# Edward Lea > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edward_Lea > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edward_Lea.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lea > Source revision: 1355250171 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Edward Lea** (January 31, 1837 – January 1, 1863) was an officer in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). He was mortally wounded at the [Battle of Galveston](/source/Battle_of_Galveston) and died in the arms of his father, who was on the opposing side in the conflict. ## Biography Lea was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Army engineer [Albert Miller Lea](/source/Albert_Miller_Lea) and Ellen Shoemaker.[1] He entered the [Naval Academy](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy) at Annapolis[2] on October 2, 1851, graduating on June 9, 1855, with the rank of midshipman.[3] Lea was employed in active service on various stations,[2] receiving promotion to [passed midshipman](/source/Passed_midshipman) on April 15, 1858, to master on November 4, 1858, and to lieutenant on November 22, 1860.[3] Lea was serving aboard the [USS *Hartford*](/source/USS_Hartford_(1858)), [flagship](/source/Flagship) of the [East India Squadron](/source/East_India_Squadron), when the Civil War broke out in 1861. The ship was recalled, eventually arriving in [Delaware Bay](/source/Delaware_Bay)[2] in December.[4] Lea was soon reassigned to the [USS *Harriet Lane*](/source/USS_Harriet_Lane_(1857)), then attached to the [Potomac Flotilla](/source/Potomac_Flotilla), but was soon reassigned in her to the [Gulf Blockading Squadron](/source/Gulf_Blockading_Squadron), where he took part in operations leading to the [capture of New Orleans](/source/Capture_of_New_Orleans) in April 1862.[2] Lea was subsequently promoted to lieutenant commander on July 16, 1862.[3] *Harriet Lane* pushed further up the Mississippi that July to engage enemy batteries around [Vicksburg](/source/Vicksburg,_Mississippi), and was then assigned to the blockade of Galveston, which she helped capture in October 1862 in the [Battle of Galveston Harbor](/source/Battle_of_Galveston_Harbor_(1862)).[5] When Confederate forces [retook Galveston](/source/Battle_of_Galveston) on 1 January 1863, Lea, serving as the [first officer (XO)](/source/Executive_officer) of *Harriet Lane*, was wounded in the abdomen and side.[6] He subsequently succumbed to his wounds in the arms of his father, who was serving as a [major](/source/Major_(United_States)) of artillery in the [Confederate Army](/source/Confederate_Army), and who had witnessed the capture of the *Harriet Lane* by the gunboat [CS *Bayou City*](/source/CS_Bayou_City) from shore, and had rushed to the ship to find his son dying.[1] Lea and his captain, [Jonathan M. Wainwright](/source/Jonathan_Mayhew_Wainwright_(1821%E2%80%931863)) were buried together at the Trinity Episcopal Cemetery in Galveston. After the war Wainwright was re-interred at the [Naval Academy Cemetery](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy_Cemetery) in Annapolis, but when a relative suggested that Lea's remains be reburied next to his mother in the [Green Mount Cemetery](/source/Green_Mount_Cemetery), Baltimore, Albert Lea refused, stating that his son would have preferred to remain where he had fallen in battle.[1] ## Namesake The destroyer [USS *Lea* (DD-118)](/source/USS_Lea_(DD-118)) was named for him,[7] as is Camp #2 of the [Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War](/source/Sons_of_Union_Veterans_of_the_Civil_War) in [Houston](/source/Houston,_Texas).[8] ## References 1. Block, W. T. (1993). ["A Towering East Texas Pioneer: A Biographical Sketch Of Colonel Albert Miller Lea"](http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/albert1.htm). *East Texas Historical Journal*. **XXXII** (2): 23–33. Retrieved 31 August 2013. 1. ["A Tribute to Lieut. Edward Lea"](https://www.nytimes.com/1863/02/08/news/a-tribute-to-lieut-edward-lea.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. February 8, 1863. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 31 August 2013. 1. [*Officers of the Continental and US Navy and Marine Corps: 1775–1900*](https://web.archive.org/web/20060623174647/http://www.history.navy.mil/books/callahan/reg-usn-l.htm). New York: L. R. Hamersly. 1901. Archived from [the original](http://www.history.navy.mil/books/callahan/reg-usn-l.htm) on 2006-06-23. Retrieved 31 August 2013. 1. ["Hartford"](http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h3/hartford.htm). Retrieved 31 August 2013. 1. ["Harriet Lane"](http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h3/harriet_lane.htm). Retrieved 31 August 2013. 1. United States Naval War Records Office (1905). ["West Gulf Blockading Squadron (July 15, 1862 – March 14, 1863)"](https://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar&cc=moawar&idno=ofre0019&view=image&seq=467&size=100). *Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion*. Vol. 19. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 443. 1. ["Lea"](http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l4/lea.htm) 1. ["Lt Cmdr Edward Lea Camp"](http://camplea-suv.org/). *Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War*. 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2013. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edward Lea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lea) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lea?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.