Franklin Buchanan (1800-1874)
Franklin Buchanan was born in Baltimore in 1800.
He was an officer in the United States Navy who became the only full admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.
He was appointed a midshipman in 1815, and rose to be a commander in 1841.
He was chief adviser to the Secretary of the Navy, George Bancroft, in planning the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and was its first superintendent (1845-47).
In September 1861, he took the rank of captain in the Confederate navy, commanding the ironclad CSS Virginia ( formerly the Merrimack ) against the Union blockading squadron in Hampton Roads ( March 8 1863 ). Wounded in that engagement he took no part in the battle of the Monitor and Merrimack the next day.
Promoted to ranking officer in the Confederate navy he was forced to surrender to David G. Farragut in the battle of Mobile Bay ( 5 August 1864 ).