William Radford
William Radford was a rear admiral of the United States Navy who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, in which he remained loyal to the Union, despite his Virginia birth. Radford commanded the Ironclad Division in the attacks on Fort Fisher to assert Union control of Cape Fear.
Ancestry and early life
On December 23, 1806, John Radford married Harriet Kennerly in Fincastle, Virginia, at Santillane, the estate of her uncle George Hancock. On or after January 5, 1807, William Clark arrived at Greenfield, the estate of army buddy William Preston, missing Harriet's wedding. Instead, Clark asked George Hancock for Julia Hancock's hand in marriage. John and Harriet remained in Fincastle to attend the January 8, 1808, marriage between William and Julia. Then they departed in the spring for Lewis County, Kentucky to live on their 1,000-acre farm between Vanceburg and Concord on the bank of the Ohio River, where William and his two siblings were born.In 1817, John Radford was killed by the wild boar he was hunting. Widow Harriet moved her three children to join her brothers and first cousin in Saint Louis, Missouri. The Radfords resided with her brother James Kennerly.
Julia Clark succumbed on June 27, 1820. Widower William Clark married Harriet November 28, 1821 in Saint Louis and adopted the Radford children and then added to their combined family:
- Harriet Clark .
- Jefferson Kearny Clark
- Edmund Clark
William Clark's diaries mention Radford accompanying him in 1824 from Saint Louis to Washington, D.C. Before returning home, they diverted to New York City to observe the hero's welcome for Marquis de Lafayette. On April 29, 1825, Lafayette paid a visit to Saint Louis, where William Clark hosted his stay and Radford introduced himself as a Midshipman in the crew sailing Lafayette back to France.
Radford embarked upon another Clark trip to Washington, D.C., in the fall of 1828. An excursion in early January 1829 to visit stepbrother Meriwether Lewis Clark at West Point was abandoned due to ice floes on the Hudson River. After witnessing the inauguration of President Andrew Jackson they returned to Saint Louis.
Mediterranean and West Indies Squadrons
Radford was accepted March 1, 1825 into the United States Navy as a midshipman. He reported 1 August 1825 to Captain Charles Morris for duty aboard at Washington Navy Yard. While the ship normally carried only 8 to 10 midshipmen, President Adams appointed a total of 24, to represent each state, per the request of Lafayette for his return to France. Radford represented the state of Missouri.Lafayette was delivered to Le Havre on October 9, 1825. From there Brandywine was attached to the Mediterranean Squadron under Commodore John Rodgers. Upon the departure of Brandywine February 25, 1826, Radford transferred to to remain in the Mediterranean monitoring the Greek War of Independence and coup against the Janissaries. Rodgers was succeeded by Commodore William Crane March 30, 1827. Constitution, in need of major repairs, was recalled to Boston Navy Yard arriving on July 4, 1828.
Radford returned to Saint Louis and received orders August 10, 1829, to join at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for deployment to the West Indies Squadron commanded by Commodore Charles Ridgely. Radford was promoted to passed midshipman June 4, 1831 and reported for duty in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. In September 1831, he requested a six-month leave and was with his mother Harriet when she died December 25, 1831, Christmas Day. He was then entered into a furlough due to the general stagnation of naval affairs.
Radford was assigned to the receiving ship at Philadelphia in February 1834. Then in June 1834 he returned to the Mediterranean Squadron aboard as the acting Master. He suffered an attack of cholera in November 1834 and was sent ashore to recover in the south of France. Still afflicted in January 1836, he was in New Orleans, Louisiana, and, during October 1836, was recuperating at the home of his uncle William Radford II in Lynchburg, Virginia.
On February 9, 1837, Radford was appointed lieutenant. In September he rejoined the West Indies Squadron, reporting to Commodore Alexander Dallas and fighting in the second Seminole War. The maiden voyage of took Radford to Labrador in June 1840. In November, he returned for a third tour with the Mediterranean Squadron, Commodore Isaac Hull in charge. On March 6, 1841, due to the Oregon Question, Radford was summoned to New York via Brandywine.
Radford traveled May 1841 to Norfolk for duty on. On December 20, 1841, he received as his first command and delivered her from New York to the Rendezvous at New Orleans where she was employed as a receiving ship. Relieved of recruitment detail in August 1843, he was ordered on board the inaugural cruise of where she became the flagship of the Pacific Squadron for Commodore Alexander Dallas.
Pacific Squadron
Radford was attached April 24, 1844, to and visited Society Islands, Sandwich Islands and the western coastline of the Americas. Commodore Dallas died at Callao, Peru and was replaced by Commodore John Sloat. Radford's January 1845 letter to brother-in-law Stephen Kearny predicted California "can never be a very densely populated country" and Oregon "is not a very desirable country" yet "we should and ought by rights to have some possessions on the Pacific". He also mentions that "dysentery killed seven of the crew" and that "I was dangerously ill myself".By May 1845 at Callao, he was again debilitated by dysentery to a degree where ship surgeons recommended he should be removed from the ship "to a more favorable climate". However, he remained aboard and, through mid-1845, patrolled the California coast where rumor of war with Mexico was rife.
Reaching Honolulu October 4, 1845, orders were received that once Mexico declared war, the squadron should "blockade or occupy such ports as force might permit". Warren set return sail on October 16 to Mazatlán to await the onset of war. Months passed until June 6, 1846, when confirmation arrived from William Maxwell Wood that land war had commenced. Warren remained at Mazatlán as the other ships of the squadron captured ports along the California coast, generally with the inhabitants cooperating. English warships, also awaiting news of war, reacted too late to offer their protectorate flags to Mexico.
Warren left Mazatlán with dispatches from Washington, D.C. and arrived at Monterey on August 17, 1846, to find Commodore Robert Stockton in charge of the Pacific Squadron. Ordered back to resume the blockade of Mazatlán, Warren arrived early morning of September 7 to find the Mexican warship Malek Adhel in the harbor. Radford commanded the boarding party which inserted during the siesta hour and securely fastened the hatches while the entire crew was below deck. Over the course of the next months, "13 or 14" additional ships were captured by the blockade, eliminating further threat from the Mexican Navy.
Despite the ease of the Conquest of California for the Navy, hostilities continued on land until a flag of truce was delivered by residents of Los Angeles on January 10, 1847. General Stephen Kearny paid a visit February 17, 1847, to his brother-in-law at Yerba Buena. After nearly four years abroad, Radford was granted leave to depart May 31, 1847, for home overland with Kearny and his troops.
New York and East India Squadron
Radford arrived back in Saint Louis on August 28, 1847. He was ordered December 20, 1847, to testify in the court-martial of John C. Frémont at the Washington Arsenal. A leave was approved March 2, 1848, which indicated Radford intended to revisit Mexico with General Kearny but his letter of July 3, 1848, was sent from New York requesting a three-month extension. He went to see his cousin William Preston Griffin at Morristown, New Jersey, met Mary Lovell, married her and settled there. He commuted to his assignment at the Rendezvous in New York through January 21, 1851.On July 26, 1851, Radford took command of and sailed again to the Pacific Squadron. By March 1852 he arrived in San Francisco where he met with brother John and brother-in-law Benjamin Lovell. On the way home, a letter from his father-in-law Joseph Lovell advised that Radford's infant son, Willie, had died. Detached from Lexington on September 22, 1852, Radford returned to Morristown.
For the period 1852 until 1860, Radford was assigned shore duties in New York despite his applications for a command. For three years, he worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and witnessed for numerous courts-martial. In June 1855, he was given command of U.S. steamer City of Boston to prevent ships connected with filibustering expeditions from leaving the harbor. On July 20 he was appointed a member of a committee to "examine and report on the different Life Boats." Finally, Radford had a brief stint as Inspector of the Third Lighthouse District. During these years, he again shuttled from his residence in Morristown.
Radford was fortunate to receive a commission as commander September 14, 1855. Throughout 1855 and early 1856, promotions were at a standstill in the Navy partly due to the shortage of ships. Many officers were given leave to take command of merchant ships at significantly higher pay. To overcome this quandary, a Naval Retiring Board was formed which upset the older officers but cheered younger members of the service.
He took command of April 23, 1860, and sailed to Hong Kong as a unit of the East India Squadron for Commodore Cornelius Stribling. However, after the onset of the Civil War, both Radford and Stribling were relieved of their commands and ordered to return Washington, D.C. despite their declarations of allegiance to the Union. Commodore Samuel Du Pont in Washington, D.C. explained to Radford's wife Mary that, with the number of defections from both the Army and Navy, all officers from slave states must be evaluated for risk. Radford arrived home October 12, 1861, seriously ill with smallpox but recovered quickly. After an interview with Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, he was reappointed Inspector of the Third Lighthouse District at New York.