Samuel Dana Greene

Background

Samuel Dana Greene was born on Feburary 11, 1840 at Cumberland, Maryland, of New England parentage. His father, Gen. George Sears Greene, was a native of Rhode Island; his mother, Martha Barrett Dana, of Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Education

On September 21, 1855, he entered the navy as an “acting midshipman on probation at the Naval Academy” and graduated in 1859, seventh in a class of twenty which included Alfred T. Mahan.

Career

Promoted midshipman and ordered to the Hartford on his graduation, he served on that ship in the East Indies and did not return home until after the outbreak of the Civil War and after his promotion to a lieutenancy on August 31, 1861. Greene’s claim to fame is based upon his connection with the Monitor, the first Federal ironclad and one of the most celebrated vessels of modern times.

During her career of a little less than a year he served as her only executive officer, under five different commanders; he stood on her deck when she was launched and left it a few minutes before she sank. In the early part of her engagement at Hampton Roads with the Merrimac on March 9, 1862, Greene, then twenty-two years of age, had charge of the turret and also of the guns, every one of which he pointed and fired until he took command of the vessel when Lieut. J. L. Worden, her commander, was wounded.

On the retreat of the Merrimac, Greene, after firing a few parting shots at her, withdrew to the Minnesota, which he had orders to protect. The next day he was superseded as commander by a superior officer. He was subsequently criticized for permitting the Merrimac to escape.

His conduct, however, was in accord with the orders of both President Lincoln and Assistant Secretary Fox, which confined the Monitor to a defensive role. Worden recommended him to the department for advancement and commended him for the “great courage, coolness, and skill” with which he handled the guns, and for his earnest devotion to duty throughout the engagement. Greene was with the Monitor when she moved up the James River in connection with McClellan’s advance upon Richmond and participated in her hard-fought action against Fort Darling. He was also with her when she foundered off Hatteras on the night of December 30-31, 1862.

His meritorious conduct during this disaster was called to the attention of the Navy Department and of the commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron by his superior officer. In 1863-64 he was employed as executive officer of the Florida in chasing blockade-runners, and during the last year of the war in a similar capacity on the Iroquois, which was engaged in searching for Confederate commerce- destroyers. He was promoted lieutenant-commander from August 11, 1865; and commander, from December 12, 1872.

For more than half of the period between 1866 and 1884 he was attached to the Naval Academy, serving, at different times, as instructor in mathematics, head of the department of astronomy, navigation, and surveying, assistant in charge of building and grounds, and senior aid to the superintendent. In 1868-71 he saw service with the Pacific Squadron.

He commanded the Juniata of the European station, 1875-76; the training ship Monongahela, 1876-77; and the Despatch on special service, 1882-84. His death, which was by his own hand, occurred at the Portsmouth navy-yard where he was stationed as executive officer. The cause assigned for this act was anxiety over an article on the engagement between the Monitor and Merrimac that he was preparing for publication.

Achievements

• Samuel is mostly noted for his service aboard the USS Monitor during the Battle of Hampton Roads.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The description of the fight between the Monitor and Merrimac on the 9th of March, 1862

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The Monitor and the Merrimac - Both sides of the story

    (The Monitor and the Merrimac - Both sides of the story is...)

Connections

On October 9, 1863, he was married to Mary Willis Dearth of Bristol, Rhode Island, who died in 1874. On November 8, 1876, Greene married Mary Abby Babbitt, also of Bristol.

Father:

George Sears Greene

Mother:

Martha Barrett Dana

Spouse:

Mary Willis Dearth

Spouse:

Mary Abby Babbitt

sibling:

Charles T. Greene

sibling:

George S. Greene, Jr.

sibling:

Francis Vinton Greene

Son:

Samuel Dana Greene

He entered the Naval Academy and graduated in 1883 at the head of his class.