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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 --

Commander John Newland Maffitt, CSN, (1819-1886)

John Newland Maffitt was born at sea on 22 February 1819. Entering the United States Navy as a Midshipman in February 1832, he reached the rank of Lieutenant in 1843. In May 1861, with the coming of the Civil War, Maffitt resigned his commission and became a First Lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy. In 1862 he became the first commanding officer of the cruiser CSS Florida, taking her through a difficult outfitting period and an extremely successful commerce raiding cruise. Promoted to the rank of Commander in May 1863, ill health forced him to relinquish command of Florida later in that year. In 1864-65, Commander Maffitt commanded blockade runners and the ironclad Albemarle.

Following the defeat of the Confederacy, Maffitt served as a merchant ship captain, and, in 1870, commanded a warship for Cuban revolutionaries. He died in Wilmington, North Carolina, on 15 May 1886.

This page features pictures of Commander John Newland Maffitt, CSN.

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 48049

Commander John Newland Maffitt, CSN


Photograph by Van Orsdell, Market Street, Wilmington, NC. Possibly taken while Maffitt was stationed at Wilmington in 1864.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 73KB; 485 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 66683

Commander John Newland Maffitt, CSN


Later 19th Century engraving after a Civil War period photograph.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 143KB; 535 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 66684

Commander John Newland Maffitt, CSN


Engraving published circa the later 19th Century.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 138KB; 600 x 765 pixels

 


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


Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

29 September 1999