Fabius Maximus Stanly
Born	( 1815-12-15 ) December 15, 1815 New Bern, North Carolina , U.S.
Died	December 5, 1882 (1882-12-05) (aged 66) Washington, D.C. , U.S.
Place of burial	Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S.
Allegiance	United States
Service/ branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1831?1874
Rank	Rear admiral
Commands held	USS  State of Georgia
Battles/wars	Mexican?American War Capture of Guaymas Capture of Mazatlan American Civil War
Relations	John Stanly (father) Edward Stanly (brother)

Fabius Maximus Stanly (December 15, 1815 ? December 5, 1882) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy , who served during the Mexican?American War and the American Civil War .

Early life [ edit ]

Fabius Maximus Stanly ^[1] was born on December 15, 1815, in New Bern, North Carolina , to John Stanly . ^{[2] [3]} His father was the speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons and U.S. Representative from North Carolina. ^{[3] [4]} His grandfather was John Wright Stanly , a veteran of the American Revolutionary War . ^[4]

Career [ edit ]

Stanly was appointed midshipman on December 20, 1831. ^{[2] [3]} He sailed on the frigate USS Constellation from 1832 to 1834. He then served in a variety of places, including Hudson, Concord, Warren, Consort, Falmouth, the Pacific Ocean, Delaware and Brazil until 1843. ^[2] He was promoted to lieutenant on September 8, 1841. ^[3] He commanded the sloop USS Warren in 1854. He was the executive officer of the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1855. ^[2]

During the Mexican?American War , Stanly was assigned to the Pacific Squadron and participated in the capture of California and the defense of San Francisco. ^[3] He also took part in several land raids and, during the Capture of Guaymas , led a party of 30 sailors on a cannon -spiking raid in the midst of 1,500 enemy troops. He completed his mission successfully, returning to the boats with all his wounded and some prisoners to boot. ^{[3] [ citation needed ]} He also participated in the Capture of Mazatlan and received a knife wound to the chest. ^[3]

After the Mexican?American War, Stanly commanded steamers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company from 1850 to 1851, and during the Paraguay expedition commanded the store ship Supply . From 1859 to 1860, Stanly was on the steamer USS Wyandotte . ^[3] On May 9, 1860, Wyandotte captured the slave ship William off the coast of Cuba. ^{[1] [5]} After his service with the Wyandotte , Stanly was sent to California to command the receiving ship USS Independence . ^[3]

After the start of the American Civil War , Stanly was commissioned as commander on May 19, 1861, and served on the steamer Narragansett . He served as a diplomat with Mexico. ^{[1] [3]} At that time, he was given command of the side-wheel steamer State of Georgia and cruised off the coast of South Carolina , including participating in the expedition of Bull's Run. Stanly served in the Pacific Squadron until 1864. ^{[1] [ citation needed ]}

Stanly was commissioned captain on July 25, 1866, commodore on July 1, 1870, and rear admiral on February 12, 1874. ^[3] He retired from the Navy on June 4, 1874. ^[3]

Personal life [ edit ]

His sister married General Walker Keith Armistead . His brother, Edward Stanly , served as the North Carolina Attorney General and as speaker in the North Carolina House of Commons. ^{[4] [6]}

Stanly died in Washington, D.C. , on December 5, 1882. ^{[2] [7]} He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. ^{[7] [8]}

Legacy [ edit ]

In 1941, the destroyer USS  Stanly  (DD-478) was named in his honor. ^{[3] [4]}

References [ edit ]

•   This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . The entry can be found here .

External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fabius Stanly .

• The Last Slave Ships at the Wayback Machine (archived March 14, 2012)