Biography

Andrew Hull Foote was born in New Haven, CT. He attended West Point for a short time before joining the Navy as a midshipman on December 4, 1822. In 1856 he commanded the Portsmouth in the East India Squadron and siezed the barrier forts at Canton due to Chinese attacks on American ships. In 1861 and 1862 he commanded the Naval Forces on Western Rivers and led the gunboat flotilla, which he also organized, to capture Fort Henry and Fort Donelson as well as Island No. 10. At Fort Donelson he was wounded and commissioned Rear Admiral on July 18, 1862. He died in 1863 en route to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.