December 10-13, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2024
SOUTHERN SCHOOL, 1st HALF 19TH CENTURY. "Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) James Hanna Spotts, USN, c. 1852." Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches, within original gilt, compo frame; the original strainer bearing old typescript label ID on center back. Born at Fort Johnson, Wilmington Harbour, North Carolina on 11 March 1822, James Hanna was the son of Brevet Major Samuel Spotts (1788-1833), a US Army officer who had earlier gained fame while commanding the artillery under General Andrew Jackson in the battle of New Orleans in 1815. Through his father's connections, James gained an appointment as a midshipman in the US Navy, and initially served at sea with the East Indies Squadron during the punitive expeditions to Sumatra, then attended the Naval School at Philadelphia in 1842-43. As an acting lieutenant in the Mexican War, he served on the Pacific coast and participated in the engagements that resulted in the conquest of California and at the capture of the Mexican ports of Guaymas, San Blas, and La Paz. Promoted to master in 1849 and lieutenant in 1851, he subsequently commanded the paddlewheel steamer USS Michigan on the Great Lakes, 1855-57. Although born in the South, he remained loyal to the Union and was promoted to commander in 1862, commanding ships in the Gulf and South Atlantic blockading squadrons during the Civil War. While in command of USS Pawtuxet, he actively participated in both bombardments and land attacks against Fort Fisher. After the war, he commanded warships on the Pacific Coast and went on to command the Navy Yard at Mare Island in San Francisco Bay, 1865-69. As a commodore, he was inspector of lighthouses on the Pacific Coast, 1872-74, and president of the Navy's Board of Inspection in San Francisco, 1877-81. Promoted to rear admiral on 28 May 1881, he took command of the South Atlantic station and died in Port Stanley on 8 March 1882 while on an official visit to the British governor of the Falklands. His body was later exhumed and now rests in the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, KY.