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| You are in: Museum of History >> Hall of North and South Americans >> John Adams Webster | |
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WEBSTER, John Adams, naval officer, born in Harford county, Maryland, 19 September, 1785; died there, 4 July, 1876. He entered the merchant marine, but at the beginning of the war of 1812 became 3d lieutenant on the privateer "Rossie," under Commander Joshua Barney. Afterward he received a sailing-master's warrant in the navy, and was placed by Barney in command of a barge, of which he had charge till on the advance of the British on Washington he was transferred to shore duty.
He commanded a detachment of sailors under Barney at Bladensburg, serving his guns till the powder was exhausted, and had charge of Battery Babcock, near Baltimore, during the attack on that place. This battery of six guns was old and dilapidated, the guns were corroded, the carriages rusty, and the trucks immovable, the earthworks were defective, and the place was overgrown with briers, but in forty-eight hours Webster had it ready for action.
On the night of 13 September, Webster discovered the British landing-party, and opened fire on it, and his battery, together with Fort Covington, repelled the enemy after a brisk engagement, saving Baltimore. For this service he was specially mentioned in Commander John Rodgers's report to the secretary of the navy, and presented with swords by the citizens of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.
On 22 November, 1819, he was commissioned captain in the revenue service, and during the Mexican war he commanded a fleet of eight cutters to co-operate in the campaign on Rio Grande River and before Vera Cruz. In 1865 he retired from active duty, and at his death he was the senior officer in the service.
--His son, John Adams Webster, born in the homestead, Mount Adams, Harford County, Maryland, 26 June, 1823; died in Ogdensburg, New York, 6 April, 1875, entered the revenue service in 1842, was promoted captain in 1860, and saved his vessel, the "Dobbin," from capture by the Confederates at Savannah and Hampton Roads. At the latter place she was the only United States vessel that escaped. While on the New England coast he received a gold watch from the British board of trade for services to English seamen.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright © 2001 StanKlos.comTM