Edward Gabriel André Barrett

Commodore Edward André Gabriel Barrett, United States Navy, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on 4 February 1827 and died of malaria in New York City on 31 March 1880. He was buried in the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in New York City. He was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) and participated as a protagonist, in an active way to the American Civil War, to the development of world power the US and its military fleet, to fight slavery .

Early life and naval career The second of six children, he married the Noble Palmira De Ribrocchi of Tortona, Piedmont, Italy, in 1850 in Genoa. Palmira was the daughter of the Noble Giovanni Battista De Ribrocchi and Jousserandot Jeanne Francoise, of the Persange Barons. They had four children: Joseph Alfred, Paula Jenny, Virginia M. Elena and Camillo, who became a Garibaldian volunteer. From an article in the Army and Navy Journal, He later remarried in America, probably only civilly and had two other children, who were respectively 8 and 3 years old at the time of his death (1880).

Edward Barrett’s family, of Creole origins, was one of the most aristocratic of Louisiana. He descended on his mother side, from Marquis De Villiers, commander in chief of the French forces, to whom Washington surrendered after Braddock’s defeat.(Fort Necessity). His father, Thomas Barrett, was Collector of the Port of New Orleans for 15 years. This assignment was personally given to him by President Jackson. His mother, Marie Henriette Griffon d’Anneville, was from New Orleans.

He entered the US Navy at the age of 13. On 3 November 1840 he was appointed (Aspiring) Sub-lieutenant and assigned to the sloop and in the Bay of Pensacola. He was later transferred aboard the frigate , of the squadron of the West Indies, under Commodore Nickolson's command.

His first voyage was aboard USS Levant, in the West Indies’ squadron. In July 1842 he was sent to hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. The following August he transferred to the frigate of the squadron of the Mediterranean. Upon arriving at the base he was sent to the sloop and then again to Columbus departing for Brazil.

Command assignments, 1847–1863

In February 1846 he entered the Naval Academy of the United States and, in August 1847, was appointed Officer and immediately assigned to , of the Gulf squadron. and "Gunnery Instructions"

In 1862, after allegations due to his birth in the South, Barrett was tried by martial court but was declared innocent, and received praise for his professional and patriotic services.

Barrett commanded in 1863 and , a outside Charleston. he was assigned to this command directly by the Secretary of the Navy, Welles, replacing the previous Commander Rodgers, who had died in combat. The ship was quickly repaired and ready to resume service. They had to conquer Charleston, but, first of all, stop the illegal trade which financed the South.

In 1864 his ship captured , a corsair schooner and on 18 February 1865, he captured the boat Celt, while trying to force the blockade; the ship was secretly leaving Charleston on the night of 14 February.

USS Catskill also captured the British vessel Deer in similar circumstances; this was the last conquest made outside Charleston and the only conquest made by a Monitor. Both combatants considered the fall of Charleston disastrous for the fall of the South. Both Dahlgren (in two messages to Secretary Welles and Admiral Porter) and Wilkinson admitted it: the city of cotton, symbol of the spirit of the South, had fallen into the Unionist hands and, with it, all the hopes of the Confederates ended.

This also tells us that Commodore Edward Barrett was a great manipulator, as well as a brave fighter. The fact that a " monitor " managed to capture a boat that fast, equipped to transport cotton and violate the blockade, is reported in several newspaper articles which appeared after his death

In 1865 he reorganized the Artillery Department of the Arsenal of Norfolk, Virginia and was appointed Inspector of Small Arms for the US Navy in 1866.

Last years The same year he took command of (the first warship that went into Cape Town, Africa), based in Brazil. In 1873 , the following year and in 1875 .

In addition to these services, it is worth recalling that Commander E. Barrett was assigned to the first warship which sailed into the harbor of Joliette in Marseille and on , which was the first to enter the dam of Livorno, Italy. It was the first shipment that remounted the Yang - tse - Kiang to Hankow.

He commanded USS Plymouth, the ship sent by the Government to attend the closing of the International Expo. It was also the first to test the Eads jetties in the spring of 1877. In that period six sailors of USS Plymouth were awarded the Medal of Honor. On the occasion of the July 1877 riots, (Labor strikes), Barrett was called to Washington, where he organized a brigade of naval sailors and marines for the protection of the city and public establishments and held the command of the first aid force until all danger had passed

Edward Barrett wrote several works, still remembered and studied today including: “Temporary Fortifications”, “Dead Reckoning”, "Gunnery Instructions" and "Naval Howitzer".

Family Commodore E. Barrett was married to Palmira De Ribrocchi and had four children:

Giuseppe Alfredo Barrett Paula Jenny Barrett Virginia M. Elena Barrett Camillo Barrett (1851 - 1924)