Duncan Nathaniel was born on December 6, 1802 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. His grandfather, Duncan Ingraham, his uncle Joseph Ingraham, and his father, Nathaniel, were sea captains, the last-named fighting as a volunteer on board the Bonhomme Richard in its engagement with the Serapis. Ingraham's mother was Louisa, daughter of George A. Hall, first collector of the port of Charleston.
Ingraham became a midshipman at nine, June 18, 1812; served in the War of 1812 in the Congress and then on Lake Ontario in the Madison; rose to lieutenant, 1825; to commander, 1838; and in the Mexican War was on Commodore Conner's staff at the capture of Tampico.
His chief distinction came in the celebrated Koszta affair of 1853. He was then commanding the sloop of war St. Louis in the Mediterranean. Entering Smyrna on June 23, he was informed that Martin Koszta, a Hungarian follower of Kossuth in the uprising of 1848-49, who had come to New York in 1851, declared there his intention of becoming an American citizen, and, after two years' residence, gone to Turkey on supposedly private business, had been violently seized at Smyrna by Austrian hirelings and imprisoned aboard the Austrian brig Hussar. Ingraham secured an interview with the prisoner and later threatened force to prevent his removal from the harbor pending instructions from John Porter Brown, the American chargé at Constantinople. On July 2, upon advice from Brown that Koszta was entitled to protection, Ingraham cleared for action, anchored within half cable's length of the Austrian vessel, and at eight in the morning demanded Koszta's release before four that afternoon. Fighting appeared inevitable. The vessels were of about equal armament, but the Hussar was supported by a 12-gun schooner and two mail vessels. At the last moment, the consuls ashore arranged a compromise by which Koszta was turned over to the French consul general pending diplomatic settlement, which resulted in his ultimate release.
Ingraham's resolute action was quite in harmony with American sympathies at the time, and aroused great enthusiasm both in Europe and America. He was fully upheld by his government, and upon his return in 1854 he was welcomed by mass meetings in New York and other cities, and awarded a gold medal by Congress. From March 1856 to August 1860 he was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, and then went again to the Mediterranean in command of the Richmond.
In January 1861, he resigned, and on March 26 entered the Confederate navy. He was chief of ordnance at Richmond until November 1861, when he was given charge of naval forces on the coast of South Carolina. At Charleston he supervised the construction of the ironclads Palmetto State and Chicora, and on the night of January 30-31, 1863, commanded the two in an attack on the Union blockaders. His flagship, the Palmetto State, rammed the Mercedita and then with the Chicora attacked and severely injured the Keystone State. Both Union vessels escaped, and the other blockaders withdrew to avoid the slow but dangerous rams. A proclamation on the 31th, signed by General Beauregard and Ingraham, declared the blockade "raised"; but the rams retired into the harbor and the blockaders were back on their stations within a few hours. In March 1863 Ingraham relinquished command of the flotilla, while retaining the station ashore.
After the war he retired to private life in Charleston, where he died in his eighty-ninth year.
Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham was famous for his command of the sloop-of-war St. Louis in the Mediterranean, when he interfered with the detention by the Austrian consul at Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey) of Martin Koszta, who had been seized and confined in the Austrian ship Hussar. For his conduct in this matter he was voted thanks and a Gold Medal by Congress. Four ships of the US Navy have been named USS Ingraham in his honor.
Quotes from others about the person
The general estimate of Ingraham's character is expressed in the statement of Commander W. H. Parker, who served under him, that he was a "man of intelligence and culture, and bore the reputation of being a brave and good officer".
In 1827 Ingraham was married to Harriott Horry Laurens, granddaughter of the statesmen Henry Laurens and John Rutledge of South Carolina. To them were born three sons and five daughters.
