Background
He was born on May 13, 1795 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, son of Ann (Ayscough) and Joshua Sands, collector of the port of New York and twice United States representative, and nephew of Comfort Sands.
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Joshua Ratoon Sands
Edit ProfileEducation
Sands was preparing to enter Columbia College when the War of 1812 broke out.
Career
Entering the navy in June 1812, he saw active service on Lake Ontario in the engagement with the Royal George off Kingston, Nov. 9, 1812, the attack on Toronto in April following, and the capture of Fort George in May. During the rest of the war he was in the General Pike, in a shore battery, and then in the Superior.
Promoted to lieutenant in 1818 after three years in the Mediterranean, he fought two duels - the first at Valparaiso, Oct. 7, 1823, with Lieut. T. S. Hamersley, which caused injury to neither participant but led to Sands's court martial and long confinement in his ship; the second at Rio, Aug. 20, 1830, in which Sands, then executive of the Vandalia, killed his opponent, Surgeon H. Bassett, but was completely exonerated.
Through the Mexican War he commanded the small steamer Vixen, participating in operations at Alvarado, Tabasco, Laguna, and elsewhere, and served as governor at Laguna until the investment of Vera Cruz, where with other vessels the Vixen carried a reconnaissance close under the fortress. After the capture of Tampico and Tuxpan, he returned home in 1847 in the St. Mary's.
In 1851 he commanded the St. Lawrence, carrying American exhibits to the London world's fair. In 1857 in the Susquehanna he assisted in Atlantic cable-laying operations and later lay several months at Grey Town, Nicaragua, where on Dec. 24, 1857, he captured a remnant of the filibusters of William Walker. In August his ship, ravaged by yellow fever, landed over a hundred patients in New York. In 1859-61 he commanded the Brazil station in the Congress.
Promoted to captain in 1854, he was retired in this grade in December 1861, but was made commodore (retired) in 1862 and rear admiral in 1866. He was lighthouse inspector on the lower Great Lakes, 1862-66, and port admiral at Norfolk, Va. , 1869-72.
Thereafter he lived chiefly in Baltimore, Md. , where he died at the home of his daughter. His funeral was at St. Ann's Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, and his burial in Greenwood Cemetery.
Achievements
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He successfully participated in War of 1812, Mexican–American War, American Civil War and was promoted to the rank of the Rear Admiral. He was involved in the capture of Alvarado, Tabasco, and Laguna, briefly serving as Governor of Laguna. He also aided in the Siege of Veracruz and the capture of Tampico and Tuxpan.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Admiral A. T. Mahan, once a young aide on his staff, pictures him interestingly in From Sail to Steam (1907) as "of slight frame, handsome and active, with a reputation for high courage, not of particular distinction but with the salt savor of the old navy. "
Connections
He was married first in 1826 to Mary, daughter of John Stevens of Hoboken, N. J. , who died in 1828; second in 1830 to her younger sister Henrietta, who died in 1847; and third to Ellen Ann Crook of Baltimore, described as a handsome girl of nineteen. He had a son John (1840 - 1914) by his second wife, and a son and two daughters by his third.
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Born
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Died
January 2, 1883 (aged 87) -
Resting place
Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, United States -
Nationality
American