Week 4 Poll is now up!

Last week, we unveiled the beginning of a contest to decide (by you the reader) who was the greatest naval officer, North and South. In the final week, we will square the Union and Confederate winner face to face to see who wins. Last week's winner was Admiral David D. Porter, who beat out Admiral David G. Farragut by a slim margin. For week four, we have several important Union officers to choose from. Although Winfield Scott's served in the United States Army, his "Anaconda Plan" was the guiding force for the Union Navy throughout the war. You can vote on the left panel of this blog. We have provided the following information about each officer courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Andrew H. Foote

Andrew Hull Foote, born 12 September 1806 at New Haven, Conn., entered the Navy 4 December 1822 as a midshipman. Commanding Portsmouth in the East India Squadron on 20 and 21 November 1856, Foote led a landing party which seized the barrier forts at Canton, China, in reprisal for attacks on American ships. From 30 August 1861 to 9 May 1862, Foote commanded the Naval Forces on Western Rivers with distinction, organizing and leading the gunboat flotilla in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and Island No. 10. Wounded in action at Fort Donelson, Foote was commissioned Rear Admiral 16 July 1862, and was on his way to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron when he died at New York 26 June 1863.

Silas Stringham

Silas Horton Stringham, born in Middletown, N.Y., on 7 November 1798, served in the United States Navy from the War of 1812 through the Civil War. During the War of 1812, he served in the frigate President and took part in the engagements with the British ships Little Belt and Belyidere. He subsequently served in Spark in the campaign against Algerian corsairs and later, while attached to Hornet with the West India Squadron, participated in the capture of the slaver Moscow. During the Mexican War, he commanded the ship-of-the-line Ohio and took part in the attack on Vera Cruz. Commissioned Rear Admiral in July 1862, his Civil War service included command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Rear Admiral Stringham died in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 7 February 1876.

Winfield Scott

Born June 13, 1786, Petersburg, Va., U.S. — died May 29, 1866, West Point, N.Y.) U.S. army officer. Creator of the "Anaconda Plan." He fought in the War of 1812 at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane (1814). Promoted to major general, he traveled to Europe to study military tactics. He advocated a well-trained and disciplined army, earning the nickname "Old Fuss and Feathers" for his emphasis on military formalities. In 1841 he became commanding general of the U.S. Army. He directed operations during the Mexican War and led the U.S. invasion at Veracruz and the victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was the Whig Party's nominee in the 1852 presidential election but lost to Franklin Pierce. In 1855 he was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the first man since George Washington to hold that rank. Scott was still commander in chief of the U.S. Army when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, but his proposed strategy of splitting the Confederacy — the plan eventually adopted — was ridiculed. Age forced his retirement the following November.

Richard W. Meade

Richard Worsam Meade III (also called Richard Worsam Meade, Jr., by many sources) was born in New York City on 9 October 1837. He was the son of Passed Midshipman Richard Worsam Meade II, USN, and followed his father into a Navy career when he entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1850. Graduating in 1856, he served in the steam frigate Merrimack in 1856-1857 and off Africa in 1857-1859 on board the corvette Cumberland and the sloop of war Dale. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1858, Meade was an officer of the steamer Saranac and sailing sloop of war Cyane, both units of the Pacific Squadron, during 1859-1861.

After returning to the East Coast from the Pacific in mid-1862, Lieutenant Meade was hospitalized for a few months for a tropical illness, then provided gunnery instruction to volunteer officers as the Navy expanded to meet the challenges of the Civil War. In January 1862 he became Executive Officer of the steam sloop Dacotah and later held the same position on the new gunboat Conemaugh. Lieutenant Commander Meade's subsequent Civil War service was distinguished, including participation in the supression of the July 1863 New York draft riots, plus active combat and blockade enforcement work while commanding the Mississippi River ironclad Louisville in the latter part of 1862 and the gunboats Marblehead in South Carolina waters in 1863-1864 and Chocura in the Gulf of Mexico during 1864-1865.