John G. Sproston

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John G. Sproston (14 August 18288 June 1862) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Civil War.

Sproston was born in Maryland and appointed to the Naval Academy in 1846. He served with the Pacific Squadron during the war with Mexico. During the Civil War, he served as commanding officer of Powhatan and as executive officer of Seneca. On 1 November 1861, during the battle for Port Royal, South Carolina, Sproston personally fired many of the 11-inch guns on board Seneca as the crew was new and untrained. Lt. Sproston was killed on 8 June 1862 while on a boat expedition to destroy a Confederate privateer in the St. John's River, Florida.

USS Sproston (DD-173) and USS Sproston (DD-577) were named for him.

John Glendy was the eldest son of George Saxon Sproston, US Naval Surgeon, and Jane Glendy, daughter of the Rev John Glendy, former Chaplain of the United States Senate. Both John Glendy and his father are buried in Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore.

Details of John Glendy's parentage and the location of his grave can be found in the introduction to his memoirs, "A Private Journal of John Glendy Sproston, U.S.N.", first published in 1940. These were written by John during his voyage to Japan with the Perry (Matthew Calbraith Perry) Expedition in 1854.

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