Lecture delivered in the Naval Chapel, at Annapolis, Md.
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He was born on June 7, 1811 in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, the son of Ninian and Amelia (Grason) Hobbs Pinkney. His father held for thirty years the position of clerk of the council of Annapolis. He had served with distinction in the War of 1812 and was the author of Travels through the South of France (1809).
Of relatives who achieved distinction perhaps the best known were his uncle, William Pinkney, the lawyer, diplomatist, and statesman, and the poet, Edward Coote Pinkney, a cousin. His brother William became Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Maryland.
Education
Ninian Pinkney was graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis in 1830, and from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, with the degree of M. D. , in 1833. The brilliant teacher of anatomy at Jefferson, Granville Sharp Pattison, is said to have looked upon Pinkney as his successor.
Career
He was commissioned as assistant surgeon in 1834. After cruises in South American waters and in the Mediterranean, he served at the naval hospital in Philadelphia, 1838-39. In 1840 he was court-martialed on charges of "disrespectful and provoking language to a superior" and "conduct unbecoming to an officer and gentleman. " He was found guilty of part of the charge and was suspended for eight months, but he returned to the service and for three years, 1841-44, was on the west coast of South America. This duty was followed by two years, 1844-46, on the receiving ship in Baltimore, blockade duty during the war with Mexico in 1846, and in 1852, by a coveted appointment at the Naval Academy.
It was during the duty at Callao, Peru, 1841-44, that he built up a reputation for skill in surgery. This port was the rendezvous for the whaling fleet in the South Pacific, and to Pinkney fell the practice from this source. From April 20, 1841, to November 29 of the same year he reported forty-one operations of a major character, with but one death.
After 1852, when he went to Annapolis, he took an active interest in the affairs of the American Medical Association and in improving conditions in his own corps. He rarely missed an annual meeting of the Association and in 1876 was elected a vice-president. After another cruise in the Mediterranean, and duty at Washington, Pinkney was assigned as surgeon of the fleet to Admiral David D. Porter's squadron operating in the upper Mississippi. He joined the flagship Black Hawk in December 1862, but spent his time largely on the hospital ship Red Rover. He organized in 1863 the hospital at Memphis, named Pinkney Hospital, and in one letter to his wife he mentions having traveled 8, 000 miles in visiting some ninety-five ships and stations, distributing medical supplies.
After the war he took quite an active interest in politics. He had very definite ambitions about becoming the head of his corps, but the fates were to deny him this honor. He retired on June 7, 1873, with the rank of commodore, and settled with his wife and daughter in Easton, Maryland, in the house, "Londonderry, " which he himself had planned and built. Here he died after a short illness.
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Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Sister Angela, of the Order of the Holy Cross, wrote on 11 August 1864:
"I have learned to know and esteem Dr. Pinkney as one of the best and most cherished of the noble corps comprising the Navy".
Acting Rear-Admiral David Dixon Porter, Commanding the Mississippi Squadron, called Pinkney's presence "absolutely necessary. .. many cases occurring where his great experience as a surgeon enabled him to save life in more than one instance".
Connections
He married Mary Sherwood Hambleton and had only child Amelia.