 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
| Frederick Crocker | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 7, 1821 Brockton, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | February 3, 1911(1911-02-03) (aged 89) Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | Union Navy |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant Commander |
| Commands | USS Kensington USS Clifton |
| Battles / wars | |
| Other work |
|
Frederick Crocker (1821–1911) was an American naval commander and US consul for the Union during the US Civil War.
Biography
Early life
Crocker was born in 1821 in Brockton, Massachusetts. He was the youngest son of a well-to-do farmer and manufacturer. His father sent him to work in nearby New Bedford, Massachusetts, then a booming whaling town, when he was 16 years old. Attracted by the adventure of a life at sea, he left the family business to join a whaling company in New Bedford at 17. Although the youngest on board, he became the leader of a harpooning party. In his free time he studied books that taught him this trade.
Adult life
Crocker was captain of a whaling vessel at the age of 24. He hunted whales in the most remote waters of the globe for 13 years. Starting in 1851, he joined the American merchant marine serving as captain of clipper ships, carrying cargo and passengers to the Far East and San Francisco.
At age 34, he married the daughter of a wealthy Vineyard whaler in Liverpool England. With the arrival of two sons and a daughter in 1856–1860, he remained closer to the family home in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. By 1860, he had become captain and part owner of a passenger and cargo steamer, the R.R. Cuyler, which sailed along the East Coast of North America between New York City and Savannah, Georgia, and was reputed for its speed.
Civil War
At age 40, Crocker volunteered for service in the Union Navy in the first weeks of the conflict. He served on the Mississippi and along the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico and distinguished himself in battles and incidents at Apalachicola Bay, Sabine Pass, Calcasieu River, Camp Bisland and Butte-à-la-Rose, among others.
His service included a six-day, 80-mile dash through enemy-held Louisiana in October 1862. He and his party captured the senior Confederate officer in the Calcasieu area, gained possession of eight enemy vessels (one of them single-handedly), defeated rebel infantry, burned their encampment, fought off a cavalry attack, destroyed a bridge and stores, and returned safely without a single casualty. He also picked up refugees and took hostages, destroying a considerable amount of private property and capturing a large number of cotton bales. In recognition of his initiative, Rear-Admiral David G. Farragut recommended him for promotion.
Crocker is more known as the Union Navy commander who suffered an unexpected defeat at Sabine Pass, Texas, on September 8, 1863. With a squadron of four gunboats carrying hundreds of sharpshooters and sailors, he attacked Fort Griffin head-on. While over five thousand Union troops on twenty transport ships stood by, he was defeated and captured along with 300 men by the opposing rebel force. His gunboat became an easy target when its wheel rope was shot away, and its hull stuck fast on a mud bank. His gunboat's boiler took a direct hit. The main invasion force had taken all launches. His men could not disembark, and dozens drowned. The commanding Union General, who believed the entire expedition unwise, froze at the critical moment and then withdrew. The book Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae by Edward T. Cotham (2004) makes numerous references to Crocker for his actions during the naval blockade by the Union Navy.
Despite the efforts of his superiors to obtain his release, Crocker spent 17 months as a prisoner of war, mainly at Camp Ford, in Tyler, Texas. Hundreds of prisoners died from exposure, illness, and malnutrition, but the sailors under his leadership remained loyal to the Union. As soon as he was freed, he attempted to obtain the release of all African American servicemen still held prisoners at Camp Ford.
Crocker ultimately rose to the rank of Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Commander and was cited on three different accounts—gallantry, and meritorious and faithful services—making him the only U.S. Navy officer to win these three distinctions in the Civil War. He was awarded at least two Confederate flags (at Sabine Pass and Butte-à-la-Rose). At one point he resigned from the navy only to be lured back by Farragut. He formally denounced Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, then the supreme Union military commander at New Orleans, for corruption. Later in his career, he lost his diplomatic post after refusing to contribute to the presidential campaign of the allegedly corrupt James G. Blaine, Governor of Maine and Secretary of State.
Post war
After the Civil War, Crocker resigned from the Navy. Business took him for a short spell to Chicago. At 47 years of age and in weakened health from his many months in prison camp, he decided to leave the United States with his family and two brothers-in-law. He started a new life in Uruguay.
While in Uruguay, he was first involved in the ice trade. For over two years (1876–79) he served as US Consul at Montevideo under the Grant administration. He continued to serve in the consulate until 1886. For 20 years, he was the marine insurance surveyor for both Lloyd's of London and Bureau Veritas (an American insurance company) in Montevideo. He was also a journalist for a British periodical and a political pundit in the Montevideo and Buenos Aires English-language newspapers.
Death
Crocker died in Montevideo at the age of 89 years, and his remains are buried in The British Cemetery. His son and two grandsons established an import company in Montevideo. His great-granddaughter, Fay Crocker, was an LPGA golfer and winner of two majors and holds several golf records.
References
- "Lieutenant Frederick Crocker's Daring Calcasieu Raid".
- Obituary, The Montevideo Times, February 1913
- Cornell University: The Making of America, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion; Series I – Volume 6: Atlantic Blockading Squadron (July 16, 1861 – October 29, 1861); North Atlantic Blockading Squadron (October 29, 1861 – March 8, 1862); Series I – Volume 17: Gulf Blockading Squadron (December 16, 1861 – February 21, 1862); East Gulf Blockading Squadron (December 22, 1862 – July 17, 1865); Series I – Volume 18: West Gulf Blockading Squadron (February 21, 1862 – July 14, 1862): United States. Naval War Records Office; Series I – Volume 19: West Gulf Blockading Squadron (July 15, 1862 – March 14, 1863); Series I – Volume 20: West Gulf Blockading Squadron (March 15, 1863 – December 31, 1863); Series I – Volume 27; Naval Forces on Western Waters (January 1, 1865 – September 6, 1865); Supply Vessels (January 1, 1865 – September 6, 1865); etc., etc. Author: United States. Naval War Records Office
- DUGANNE – TWENTY MONTHS Indiana THE DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, C H A P T E R X X X V, CAMP FORD
- "Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae" (Number Seven, Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage Series), Author: Edward T., Jr. Cotham
- Civil War in Texas and the Southwest, Ret. Roy Sullivan (Author)
- The naval history of the Civil War, David D. Porter (Author)
- Frederick Crocker's pension, Civil War Preservation Trust, http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/frederick-crocker-pension.pdf Archived 2011-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
- US Navy Officers: 1798-1900, Naval Historical Center, http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/NHC/Callahan/contnav.htm#C
- People from Brockton, Massachusetts
- 1821 births
- American people in whaling
- Union Navy officers
- American Civil War prisoners of war
- American male journalists
- American political commentators
- Military personnel from Montevideo
- American consuls
- Uruguayan people of American descent
- 1911 deaths
- Burials at The British Cemetery Montevideo
- People from New Bedford, Massachusetts
- People from Edgartown, Massachusetts
- Military personnel from Massachusetts