Location: Third Street between Chestnut and Grace Streets in Wilmington
County: New Hanover
Original Date Cast: 1950
A naval officer of some repute during the Civil War, John Ancrum Winslow (1811-1873) was born in Wilmington. He enrolled as a midshipman as early as 1827 and served in the Mexican War. As an enthusiastic abolitionist, his allegiances were not in doubt with the outbreak of the sectional struggle in 1861.
As an officer in the Union Navy, he commanded the USS Kearsarge in 1863-1864. He was ordered to pursue the CSS Alabama and blockaded that vessel in the harbor of Cherbourg, France, June 14-19, 1864. Captain Raphael Semmes of the Alabama engaged Winslow’s vessel and, after ninety minutes of fighting, raised the white flag of surrender. The victory was made even more glorious by virtue of its European setting.
The recipient of wide acclaim, Winslow was promoted to commodore and to rear admiral after the war. He died in Massachusetts.
References:
John M. Ellicott, The Life of John Ancrum Winslow, Rear Admiral (1905)
Wilmington News, August 22, 1950
William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, VI, 240-241—sketch by Richard G. Stone, Jr.