Posted By:Henry Drayton Jr.
Email:
Subject:Re: Percival Drayton 1812-1865 Civil War Navy
Post Date:July 05, 2004 at 11:45:31
Message URL:http://genforum.genealogy.com/drayton/messages/183.html
Forum:Drayton Family Genealogy Forum
Forum URL:http://genforum.genealogy.com/drayton/

This is from a 1912 Philadelphia newspaper article on the Drayton Family that I have.

Hank Drayton


Descendants of Percival Drayton


Generation No. 1

1. PERCIVAL8 DRAYTON (COLONEL WILLIAM7, JUDGE WILLIAM6, THOMAS5, THOMAS4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, JOHN1) was born August 26, 18121, and died August 04, 1865 in Washington, DC.

Notes for PERCIVAL DRAYTON:
Percival Drayton, second of the sons of Colonel William
Drayton, was born August 26, 1812. He was appointed a midshipman,
United States Navy, December 1, 1827, and, having graduated from
the Naval Academy, Annapolis, was commissioned a Passed Midshipman,
June 10, 1823. He was advanced to Lieutenant, February 28, 1828,
to Commander, September 14, 1855, and, finally to Captain, July 16,
1862.

During the early years of his naval service he was attached,
respectively, to the Brazilian, Mediterranean and Pacific
Squadrons. In 1852 he was stationed at the Naval Observatory,
Washington, and, subsequently, was associated with Commander,
afterward Admiral, Farragut, in ordnance experiments, 'forming a
close intimacy with that officer,,' according to a writer, "that
lasted through life." He took part in the Paraguay expedition of
1858, and, in 1860, was on ordnance duty in Philadelphia at the
local navy yard.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he was confronted with the
most perilous problem of his lifetime. A South Carolinian by
birth, with most of his kinsmen residing in that or other Southern
States, there was a natural inclination to join the latter, and
cast his fortunes with his former neighbors, in the struggle for
States Rights and kindred doctrines. This was the course pursued
by thousands of the sons of the South, permanently or temporarily
located in the North, when hostilities began.

On the other hand, there was the larger view of national
integrity, the preservation of the Union, and his own oath of
office, as a servant of the federal government.

Of the thousands similarly situated, who faced this fateful
problem, some solved it one way, and some the other, and all were
equally sincere, scrupulous and conscientious in the conclusions
reached.

Percival Drayton decided in favor of his country, rather than
his native State, and thereafter, until the termination of the war,
he rendered brilliant service in the struggle to perpetuate the
Union of States.

He commanded the "Pocahontas" in the Port Royal expedition,
and was afterward transferred to the "Pawnee," in which he made
valuable reconnaissances of St. Helena Sound and adjacent waters.
In an official report to Washington, Admiral DuPont said:

This steamer, under her zealous and efficient commander,
Captain P. Drayton, with her light draft and heavy armament, has
been invaluable in our operations on the coast, as well as in
holding the inland waters.

Having been promoted to a Captaincy in the meanwhile, he was,
in 1862, ordered to the command of the new Ericsson monitor,
"Passaic." In this iron-clad he bombarded Fort McAllister, and was
in the first attack on Sumter, under Admiral DuPont. The latter,
in his last report, referred in commendatory terms to Captain
Drayton, as follows:

I cannot close this communication without speaking of
Captain Drayton, who has been one of my commanding officers since
October, 1861. He has performed this service with that ability,
judgment and clam courage which have ever marked his execution of
my orders.

Subsequently he became Fleet Captain of the West Gulf Squadron
and commanded Farragut's flagship, the "Hartford," in the battle of
Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864. In his report of the action Farragut
commented on Captain Drayton's services, saying:

He is the fleet-captain of my squadron, and one of more
determined energy untiring devotion to duty, and zeal for the
service, tempered by great calmness, I do not think adorns any
navy.

Captain Drayton afterward accompanied the Admiral to New York,
where a formal reception was given to the two officers, December
12, 1864. A few months later, April 28, 1865, he was made Chief of
the Bureau of Navigation, and died while discharging the duties of
that office.

Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography says of him:

He was especially distinguished as a flag-officer, and
his refined manners and knowledge of languages caused his services
in that position to be sought by every commanding officer with whom
he sailed.

During the war Captain Drayton had, in such intervals as came
to him, carried on an extensive correspondence with certain friends
in the North. A series of these letters, 1861-5, addressed to
Alexander Hamilton, Jr., of New York, a grandson of the eminent
statesman of the same name, and also to Lydia M. Hoyt, likewise of
New York, was preserved and duly published some years ago. They
contain much valuable material, and furnish many sidelights on
certain of the notable movements of that momentous period.

Captain Drayton never married. His death occurred in
Washington, August 4, 1865.



Endnotes

1. 1912 Newspaper article