Annapolis '68

Military Images, Jul/Aug 1999 by Harlowe, Jerry, Fitzpatrick, Mike

A Trio of Vignettes from the U.S. Naval Academy

Warner Cowgill

It remains amazing to me, when I look over the photographs of U.S. midshipmen, the extreme youth of the boys who entered the naval service of their country. I find it remarkable that these seemingly wet-behind-the-ears kids are in military uniform at all. Both of the images above present very young men who have donned the uniform of their Navy--then in the midst of civil war--and entered the United States Naval Academy at Newport, Rhode Island in September of 1863. By that time, the Naval Academy had packed up and moved from its home at Annapolis, Maryland to find secure quarters further north. The school's relocation had been necessitated by the rebellious nature of Maryland in the Spring of 1861 when secession was still an unanswered question for that state.

George E. Mills

George Mills was a native of one of America's then frontier states, Wisconsin, from which he received his appointment to the Academy. Progressing in his studies, Midshipman Wills was promoted to Acting Ensign in September of 1864 and then, a year later, received an honorable discharge from the Navy and returned home. The war was over, and one could possibly conceive a thousand reasons for not staying in the Navy. George Mills must have found at least one; but we'll never know.

As for Warner Cowgill, he also entered the Academy in September of 1863. Although born in Pennsylvania, at the time he enrolled he was a citizen of Delaware, from which state he received his appointment. Unlike his classmate George Mills, Warner completed his studies at the Academy and graduated in the class of June 1868. By that time, the Academy had returned to Annapolis.

Midshipman Cowgill's career progressed with a promotion to Ensign in April 1869 and on to Master in July of 1870. However, something must have gone wrong. Warner Cowgill, nine years into his service, deserted the U.S. Navy in September 1872 and at that point dropped out of history.

These boys of war, for whatever their reasons may have been, accepted coveted appointments to the privileged position of Midshipman, United States Navy, but failed to fulfill the promise of the position. When these young lads posed before the camera in J.D. Fowler's Newport studio, their futures must have seemed bright and full of promise. But in the end, neither succeeded in, nor profited by their position. -- Jerry Harlowe

Charles A. Copp

A classmate of Mills and Cowgill, Charles Copp entered the Academy later than them, on November 5, 1864. In Newport, the USS Constitution and the Baltic, together with the Hotel Atlantic, served as dormitories and classrooms for the displaced midshipmen. Academics also suffered due to the makeshift arrangements in Rhode Island. Shortly after the war, in June 1865, the Academy returned to Maryland. Charles Copp, along with Warner Cowgill, finished his naval education at Annapolis and graduated on June 2, 1868. He is shown here in his academy uniform with the midshipman's anchor clearly visible on his collar. After graduation he was assigned to USS Oneida.

A seven-year-old screw sloop, Oneida had been in several Civil War naval battles but was now attached to the Asiatic Squadron. After sailing out of Yokohama, Japan, on the evening of January 24, 1870, Oneida was struck by the British steamer City of Bombay at 6:30 p.m. In the collision, the starboard quarter was cut off the American ship. City of Bombay steamed on without stopping to render assistance. Oneida was left to sink in the dark winter night. She went down quickly in twenty fathoms of water, slipping beneath the waves at 6:45 p.m. Charles Copp was one of 125 men who lost their lives in the incident.

-- Mike Fitzpatrick

Carte de visite by W. M. Chase, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland

-- D. Bachrach, Photographer.