Bailey, Theodorus, 1805-1877

Washington, D.C. resident and U.S. Navy rear admiral.

Naval officer.

Admiral Theodorus Bailey was born in Chauteaugay, New York on April 12, 1805. He received his academic education in Plattsburg, New York and, at the age of thirteen, received a warrant as a midshipman in the Navy. His first cruise was in the corvette Cyane which provided a convoy for the first black colonists to Liberia, settling them on the Island of Sherboo, off the coast of Africa. During this cruise Bailey participated in the capture of a brig and six schooners which were illegally engaged in the slave trade.

Following several years of apprenticeship at sea, Bailey received the store-ship Lexington as his first command in 1846. It was during this period that he participated in the blockade and eventual seizure of lower California during the Mexican War. His next command, on the sloop-of-war St. Mary, detailed him to the Pacific Squadron and led him on an around-the-world cruise. During this time he was involved in the removal of the United States Consul in the Canary Islands, and was instrumental in quelling the Panama Riots of 1856.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Admiral Bailey tendered his services to the Union and was assigned to active duty as commander of the frigate Colorado in the blockade of Florida. In 1862, he was made second-in-command under David Farragut in the attack on New Orleans, Louisiana. Admiral Bailey led the Union fleet up the Mississippi River and accepted the surrender of New Orleans.

From 1862 to 1864, Admiral Bailey was commander of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in the Gulf of Mexico, and subsequently had charge of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Navy Yard. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1866, and retired from active duty to accept a position on the Navy Retiring Board. He died February 10, 1877 in Washington, D.C.