Levin M. Powell

Levin Mynn Powell (April 8, 1798 – January 15, 1885) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy. He was known for his service in the Second Seminole War and developing riverine warfare techniques to fight the Seminole tribe in Florida. He also served with the Union Navy in the American Civil War.

Early life Levin Mynn Powell was born on April 8, 1798, in Winchester, Virginia, to Sidney (née Thruston) and Alfred Harrison Powell.

Career Powell joined the United States Navy in 1813. On March 1, 1817, Powell was appointed midshipman. He served in the Mediterranean Sea for three years and in the China Seas for three years. He was promoted to lieutenant on April 28, 1826, following service in the Gulf of Mexico and West Indies fighting pirates. The riverine warfare that Powell developed would be used to improve amphibious techniques against the Seminoles.

From 1840 to 1841, Powell was commanding officer of the brig USS Consort and surveyed the coast from the Apalachicola River to the Mississippi River. Powell then served as an executive officer at the Washington Navy Yard for three years. Powell died on January 15, 1885, at his house in Washington, D.C. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Legacy Powell left an endowment in his will with the Columbian University to establish a naval school to "prepare young men...to enter the Naval Academy at Annapolis". The will was disputed due to the belief that Powell was not of sound mind while signing it. The will was sustained. On March 15, 1885, the Admiral Powell Scholarships were established at Columbian University.

The riverine warfare techniques that Powell developed in the Second Seminole War would be used more than one hundred years later in the Vietnam War by the United States military.