{{Short description|United States Navy admiral (1805–1877)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name= Louis M. Goldsborough |birth_date= {{birth date|1805|2|18}} |death_date= {{death date and age|1877|2|20|1805|2|18}} |birth_place= [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. |death_place= Washington, D.C., U.S. |burial_place= |burial_label= Place of burial |image=Louis-Malesherbes-Goldsborough.jpg |caption= |nickname="Old Guts"<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qP7FBNaQiEAC&pg=PA18 |title=From Cape Charles to Cape Fear: The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War |first=Robert M. |last=Browning |publisher=[[University of Alabama Press]] |isbn=9780817306793 |page=18 |date=1993-07-30 |access-date=2021-05-03 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |allegiance= {{Flag|United States of America|1867}}<br/>[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] |branch= {{flag|United States Navy|1867}} |service_years= 1812–1873 |rank=[[File:USN Rear Admiral rank insignia.jpg|35px]] [[Rear admiral]] |commands=[[Brazil Squadron]]<br>[[North Atlantic Blockading Squadron]]<br/>[[European Squadron]] |battles=[[Aegean Anti-Piracy Campaign|Aegean Campaign]]<br/> *[[Battle of Doro Passage]] [[Seminole Wars]]
[[Mexican–American War|Mexican War]]<br/> *[[Siege of Veracruz]] [[American Civil War]]<br/> *[[Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries]] *[[Battle of Roanoke Island]] *[[Battle of Elizabeth City]] *[[Battle of New Berne]] *[[Battle of Fort Macon]] *[[Peninsula Campaign]] |relations=[[John R. Goldsborough]] (brother) |other_work=[[List of Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy|Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy]] |signature= Signature of Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough (1805–1877).png }} [[File:Louis M. Goldsborough - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|Louis M. Goldsborough]] '''Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough''' (February 18, 1805 – February 20, 1877) was a [[Rear Admiral (United States)|rear admiral]] in the [[United States Navy]] during the [[American Civil War]]. He held several sea commands during the Civil War, including that of the [[North Atlantic Blockading Squadron]]. He was also noted for contributions to nautical scientific research.
His younger brother, [[John R. Goldsborough]], was also a U.S. Navy officer who served during the Civil War and who later became a [[Commodore (United States)|commodore]].
==Biography== Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough was born in Washington, D.C., in 1805, the son of a chief clerk at the [[United States Department of the Navy]].<ref name=Cyclopaedia>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U11DAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA107 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=II |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=107 |year=1921 |access-date=2021-05-03 |via=Google Books}}</ref> He was appointed midshipman in the [[United States Navy]] by [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] [[Paul Hamilton (politician)|Paul Hamilton]] on June 28, 1812. At the time of his appointment, he was seven years old, and Goldsborough did not actually begin serving until February 13, 1816, when he reported for duty at the [[Washington Navy Yard]].
In 1831 Goldsborough married Elizabeth Wirt, daughter of [[William Wirt (Attorney General)|William Wirt]], U.S. Attorney General from 1817 to 1829. Together, they had three children: William, Louis, and Elizabeth.
In 1833, after helping lead German emigrants to Wirt's Estates near [[Monticello, Florida]], Goldsborough took leave from the Navy to command a steamboat expedition, and later mounted volunteers in the [[Seminole War]].
==Naval service== During the [[Aegean Anti-Piracy Campaign]], Goldsborough led a four-boat night [[Battle of Doro Passage|expedition]] from [[USS Porpoise (1820)|''Porpoise'']] in October 1827 to rescue British merchant [[brig]] ''Comet'' from [[Mediterranean]] [[pirate]]s. In 1830 he was appointed first officer in charge of the newly created [[Depot of Charts and Instruments]] at Washington, the crude beginning of the [[United States Hydrographic Office]]. Goldsborough suggested creation of the depot and initiated the collection and centralization of the instruments, books and charts that were scattered among several Navy yards. After two years he was relieved by Lieutenant [[Charles Wilkes]].
After cruising the Pacific in the [[frigate]] [[USS United States (1797)|''United States'']], he participated in the bombardment of [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]] in [[USS Ohio (1820)|''Ohio'']] during the [[Mexican–American War]]. He served consecutively as: commander of a detachment in the expedition against [[Tuxpan]]; senior officer of a commission which explored California and [[Oregon]] (1849–1850); superintendent of the [[United States Naval Academy]] (1853–1857); and commander of the [[Brazil]] Squadron (1859–1861).
===Civil War service=== Goldsborough was given command of the [[Atlantic Blockading Squadron]] in September 1861, relieving Flag Officer [[Silas H. Stringham]]. In October of that year the Atlantic squadron was split into the [[Union Blockade|North Atlantic Blockading Squadron]] and [[Union blockade|South Atlantic Blockading Squadron]]; Goldsborough took command of the North squadron, and Flag Officer [[Samuel Francis DuPont]] assumed command of the South squadron. On January 3, 1862, both officers were promoted to the newly created rank of Flag Officer (equivalent to the rank of Commodore which would be created 5 months later). During his command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which he commanded from its inception to September 1862, he led his fleet off [[North Carolina]], where in cooperation with troops under [[General officer|General]] [[Ambrose Burnside]], he captured [[Roanoke Island]] and destroyed a small [[Confederate States|Confederate]] fleet.
====Peninsula campaign==== After aiding the capture of Roanoke Island, Goldsborough and his command were sent to [[Hampton Roads]] at the request of [[General officer|Major General]] [[George B. McClellan]] to help protect Union forces landing on the Virginia Peninsula at the start of the [[Peninsula Campaign]]. Goldsborough refused to be placed under McClellan's direct command, telling Assistant Secretary of the Navy [[Gustavus Vasa Fox]] that he would instead ''cooperate'' with McClellan. After sending six of his vessels to attack the Gloucester Point batteries, Goldsborough withdrew them, saying the area was too dangerous for his ships—even though none of them sustained any damage—and fearful of a return appearance by [[CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia'']], which had laid waste to a Union naval force in Hampton Roads while Goldsborough was at Roanoke Island.<ref>{{cite book|last=Symonds|first=Craig|title=Lincoln And His Admirals|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-531022-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lincolnhisadmira00symo/page/143 143–144]|url=https://archive.org/details/lincolnhisadmira00symo/page/143}}</ref>
At the start of the [[Seven Days Battles]], Goldsborough was asked again, this time by President [[Abraham Lincoln]], to come to McClellan's aid. Goldsborough continued to hold back his fleet, forcing Lincoln to accept a recommendation by Secretary of the Navy [[Gideon Welles]] to detach ships under Goldsborough's command and place them under Commodore [[Charles Wilkes]], who as a lieutenant had relieved Goldsborough at the Depot of Charts and Instruments (see above), and who would report directly to Welles. This move, coupled with newspaper accounts critical of the Navy, so seriously hurt Goldsborough that he requested that he be relieved. He was promoted to rear admiral in August 1862, and in September passed command of the squadron to Acting Rear Admiral [[Samuel Phillips Lee]]. Goldsborough would finish the war performing administrative duties in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite book|last=Symonds|first=Craig|title=Lincoln And His Admirals|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-531022-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lincolnhisadmira00symo/page/172 172–174]|url=https://archive.org/details/lincolnhisadmira00symo/page/172}}</ref>
==Post-Civil War service and death== In June 1865, Goldsborough became the first commander of the [[European Squadron]], formerly the Mediterranean Squadron. In 1868, Goldsborough returned to Washington and took command of the Washington Navy Yard, a position he held until he retired in 1873.
[[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] Louis M. Goldsborough died in Washington, D.C., on February 20, 1877.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76956606/obituary-rear-admiral-louis-m/ |title=Obituary: Rear Admiral Louis M. Goldsborough |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |location=Washington |page=4 |date=1877-02-21 |access-date=2021-05-03 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Dates of rank== *Midshipman – June 18, 1812 *Lieutenant – January 13, 1825 *Commander – September 8, 1841 *Captain – September 14, 1855 *Flag Officer – January 3, 1862 *Rear Admiral – July 16, 1862 *Retired List – October 6, 1873 *Died – February 20, 1877
==Namesakes== The United States Navy has named three ships [[USS Goldsborough|USS ''Goldsborough'']] in honor of Admiral Goldsborough.
==See also== {{Portal|American Civil War}} * [[List of superintendents of the United States Naval Academy]]
==References== :{{DANFS}} {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | before=[[Cornelius Stribling|Cornelius K. Stribling]]| title=[[List of Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy|Superintendent of United States Naval Academy]] | years=1853-1857 | after=[[George S. Blake]]}} {{s-end}} {{United States Naval Academy superintendents}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsborough, Louis M.}} [[Category:1805 births]] [[Category:1877 deaths]] [[Category:Union navy admirals]] [[Category:United States Navy rear admirals]] [[Category:Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy]] [[Category:United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War]] [[Category:People of Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War]]