Charles Morris (naval officer)

Commodore Charles Morris, USN (1784–1856) was a United States naval officer and administrator whose service extended through the first half of the 19th century.

Biography

Morris was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, 26 July 1784, and served in the Quasi-War with France, Barbary Wars, and War of 1812. He served as a Navy Commissioner from 1823 to 1827, and as the Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repairs from 1844 to 1847.

In 1812 Morris was executive officer on the USS Constitution during her battle with the HMS Guerriere, in which action he was severely wounded. In 1814 he commanded the USS Adams in raiding expeditions against British commerce. Cornered in the Penobscot River in Maine by a British squadron under Capt. Robert Barrie, Morris and his men went ashore with their cannons and, assisted by local militia attempted to hold off the British amphibious force in the Battle of Hampden. The British regulars routed the Americans, however, and Morris and his crew had to scuttle the ship and escape overland to Portland, Maine.

In 1835, his daughter Louise eloped and married William Wilson Corcoran.^[1]

He died in Washington, D.C., 27 January 1856.

Namesakes

Ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Morris and USS Commodore Morris for him.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Further reading

• Autobiography of Commodore Charles Morris, USN, Charles Morris, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1-55750-479-2