Foote, Andrew Hull

Foote, Andrew Hull

(fo͝ot), 1806–63, American naval officer, b. New Haven, Conn.; son of Samuel Augustus FootFoot, Samuel Augustus,
1780–1846, American politician, b. Cheshire, Conn. He served as a Democratic Republican in the Connecticut legislature (1817–18, 1821–23, 1825–26) and in the U.S.
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. He became a midshipman in 1822. As executive officer of the Cumberland (1843–45), Foote made her the first temperance ship of the navy. He was largely responsible for ending the alcohol ration in the navy in 1862. From 1849 to 1851 he was active against the slave trade on the African coast and later wrote Africa and the American Problem (1854). In 1856, while commanding the Portsmouth at Guangzhou, China, he led a small naval force that captured the four barrier forts in reprisal for acts against the American flag. In the Civil War, Foote was given (1861) command of Union naval operations on the upper Mississippi River. His flotilla of gunboats cooperated brilliantly with the army in the victories at Fort HenryFort Henry,
Confederate fortification on the Tennessee River, S of the Ky.-Tenn. line; site of the first major Union victory of the Civil War (Feb. 6, 1862). The fort was attacked and reduced by Union gunboats commanded by Commodore Andrew Foote. Confederate commander Gen.
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, Fort DonelsonFort Donelson
, Confederate fortification in the Civil War, on the Cumberland River at Dover, Tenn., commanding the river approach to Nashville, Tenn. After capturing Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River (Feb. 6, 1862), General Ulysses S. Grant, on Feb.
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, and Island No. 10Island No. 10,
former island in the Mississippi River, between NW Tenn. and SE Mo.; site of an important western campaign of the Civil War. With the advance of Union Gen. U. S. Grant up the Tennessee River, all Confederate positions, except New Madrid and Island No.
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. He was promoted to rear admiral for his work, but wounds received at Fort Donelson forced him to retire from combat service.

Bibliography

See biography by J. M. Hoppin (1874).

Foote, Andrew Hull

(1806–63) naval officer; born in New Haven, Conn. His naval career (1822–62) was highlighted by his antislavery book Africa and the American Flag (1854) and the abolition of the naval grog ration in 1862.