William Mervine was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.
Background
William Mervine was born on 14 March 1791, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John and Zibia (Wright) Mervine. His grandfather, Philip Mervine, who wrote his name in German, "Marvine, " although believed to be a Huguenot, settled in Germantown Township, near Philadelphia, before 1746.
Career
William was appointed midshipman from January 16, 1809, and was assigned to duty at the Philadelphia naval station. Serving on board the John Adams at the outbreak of the War of 1812, he was on September 30 of that year transferred to the Black Rock flotilla on Lake Erie, and he remained on the Lakes until the end of the war. After the battle of Black Rock, in which he was wounded, he was transferred to the Hamilton. He was promoted to an acting lieutenancy on August 25, 1813, and to a lieutenancy on February 4, 1815. A tour of duty at Sacketts Harbor, New York, was followed by cruises on board the Cyane on the west coast of Africa, in the West Indies, and in the Mediterranean from 1820 to 1825. In 1827-28 he served with the Natchez of the West India Squadron. Having been promoted master-commandant in June 1834, he commanded the Natchez in 1836-37 during a cruise in the West Indies. From 1838 to 1845 he was on waiting orders. He saw his first sea service as captain, to which rank he was promoted from September 8, 1841, in command of the Cyane from 1845 to 1846, and of the Savannah from 1846 to 1847, both of the PacificSquadron. On July 7, 1846, with a detachment of sailors and marines he landed at Monterey, California, and took possession of the town, serving later as its military commandant. In October he commanded a landing party that engaged the Mexicans near Los Angeles with a loss of about a dozen men on each side and then retired. From 1855 to 1857 he commanded the Pacific Squadron. During the last year of this tour of duty he was employed on the coast of Panama and Central America on account of the filibustering expedition of William Walker. He was on waiting orders when, on May 6, 1861, he was chosen to command the Gulf Blockading Squadron. With the Colorado as his flagship anchored off Fort Pickens, Florida, he established a blockade extending from Key West to Galveston. The destruction of the Judah by a boat expedition from the flagship was warmly commended by Gideon Welles, the secretary of the navy. Mervine, however, who was now more than seventy years old, impressed the secretary as lacking in energy and initiative, and he was therefore, in September 1861, relieved of his command. Later during the war he performed special duty at Washington and Philadelphia and served as president of the retiring board at New York. He was promoted commodore from July 16, 1862, and rear admiral from July 25, 1866, both on the retired list. He died at his home at Utica, New York.
Achievements
Connections
On January 12, 1815, Mervine was married to Amanda Maria Crane at Litchfield, New York.