John A. Winslow was born on November 19, 1811, at Wilmington, North Carolina. Though his mother, Sara E. Ancrum, was related to the South Carolina Rhetts, his father, Edward, a descendant of John Winslow, brother of the colonial governor, was but recently from New England.
At the age of fourteen he was sent to Dorchester, and later to Dedham, Massachusetts, for his preparatory education.
He entered the navy as a midshipman on February 1, 1827, became a passed midshipman, June 10, 1833, and was commissioned a lieutenant on February 9, 1839.
During the Mexican War he took part in the expeditions against Tabasco, Tampico, and Tuxpan, and was present at the fall of Vera Cruz. For his gallantry in action he was allowed to have command of the schooner USS Union, which had been captured at Tampico in November 1846 and was taken into service, but she was poorly equipped and was lost on a reef off Vera Cruz on December 16, 1846. While serving at Tabasco during the Mexican-American War, he was commended for gallantry in action by Commodore Matthew Perry. He shared a shipboard cabin with his later adversary, Raphael Semmes. The two officers served together on Cumberland, Semmes as the ship's flag lieutenant and Winslow as a division officer. The two, however, never mention this fact in their respective autobiographies.
He was executive of the sloop Saratoga in the Gulf of Mexico in 1848 - 1849, at the Boston Navy Yard in 1849 - 1850, and in the frigate St. Lawrence of the Pacific Squadron, in 1851 - 1855. He was promoted to commander, September 14, 1855.
Winslow's Civil War career began at St. Louis, Missouri, where he commanded the gunboat Benton under his friend, Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote. In December 1861 a freak accident, in which Winslow was struck in the arm by a piece of flying chain, deprived him of the chance to participate in the Fort Henry, Island No. 10, and Memphis operations. By the time he returned to duty in May 1862, Flag Officer Charles H. Davis had succeeded Foote. Winslow was dispatched to lead an expedition up the White River into Arkansas, but shallow water, river fever, and local guerrillas prevented his achieving anything substantial.
Although Winslow received his promotion to captain in July 1862, the choice three months later of Admiral David D. Porter, his junior on the naval officers' list, to replace Davis, as well as the Navy Department's discovery that Winslow had spoken disparagingly of President Abraham Lincoln and of General John Pope, a Republican favorite, raised the possibility that his usefulness might be over. His request for relief from unhealthy river duty got him placed on furlough — a seemingingly dead end. Winslow wrote urgently to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to make known his antislavery views; apparently the explanation was satisfactory, because in December 1862 he received command of the USS Kearsarge, a third-class screw steamer with seven guns and a crew of 163.
Despite continuing poor health, Winslow insisted on proceeding immediately to Fayal, Azores, where he was to join his new command. A three months' delay there, although exasperating, was probably a beneficial tonic. Winslow formally assumed charge on April 6, 1863. The Kearsarge 's mission was the prevention of European-built and -manned Confederate raiding cruisers like the Florida and Georgia from putting to sea and the interception of the famous Alabama should it try to make port and refit. A shortage of Union cruisers allowed the first two vessels to get away, and Winslow's incessant patrolling soon led to an unpleasant incident with Great Britain. In November 1863 the Kearsarge recruited some Irish hands in Queenstown; Winslow immediately released the men when the British government protested, but he insisted on returning them to Ireland rather than risking their taking service with the Confederates. By early 1864 British pressure had compelled him to rely on Spain and the Low Countries instead of the British Isles for provisioning and refitting.
The Kearsarge was at Flushing when, on June 12, 1864, Winslow learned that the long-awaited Alabama had landed at Cherbourg; within two days he was outside the harbor. The refusal of French authority to permit Captain Semmes, Winslow's old shipmate, a long period in port for overhaul and Semmes's natural pugnacity led him to send out a challenge. When the Alabama steamed out on the nineteenth, the Kearsarge dropped well beyond the three-mile limit to avoid any diplomatic complications. Seven miles offshore she put about; the two ships made seven opposite-course circuits with the range gradually dropping to seven hundred yards. Though their specifications were virtually identical, the Kearsarge was in much better condition than her adversary, which had been long at sea and had a foul bottom and deteriorated ammunition. Winslow had taken the added precaution of strengthening his ship's wooden sides by draped spare chains; moreover his gunnery, although slower, was considerably more accurate. Except for one lucky shot, which fortunately failed to explode, the Kearsarge escaped virtually unscathed and managed to sink the Alabama. The escape of Semmes and most of his officers aboard an English yacht later became a source of regret to the Union captain because of Semmes's vindictive public pronouncements about his defeat. Unquestionably the vanquishing of the notorious raider Alabama strengthened the Federal government's diplomatic stance in Europe.
On returning home to Boston in November 1864 to decommission the Kearsarge, Winslow was voted the thanks of Congress and promoted to commodore with rank to date from his victory. He spent the remainder of the war at patriotic gatherings, on courts-martial, and in the supervision of ship construction in Boston. In December 1865 he assumed command of the Gulf Squadron for a brief period before it was merged with that of the North Atlantic. He hoisted his rear admiral's flag over the Pacific Squadron in 1870, but his ailments — he had already lost an eye due to long neglect of it at sea — forced him ashore to stay two years afterwards. He died on September 29, 1873, in Boston, Massachusetts.
John A. Winslow was always known as a solid, courageous and determined officer.
On October 18, 1837, John Ancrum Winslow married his cousin, Catherine Amelia Winslow. They had one son.
Raphael Semmes was an American officer in the Confederate navy during the American Civil War.
Andrew Hull Foote was an American naval officer, who was noted for his service in the American Civil War.
