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WILKINSON, John, naval officer, born in Norfolk, Virginia, 6 November, 1821. He entered the navy as a midshipman, 8 December, 1837, attended the naval school at Philadelphia, and became a passed midshipman, 29 June, 1843, served in the "Oregon" on special service in 1844-'5, and in the "Portsmouth" in 1845-'6. He was attached to the " Saratoga" in the later operations on the Gulf coast of Mexico, was commissioned a master, 25 June, 1850, and became lieutenant, 5 November, 1850. He served in the steamer "Southern Star," on the expedition to Paraguay, in 1858-'9, was on duty in the coast survey in 1860-'1, and when the civil war began resigned his commission. 20 April, 1861, and entered the Confederate navy as a lieutenant. He was assigned to duty in Fort Powhatan on the James river, and then ordered to command a battery at Acquia creek. In the spring of 1862 he was appointed executive of the ram "Louisiana," at New Orleans, in which he was taken prisoner at the capture of the city by Farragut. He was exchanged, 5 AUG., 1862, and on 12 August left Richmond with funds and Confederate bonds with which to purchase and load a vessel in England with a cargo of war material. He there bought the steamer "Giraffe," in which he ran the blockade at Wilmington, North Carolina, having on board machinery to make Confederate paper-money. Shortly afterward the "Giraffe" was renamed the "R. E. Lee." He made regular trips from Wilmington to Bermuda with cotton, and back with cargoes of arms and military stores. In October, 1863, he was ordered to command an expedition to release the Confederate prisoners on Johnson's island; but the Canadian governor-general learned of the plot, and it was a failure. He served in the iron-clad "Albemarle" in 1864, and in September had command of the "Chickamauga," in which he destroyed a great many merchant-vessels. In 1865 he had charge of the blockade-runner "Chameleon," which he took to Liverpool, where she was seized after the war, and delivered to the United States government. He has published "The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner" (New York, 1877).
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