154 HEREDITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 



47. HIRAM PAULDING. 



HIRAM PAULDING was born December 11, 1797, at Cortland, Westchester 

 county, New York. He lost his mother at the age of 8 years. His boyhood was 

 spent on a farm. He early desired to enter the army, but finally accepted an 

 appointment in 1811 to enter the navy as midshipman. Here he studied mathe- 

 matics and navigation. Ordered in 1813 to report for duty on the northern lakes, 

 he saw service on the Ticonderoga and as lieutenant had charge of the quarter-deck 

 guns in the great battle of Lake Champlain, and when the "matches" for firing 

 the guns gave out he substituted the flash of his loaded pistol. He was highly 

 praised for his bravery and received from Congress a sword and prize-money. 

 In 1815 he was on the frigate Constellation under Commodore Decatur, which 

 captured the Algerine cruisers, and the next year he was commissioned lieutenant. 

 He then cruised for five years, and later took a year or two on land for further 

 schooling at the military academy at Norwich. On a four-year cruise in the 

 frigate United States he performed special service in conveying secret dispatches 

 from Commodore Hull to General Bolivar, traveling nearly 1,500 miles on horse- 

 back, through a wild, mountainous country. He wrote an account of this trip, 

 entitled "Bolivar in his Camp." Next he was assigned to the schooner Dolphin, 

 commanded by John Perceval, to search for the mutineers of the whaleship Globe. 

 When the two survivors were found, Paulding seized one of them in the face of 

 hundreds of natives armed with spears and clubs and, covering his own body 

 with that of his captive, marched to the boat, holding a cocked pistol to the ear 

 of his prize. In 1831 Paulding wrote an account of this experience, full of interest 

 and humor. After various minor cruises he was ordered, in 1848, to command 

 the St. Lawrence and cruise along the coast of Europe. Here he exercised the 

 arts of diplomacy and received on board several young Prussians for instruction 

 in nautical affairs; one of these later became commander in chief of the German 

 navy. The St. Lawrence also visited Southampton. From 1851 to 1854 Pauld- 

 ing was in command of the navy yard at Washington. During 1855 he was in 

 command of the home squadron and cruised in the West Indies. In 1857 he 

 visited Nicaragua in the Wabash, and in December of that year secured the sur- 

 render of the filibuster General William Walker. For this act he was given a sword 

 by the president of Nicaragua; but the War Department disapproved and relieved 

 him of his command; so he retired to Huntington, Long Island. 



After the inauguration of Lincoln, Paulding was called upon to take charge 

 of the Bureau of Detail. Here he arranged for the building of ironclads. He 

 urged the building of the Monitor from Ericsson's plans. On the secession of 

 Virginia he was sent to the Norfolk navy yard and took out of the navy yard 

 what little could be saved; he destroyed the rest, and towed the Cumberland 

 to safety. The navy yard was then completely destroyed by fire. In December 

 1861 he was retired by law, having reached the age limit, and in July 1862 he was 

 created rear admiral. He commanded the Brooklyn navy yard, 1861 to 1863; 

 here he pushed forward the fitting out of the Monitor and dispatched her to For- 

 tress Monroe, withholding contrary dispatches received just before her departure. 

 When the draft riots occurred in New York City, Paulding dispatched two com- 

 panies of marines and placed small gunboats with light armaments at the foot 

 of the principal streets. In 1866 he was sent to the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia 

 as governor, and in 1869 was appointed port admiral of Boston, which post he held 

 for a time. He died October 20, 1878. 



