Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard [key], 1809–70, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Appointed a midshipman in 1826, he had a long and honorable naval career. In charge of ordnance at the Washington navy yard after 1847, he expanded the ordnance facilities and designed the 9-in. (22.9-cm) and 11-in. (27.9-cm) guns that came to be called Dahlgrens. In the Civil War, Dahlgren received command of the Washington navy yard and soon became also chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. Promoted to rear admiral in 1863, he served as commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, cooperated (1863) with Gen. Q. A. Gillmore in the unsuccessful attempt to take Charleston, helped to place troops in Florida in 1864, cooperated with Sherman in taking Savannah, and in Feb., 1865, helped to occupy Charleston. He later held high posts and wrote widely on naval ordnance.
See biography by his wife, Madeleine V. Dahlgren (1882).
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