McCauley, Edward Yorke, 1827-1894

Born into a naval family, Lieutenant Commander McCauley was already a 20-year veteran of the service when the Civil War began. He had fought pirates in the China seas and had served as navigation officer on the U.S.S. Niagara during Cyrus Field's early attempts to lay the transatlantic cable. Because transporting the cable required a huge vessel, the United States sent the 5,200-ton Niagara, the world's largest warship, to link with the H.M.S. Agamemnon in the mid-Atlantic. In 1858, during McCauley's tour of duty, the two ships successfully strung the first working cable that carried messages between President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria. Suffering from bouts of fever contracted on the coast of Africa, McCauley had resigned his commission in 1859 but rejoined when war broke out. He was assigned to blockade duty. In 1862, he joined the East Gulf Blockading Squadron headquartered in Key West, Fla. During a single eighteen-month period in 1863-1864, Bailey's squadron captured one hundred fifty blockade runners, of which this was one.

From the description of Letter, 1864 Mar. 21 (Elbow Key, Bahama Bank [Bahamas]), to Acting Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey. (University of South Carolina). WorldCat record id: 772645145