Commodore Samuel F. DuPont, the commander of the naval forces of the expedition, is a native of the State of Delaware, and received his appointment into the navy from that State. His original entry into the service of his country was on the 19th of December, 1815; he has been, therefore, nearly forty-six years in the service, and his forty-sixth anniversary has won more glory and raised him higher in the estimation of the people, both at home and abroad, than all previous ones. Up to the present time Commodore DuPont has spent nearly twenty-two years on sea, eight and a half years in active duty on shore, and the balance of his time has been unemployed. His present commission bears date September 14, 1855. He was last at sea in May, 1859, and since that time he has been commandant of the Navy Yard at Philadelphia, where his kindness of manner, together with his strict discipline, won for him many friends.
Commodore DuPont is a man a little past what is usually termed the prime of life, although possessed of all the vigor, bodily strength, and ambition that usually characterize younger men. In his personal appearance the Commodore is a person that would at once attract attention.
– Harper’s Weekly, November 30, 1861
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Top image is from The Rebellion Record—A Diary of American Events, page 69, Volume 3, edited by Frank Moore
