer, born in Louisiana in 1828; died in March 1880. When thirteen years old he joined the sloop " Preble " as a midshipman, and served on foreign stations until February 1846, when he was ordered to the naval academy at Annapolis (established in 1845), and was graduated in August of the same year, in time to participate in the war with Mexico as a passed midshipman. He was present at the operations about Vera Cruz, took part in the expedition to Laguna, and was sent as master with a valuable prize to New Orleans. In 1848 he was placed in command of the sloop "Jamestown" and sent to the African coast. In 1854 he acted as flag lieutenant to Com. Breeze, was promoted lieutenant 14 September 1855, and after further service on the African coast and in the East Indies was appointed instructor of gunnery. In 1862 he was tried by court-martial for disloyalty, but was fully exonerated alike by the court and the reviewing authority. In July 1862, he was promoted lieutenant-commander, and in 1863-'4 commanded the gun-boat "Massasoit." In 1864-'5 he commanded the monitor "Catskill," and captured the "Deer," the only blockade-runner captured by a monitor. He was in the first expedition that ascended the Yang-tse-Kiang River as far as Hangkow, and took the first man-of-war through the Eads jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi.