… his friends as fiercely as he fought his enemies.
"On April 22, 1861, Captain Franklin Buchanan, one of the most senior officers in the United States Navy, resigned his Federal commission, ending a 46-year career that saw Buchanan rise to the pinnacle of his profession. A native of Maryland, Buchanan felt it his duty to join the Confederate cause, but tried to rescind his decision when his home state remained uneasily in the Union. Craig Symonds' Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md., 1999, $32.95 USD) gives us the first modern biography of a complex man who had a great impact on American naval history.
When the young Buchanan sought a midshipman's warrant at the age of 14, he received orders to join the unfinished frigate Java in Baltimore. Not wishing to wait two months for Java to be fitted for sea, he requested a furlough to sign on with a merchant vessel bound for the West Indies. That decision gives a first glimpse of Buchanan's impetuous spirit, a trait that would sometimes serve him well and at other times cause him trouble.
Buchanan's early career was varied. After a short tour of duty ashore and later commanding a receiving ship in Baltimore, he went back to sea in command of the side-wheel steamer Mississippi. Later, on the sloop-of-war Vincennes, he proved to bean authoritarian leader, requiring every individual on board the ship to know and understand his place. His was not a spit-and-polish type of discipline, but one that showed little tolerance for individuals–regardless of rank–who failed to meet his high standards…"
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Amicalement
Armand
prepares to do some regimental-level ACW gaming.
