biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1745–1803)
|
| biography:
| US naval officer, born in Tacumshane, Co Wexford, SE Ireland. He went to sea early and settled in Philadelphia by 1760. An ardent patriot, he became a Continental Navy captain, and commanded the USS Lexington and Effingham (1776–8). He took the Marquis de Lafayette back to France after the victory at Yorktown (1781), and captured numerous British vessels in 1782. After the Revolution, he worked in the merchant trade before being recalled to the naval service in 1794, becoming the senior captain in the navy, and commanding all US ships in the West Indies (1798–9). He returned to Philadelphia in 1801, and remained the senior naval officer until his death. |
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