Franklin Buchanan

Franklin Buchanan (September 17, 1800 – May 11, 1874) was an officer in the United States Navy who became the only full admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He also commanded the ironclad CSS Virginia.

Early life Franklin Buchanan was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 13, 1800. He was the fifth child and third son of Laetitia (née McKean) and George Buchanan, a physician. The Buchanan side of his family arrived in the United States from Scotland. His paternal grandfather was a general with the Maryland Militia during the Revolutionary War while his maternal grandfather Thomas McKean was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

He joined the U.S. Navy on January 28, 1815, and became a midshipman; he was promoted to lieutenant on January 13, 1825, commander on September 8, 1841, and then captain on September 14, 1855. He climbed to the top deck of Virginia and began furiously firing toward shore with a carbine as was shelled. He soon was brought down by a sharpshooter's minie ball to the thigh. He would eventually recover from his leg wound. He did not get to command Virginia against . That honor went to Catesby ap Roger Jones.

In August 1862, Buchanan was promoted to the rank of full admiral – the only officer so honored in the Confederate Navy – and was sent to take command of Confederate naval forces stationed at Mobile Bay, Alabama. He oversaw the construction of the ironclad , of which the keel was laid in October 1862. He was on board Tennessee during the Battle of Mobile Bay with Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut's Union fleet on August 5, 1864. Wounded and taken prisoner, Buchanan was not exchanged until February 1865. On May 1, 2023, it was announced the Superintendent's quarters will be renamed Farragut House to honor Admiral David Glasgow Farragut.