Benjamin Fitz-Bourne Hunter

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Lieutenant Benjamin F. B. Hunter, USN (Ret.), United States Sailing Navy. Born November 11, 1821 (1821-11-01) (age 61) Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Died April 09, 1884 (1884-04-09), buried Natchez, Mississippi (Hunter Lot #205, Plot #3).

Allegiance: United States of America; Service: United States Department of the Navy

Years of service 1835–1851, Rank US-O3

Ships sailed:

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U.S.S. Warren, (4th), 1825: 2nd class ship sloop, 18 guns, dimensions, builder, Boston Navy Yard; sold at Panama Jan 1, 1863; battery (1850), 2 medium 32 pounders and 18 32 pounders carronades.

U.S.S. Constitution, 1797: Frigate, 44 guns; dimensions, length 175 b.p., moulded beam 43'6", depth in hold 14'3"; 1,576 tons; builder George Claighorne, naval constructor; launched October 21, 1797, at Boston; extensive repairs 1812-15; rebuilt 1831, 1871-77, 1906, 1927-30, still afloat Boston Harbor.

U.S.S. James Madison, (2nd), 1842: Revenue cutter schooner; dimensions, length 73'4" b.p., moulded beam 20'2", depth in hold 7'4"; 112 tons; used by Navy during Seminole War

U.S.S. Phoenix

U.S.S. Wave:

U.S.S. Onkahye:

U.S.S. Somers

U.S.S. Cyane

U.S.S. Portsmouth

U.S.S. Marion, 1838: 3rd Class Sloop, 16 guns; dimensions as (Dale), builder, Boston Navy Yard, 1838-1839; broken up 1871-1872.

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Benjamin F. B. Hunter (born November 11, 1821)[1] was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, honorably retired in 1851. His career began with enlistment in 1835 and ends with retirement in 1851. He entered Naval service in 1835 at the age of 14 and served two years "before the mast" on the U.S.S. Warren and resigned in 1837.

20th August 1835: Benjamin F.B. Hunter, Esq. of the State of Georgia appointed an acting Midshipman.

12th November 1835: Assigned to U.S.S. Warren.

10th October 1837: Resigned, accepted October 31, 1837.

22nd March 1839: Reinstated and hold in readiness for active service.

28th March 1839: To the U.S.S. Constitution at Norfolk.

10th April 1839: Received Warrant as a Midshipman from the 20th day of August 1835. Assigned to the U.S.S. Constitution.

11th April 1839: Reported for duty U.S.S. Constitution in New York 13 April 1839.

27th January 1841: Midshipman Hunter given permission to attend the Naval School at the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, first reporting to Comm. Biddle, governor of the asylum. Reported 2 February 1841.

29th Jun 1841: Passed the Naval exam, warranted and given the rank Of Passed Midshipman (known today as Ensign).


Family:

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Married to Ms. Catharine Jane Pilmore on Aug 8, 1848 in the Trinity Episcopal Church, Natchez, Mississippi.


Research Notes:

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Originals and copies of Naval Orders and Correspondence were obtained from Ms. Adrienne Heuer in 2012 who resides in Navarre, Florida. Naval records were also obtained from the National Archives (Naval Officer Records) in Washington, D.C.. Research on Lt. Hunter's career was conducted by Mr. Jackie Dean Heuer and Ms. Audrey Carol Heuer.

Works Cited:

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Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of California by Edmund G. Brown. Santa Barbara: Hebbard, 1963.

Bauer, K. Jack. Surfboats and Horse Marines: U.S. Naval Operations in the Mexican War, 1846-1848. Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1969.

Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: MacMillan, 1974.

Beach, Edward Latimer. The United States Navy: 200 Years. 1st ed. New York: Holt, 1986.

Bill, Alfred Hoyt. Rehearsal for Conflict: The War with Mexico, 1846-1848. New York: Knopf, 1947.

Bishop, Farnham. Our First War with Mexico. New York: Scribner's, 1916.

Bowen, Frank Charles. Men of the Wooden Walls. London: Staples, 1952.

Bryant, Edwin. What I saw in California. n.p. Palo Alto, 1957.

Buenzle, Fred J. Bluejacket: An Autobiography. By Neville T. Kirk. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1986.

Bunting, W. H. Portrait of a Port: Boston 1852-1914. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP.

Chappelle, Howard I. History of the American Sailing Navy. New York: Norton, 1949.

Connolly, James Brendan. Navy Men. New York: Day, 1939.

Dana, Richard Henry. Two Years Before the Mast. By James D. Hart. New York: Modern Library, 1936.

Downey, Joseph T. Filings from an Old Saw. San Francisco: Howell, 1957.

Downey, Joseph T. The Cruise of the Portsmouth. Ed. Howard Lamar. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1958.

Lang, Alexander Kinnan. Clipper Ship Men. Garden City, New York: Garden City, 1944.

Levi, Uriah Phillips. Manual of International Rules and Regulations for Men of War. New York: Van Nostrand, 1862.

Lyman, Chester S. Around the Horn to the Sandwich Islands and California 1845-1850. Ed. Frederick J. Teggart. New Haven: Yale UP, 1924.

Mahon, Alfred Thayer. From Sail to Steam: Recollections of a Naval Life. New York: Da Capo, 1968.

Masefield, John. Sea Life in Nelson's Times. By C. C. Lloyd. 3rd ed. U.S. Naval Institute, 1971.

Melville, Herman. White Jacket. Oxford: UP, 1924.

Mercier, Henry James. Life in a Man of War. By Elliot Snow. Boston: Houghton, 1927.

Preble, George H. History of the U.S. Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. Washington: Bur. Yards and Docks, 1892.

Smelser, Marshall. The Congress Founds the Navy 1787-1789. Notre Dame: UP, 1959.

Smith, Myron. The American Navy, 1789-1860. New Jersey: Scarecrow, 1974.

Villiers, John. Of Ships and Men, a Personal Anthology. New York: Arco, 1962.