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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Rear Admiral Napoleon Collins, USN, (1814-1875)

Napoleon Collins was born in Pennsylvania on 4 March 1814. He became a Midshipman in the United States Navy in January 1834. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1846, he took an active role in the war with Mexico. During the first years of the Civil War, he commanded several gunboats and attained the rank of Commander in July 1862.

On 7 October 1864, while in command of USS Wachusett, Collins took his ship into a neutral harbor and captured the the Confederate cruiser CSS Florida, towing that ship to sea and taking it to the U.S. Courtmartialled for this illegal undertaking, Commander Collins was sentenced to be dismissed. However, since his seizure of the Florida was both militarily effective and popularly acclaimed in the Northern states, the sentence was not carried out.

Napoleon Collins remained active in the post-war Navy, reaching the ranks of Captain in July 1866 and Rear Admiral in August 1874. On 9 August 1875, while in command of the South Pacific Squadron, he died at Lima, Peru.

This page features photographs of Rear Admiral Napoleon Collins, USN.

Commander Napoleon Collins' report of his seizure of CSS Florida is reproduced in the Documents of the Civil War section as Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett, 7 October 1864.

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 51682

Commander Napoleon Collins, USN

Carte de visite print of a photograph taken circa 1864 by E. Anthony, New York.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 107KB; 500 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 47058

Commander Napoleon Collins, USN

Carte de visite print of a photograph taken circa 1864 by E. Anthony, New York.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 480 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 51681

Rear Admiral Napoleon Collins, USN
,
Commanding, South Pacific Squadron

Photograph taken 1875 by E. Courret, Lima, Peru.

Donation of Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, USN.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 115KB; 455 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 79198

Rear Admiral Napoleon Collins, USN


Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa 1874-1875.
Copied from "Officers of the Army and Navy who Served in the Civil War", published in 1892.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 186KB; 580 x 765 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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29 September 1999