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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 --

First Lieutenant Peter U. Murphey, Confederate States Navy, formerly Lieutenant, United States Navy (in service 1834-1865).
Family name is spelled "Murphy" in some sources.

Peter U. Murphey was born in North Carolina. Appointed from that state as a U.S. Navy Midshipman in 1834, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1846. Murphey resigned from the U.S. Navy in April 1861 and became a Confederate States Navy officer in June of that year. In the rank of First Lieutenant, he served in Virginia and North Carolina waters in 1861-62, then was assigned to the Mobile Squadron. He commanded the gunboat CSS Morgan on Mobile Bay, Alabama, in 1862, and the gunboat CSS Selma in 1862-64. Wounded when his ship was captured in the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864, First Lieutenant Murphy was a prisoner of war until he was exchanged in October. In May 1865, at the end of the Civil War, he surrendered to Federal authorities and was paroled shortly thereafter.

This page features our only picture of First Lieutenant Peter U. Murphey, 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 47637

First Lieutenant Peter U. Murphey, CSN


A Civil War period photograph. He commanded CSS Selma during the Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864.
Note sword in his right hand.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 114KB; 485 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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16 September 2000