Background
John Randolph Tucker was born in Alexandria, Virginia, on 31 January 1812. He was the son of John Henry and Susanna Mary Anne Douglas Tucker.
Businessman military commander
John Randolph Tucker was born in Alexandria, Virginia, on 31 January 1812. He was the son of John Henry and Susanna Mary Anne Douglas Tucker.
Tucker received his early education in the good private schools of his native city.
Commissioned a midshipman in the United States Navy in June 1826, John Randolph Tucker was promoted to lieutenant in 1837.
Tucker held the rank of commander and was an executive officer on the Stromboli during the Mexican War. He was promoted to commodore in 1855 and served in both the Home and Mediterranean Squadrons prior to the Civil War. In 1860, he was an ordnance officer at Norfolk Navy Yard.
He resigned his commission on April 18, 1861, and volunteered for service in the Confederate Navy. During the war, Tucker commanded Virginia vessels on the James River. In March 1862, he commanded the Yorktown, which ran the batteries at Newport News.
He also commanded the Patrick Henry, which fought in engagements at Hampton Roads and participated in the attack on Drewry's Bluff in late 1862. He was promoted to captain and on May 13, 1863, he commanded the flagship Chicora in Charleston Harbor. In April 1865, he participated in the battle of Sayler's Creek.
Tucker surrendered at Sayler's Creek, was imprisoned, and was released on July 24, 1865. After the war, he was an agent for the Southern Express Company in Raleigh, North Carolina. As a rear admiral in the Peruvian navy, he fought in the war with Spain in 1866.
Following the war, he conducted a hydrographic survey of the upper Amazon River.
Tall, with imposing presence, John Tucker was known to the sailors as "Handsome Jack." He had the reputation of being a resolute fighter, a strict disciplinarian, and a splendid seaman.
On June 7, 1838, John married Virginia Webb, by whom he had nine children.