Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

---

Dahlgren, John Adolph, 1809-1870

Naval officer; born in Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1809; entered the navy in 1826, and was made rearadmiral in 1863. He was the inventor of

John Adolph Dahlgren.

the Dahlgren gun, which he perfected at the navy-yard at Washington, and in 1862 he was made chief of the bureau of ordnance. In July, 1863, he took command of the South Atlantic squadron, and, with the land forces of General Gillmore, captured Morris Island and Fort Wagner, and reduced Fort Sumter to a heap of ruins. He conducted a successful expedition up the St. John's River, in Florida, in 1864, and co-operated with General Sherman in the capture of Savannah. After the evacuation of Charleston he moved his vessels up to that city. Admiral Dahlgren, besides being the inventor of a cannon, introduced into the navy the highly esteemed light boathowitzer. He was author of several works on ordnance, which became textbooks. He died in Washington, D. C., July 12, 1870.