{{short description|19th-century U.S. Navy officer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox military person |name= William Nicholson Jeffers |birth_date= {{Birth date|1824|10|6}} |death_date = {{death date and age|1883|7|23|1824|10|6}} |birth_place= Swedesboro, New Jersey |death_place= Washington, D.C. |burial_place= United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland |burial_label= Place of burial |image= William Nicholson Jeffers NH 60824.jpg |image_size= 200 |caption= William Jeffers |nickname= |allegiance=United States of America |branch={{Flagicon image|US Naval Jack 26 stars.svg}} United States Navy<br>{{flagicon|USA|army}} Union Army |service_years= 1840–1883 |rank= 35px Commodore |commands={{USS|Philadelphia|1861}}<br>{{USS|Roanoke|1855}}<br>{{USS|Underwriter|1852}}<br>{{USS|Monitor}} (temporary)<br>{{USS|Swatara|1872}}<br>Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance |unit= |battles= Mexican–American War<br>American Civil War |awards= |other_work= }} Commodore '''William Nicholson Jeffers''' (October 6, 1824 – July 23, 1883) was a U.S. Navy officer of the 19th century. He took part in combat operations during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, and during the 1870s and early 1880s served as Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance.

==Early life and career== Jeffers was born in Swedesboro, New Jersey, and was appointed midshipman September 23, 1840. He was married to Lucy LeGrand Smith in 1850 and they had a son who died at age 7, had one daughter Anne Burton Jeffers.<ref name="Still">{{cite book | last1=Still | first1=W.N. | last2=Hill | first2=D.B. | title=Ironclad Captains: The Commanding Officers of the USS Monitor | publisher=Marine and Estuarine Management Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce | series=Historical report series | year=1988 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oZIAAAACAAJ | access-date=2022-05-23 | page=}}</ref>

His early service was in frigates ''Congress'' and ''United States'', and during the Mexican–American War he took part in the attack on Alvarado, the capture of Tobasco, and the bombardment of Vera Cruz.<ref name=DANFS>DANFS, Article: Jeffers</ref>

In the 1850s he was engaged in numerous expeditions to Central America, and was responsible for a preliminary survey of the isthmus of Honduras.<ref name=DANFS/>

==Civil War== thumb|left|Lt Jeffers second commander of the USS Monitor 4 months after the fight at Hampton Roads in 1862

During the early months of the Civil War, Jeffers commanded ''Philadelphia'' in the Potomac River and served in frigate ''Roanoke'' off Charleston and Hatteras Inlet. In December 1861 he took command of ''Underwriter'' and soon afterward took part in the capture of Roanoke Island and the destruction of the Confederate squadron at Elizabeth City. After the wounding of Captain John Lorimer Worden of USS ''Monitor'' during her historic engagement with CSS ''Virginia'' on March 9, 1862, Jeffers assumed command,<ref>Quarstein, 1997, p. 87</ref> taking part mainly in shore bombardment in the James River.<ref name=DANFS/>

After Jeffers served aboard the ''Monitor'', he was assigned as inspector of ordnance in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., for the remainder of the war.<ref name=DANFS/><ref>Quarstein, 2010, p. 187</ref>

==Later life== Jeffers commanded ''Swatara'' in the Mediterranean and in African waters and in 1873 was made chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. Commodore Jeffers served in thar capacity for eight years and contributed much to the science and literature of naval ordnance. He died at Washington July 23, 1883, and was buried in the cemetery of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.<ref name=DANFS />

==Namesake== The destroyer USS ''Jeffers'' (DD-621) was named in his honor.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Quarstein |first=John V. |ref=Quarstein97 |title= The Civil War On The Virginia Peninsula |publisher=<br>Arcadia Publishing |year=1997 |pages=128 |isbn=9780738544380}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=wSBRAdLN7X4C&q=stodder Book] * {{cite book |last=Quarstein |first=John V. Quarstein |author-mask=2 |title=The Monitor Boys: The Crew of the Union's First Ironclad |ref=Quarstein10 |publisher=<br>The History Press |year=2010 |pages=349|isbn=9781596294554}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NmODrlEknzoC&q=%22william+n.+Jeffers%22 Book] * {{cite web |last=DANFS |first=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |ref=DANFS |title=William Nicholon Jeffers |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/j/jeffers.html |publisher=<br>Department of the Navy; Naval Historical Center, Washington D. C. |accessdate=July 20, 2013}}

==Further reading== * Bibliography of American Civil War naval history

==External links== * [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/j/jeffers.html history.navy.mil: USS ''Jeffers''] * {{Find a Grave|14010823|accessdate=2008-03-28}} *[https://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/man-findingaids/MS_167.EAD.xml William N. Jeffers Rough Notes & Memoranda: Ordnance, 1841-1872, MS 167] held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffers, William Nicholson}} Category:1824 births Category:1883 deaths Category:People from Swedesboro, New Jersey Category:Union navy officers Category:United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War Category:United States Navy officers Category:People of New Jersey in the American Civil War