James Augustin Greer
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox military person James Augustin Greer<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (February 28, 1833 – June 17, 1904) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, who served during the Civil War.
Early yearsEdit
Greer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name="DANFS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He enlisted into the Navy on January 10, 1848, shortly before his 15th birthday, joining the sloop Template:USS as a midshipman.<ref name="NYT-retired">Template:Cite news</ref> He entered the United States Naval Academy in 1853, and graduated as a passed midshipman the following year. After participating in the Paraguay Expedition, he cruised the west African coast until the outbreak of the Civil War.<ref name="DANFS"/>
Civil WarEdit
Greer was serving as a lieutenant<ref name="NYT-retired"/> on board the Template:USS on November 7, 1861, when she stopped the British steamer Trent and removed the Confederate diplomatic commissioners on their way to Britain, thereby nearly drawing Great Britain into the war on the Confederate side.<ref name="DANFS"/> This incident became celebrated as the Trent Affair.
Greer was promoted to lieutenant commander<ref name="NYT-retired"/> and served on the Template:USS from 1862 to 1863, and then was attached to Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's Mississippi Squadron. While in command of the ironclads Template:USS and Template:USS, he participated in the Vicksburg campaign and the shelling of Grand Gulf as well as the abortive Union Red River expedition<ref name="DANFS"/> in early 1864.
After commanding the Naval Station at Mound City, Illinois, he assumed command of the Template:USS,<ref name="DANFS"/> flagship of the Mississippi River Squadron under Samuel Phillips Lee,<ref name="NYT-retired"/> and was then in charge of conveying Army transports up the Tennessee River.<ref name="DANFS"/>
In 1866 he was elected a companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS). He was assigned MOLLUS insignia number 160.
Post-war serviceEdit
A tour of duty as assistant to the Commandant at Annapolis after the war<ref name="DANFS"/> was followed by promotion to commander on July 25, 1866<ref name="NYT-retired"/> and appointment to command of Template:USS with the Pacific Squadron, where Greer was commended for "defending American interests" in Mexico.<ref name="DANFS"/> He then commanded the Template:USS.<ref name="NYT-retired"/> After a tour of duty at the Naval Academy between 1869 and 1873, Greer returned to the Pacific Station. In 1873, he commanded the Template:USS when that ship was sent to find and aid the ship Polaris. The Polaris was wrecked on an Arctic expedition which had been led by Charles Francis Hall.<ref name="DANFS"/>
Greer was promoted to captain in 1876.<ref name="NYT-retired"/> After special service in Template:USS during the 1878 Paris Exposition,<ref name="DANFS"/> Greer commanded the ships Template:USS and Template:USS.<ref name="NYT-retired"/>
He held a variety of shore posts<ref name="DANFS"/> and was promoted to commodore in 1886<ref name="NYT-retired"/> before serving as commander of the European Squadron from 1887 to 1889.<ref name="DANFS"/>
Greer served as president of the "Board of Organization, Tactics, and Drill", and of the "Examination and Retiring Board".<ref name="NYT-retired"/>
He was promoted to rear admiral in 1892, and retired on February 28, 1895. Admiral Greer died in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1904,<ref name="DANFS"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery two days later.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
NamesakesEdit
- The destroyer Template:USS was named for him.
- Several Tom Clancy novels feature a Vice Admiral James Greer, who is the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.
ReferencesEdit
- File:PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.{{#if:https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/greer.html%7C{{#if:%7C+The entries can be found [{{#if:1|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/greer.html}} here] and [{{#if:1|{{{2}}}}} here].| The entry can be found [{{#if:1|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/greer.html}} here].}}}}