There Were Seven Dales Who Were U.S. Navy Officers

U.S. Navy Heritage and History Command "Navy Officers 1798 to 1900."

I also looked at the list of officers with the last name of Dale and found seven of them who served back then.

Richard S. Dale, the one who died and is buried in Bermuda had two brothers according to Find A Grave.  The one, as mentioned as being also in the Navy was John Montgomery Dale.

JOHN MONTGOMERY DALE

Midshipman 18 June 182

Lieutenant   1 April 1818

Commander 12 February 1839

Died   14 December 1852

Wikipedia said that John M. Dale (1797-1852) was a captain in the U.S. Navy and eventually dedicated the sloop-of-war USS Dale in 1839 which was named in honor of his father, Richard Dale.  The Dale went on to serve a long and varied career until 1906.

The first commander of the USS Dale was John Gwinn, who was a naval officer in the War of 1812.

I was unable to find out anymore about him.

Richard Dale's other brother, Edward Crathorne Dale (1806-1866) was not listed as being in the Navy.

--Brock-Perry

George Campbell Read-- USN-- Part 2: Married Into the Dale Family

George Campbell Read married Elizabeth Dale Read (Midshipman Richard S. Dale's sister and daughter of American Revolution Naval Hero Richard Dale).

He was in the Navy from the War of 1812 until the Civil War, a long time.

Entering the U.S. Navy in 1804 as a midshipman, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1810.  In 1812, he was serving aboard the USS Constitution under Commodore Isaac Hull during the War of 1812.  And that meant he was there for the famed battle with the HMS Guerriere.

As a matter of fact, after it became clear that the Constitution had won the battle on August 19, 1812, he was detailed by Hull to  board the English vessel and receive its surrender.

Later that year, he was with Commodore Stephen Decatur when his ship, the USS United States, captured the British frigate HMS Macedonian.

And, I'd never heard of him.

There At the Both Big Naval Victories!!  --Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale's Sister Elizabeth Married George Campbell Read, USN Officer War of 1812 to Civil War-- Part 1

From Find A Grave.

GEORGE CAMPBELL READ

BIRTH:  9 January 1788, in Glastonbury, Connecticut

DEATH: 22 August 1862 in Philadelphia, Pa. (aged74)

BURIAL:  Laurel Hill Cemetery Philadelphia, Section 14, Lot 136

War of 1812 to Civil War Union Naval Officer.

He entered the U.S. Navy  as a midshipman in 1804 and spent the next  58 years of his life in the Naval Service.

--Brock-Perry

Elizabeth Dale Read (Midshipman Richard Dale's Sister)

From Find a Grave.

BIRTH:  21 September 1807, Philadelphia, Pa.

DEATH:  1 March 1863, Philadelphia, Pa.

BURIAL:  Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pa.  Her parents are also buried there.  Civil War General George Gordon Meade is also buried there with a lot of famous people.

Elizabeth Dale was the daughter of  Commodore Richard Dale and Dorothy  Crathorne (Midshipman Richard Dale's parents).  John Montgomery Dale's sister.

SPOUSE:  George Campbell Read, USN

--Brock-Perry

Richard Dale, Sr. Used Influence to Get Sons Into U.S. Navy As Officers

From Revolutionary War Talk.

CHILDREN

RICHARD DALE, JR/

January 2, 1795 to 1815

Richard Dale, Sr. used his  not insubstantial influence within the United States Department  of the Navy to get his first two sons positions in the Navy, with the caveat that they serve on different ships.

Dale, Jr.  served aboard his father's former command, the USS President.  During the War of 1812, the President engaged  a squadron of British warships.

Richard Dale, Jr. was struck by a cannonball that severed his leg and he later died as a prisoner on the island of Bermuda.

**************************************

JOHN MONTGOMERY DALE

January 4, 1797 to December 15, 1852.

Served as  a captain within the U.S. Navy and eventually dedicated the sloop-of-war USS Dale (1822-1921) which was named for his father.

**************************************

Richard Dale, Sr. had two other sons:

Samuel Sutherland Dale who died as an infant

Edward Crathorne Dale (1810-1868)

***************************************

Also three daughters:

Sarah Barry Dale (1804-1839)

Ann Dale (Died as an infant)

Elizabeth Dale  (1807-?)

--Brock-Perry

Richard Dale (Midshipman Richard Dale's Father) Was a Hero of the American Revolution

From Find A Grave.

BIRTH:  6 November 1756  Norfolk City, Virginia

DEATH:  26 February 1826  (aged 69)  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BURIAL:  Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  (A lot of famous people are buried there.)

He was the father of Midshipman Dale who is buried in Bermuda and considered the last American casualty of the War of 1812.  I have been writing about him earlier this month.

Revolutionary War  Naval Officer.    Served in the British Navy from 1776 to 1777, when he took up the American cause.

Served as second-in-command to Captain John Paul Jones on the USS Bon Homme Richard in the famous battle with the HMS Serapis.

Later promoted to lieutenant and commanded continental vessels.

Promoted to captain, U.S. Navy in 1794 and led the Navy squadron in the Mediterranean Sea during the 1801-1802  Barbary Coast War.

Originally buried at  at the Christ Church Burial Ground in  Philadelphia, was reinterred in Laurel Hill Cemetery in 1888.

If you want to read about more details of this man's very interesting life, look him up in Wikipedia.

--Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale-- Part 4: 1967 Was a Highpoint of the Ceremony

**  Starting in 1932,  Captain Adams sent funds  for the wreaths used in the ceremony, but it was not until he retired from the Navy and returned home to Bermuda in 1963, that he was able to be present when the wreath was laid.  My  uncle, Richard Dale, was able to attend that year.

**  In 1967, the ceremony reached its peak when the United States agreed to send the frigate USS Luce for the occasion.  Personnel from the U.S. Bases in Bermuda, which had been established in the Second World War, also, participated.

**  After Captain Adams' untimely death in 1973, the service waned and eventually ceased when  the U.S. Forces withdrew  from Bermuda in 1995.  However, a meeting  between St. Georgian Beau  Evans and Louise  Reider sparked  the reintroduction of the ceremony in 2006.

Edward Dale closed with this remark:  "It gives me great pleasure to once again, 199 years after the death of my great- great- great grand uncle, Midshipman Richard Dale, to express the heartfelt gratitude of the Dale family."

--Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale-- Part 3: A Commemoration Ceremony in 2014

At the February 2014 ceremony for Dale, Edward Morgan Dale, a descendant of  of Commodore Richard Dale, took part in the occasion and gave a talk at the dinner hosted by the Friends of St,. Peter's.  This was also attended by Louise Reider, the daughter of  Captain Adams (who started the ceremonies), her daughter Abigail and his great grandsons Nicholas and Paget Kellogg.

Here are some of his remarks:

**  Captain Adams' research revealed the touching tale of  the kindness shown by the people of  St. George's to Midshipman Dale, one of the last casualties of the War of 1812.  He died here on February  22, 1815, despite the dignified  care provided by the St. Georgians to the seaman in distress.

**  Midshipman Dale's  father, Commodore Richard Dale,  arranged for the horizontal tombstone so inscribed:  To Commemorate the Gallant Deeds of the People of  St. George's whose Generosity and tender sympathy prompted the kindest attention to him while living and honored him when dead."

--Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale-- Part 2: A Ceremony Held Every Year Now

After the battle, he was brought to St. George's for treatment and cared for at Stennet's Hotel where the Bank of Butterfield now sits on the Town Square.  However, he succumbed to his injuries on February 22, 1815.

But, he was not forgotten.  Every February 22, when the Us Marine Corps had a station on the U.S. base, a small parade would be held to honor the final the Midshipman who gave his life in the last action on the seas between the U.S. and Britain

This ceremony came to a stop when the base closed in 1995.    However, the friends of St. Peter's Foundation, which works to preserve and increase the  interest in the church in St. George, reintroduced the ceremony in 2006.

Descendants of Bermudian Scarret Adams, who served in the U.S. Navy and found Dale's grave and started the ceremony,  donate funds each year for a wreath of white Passion flowers to put on his grave.

--Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale-- Part 1: Father Was a U.S. Navy Commodore

From Find A Grave

RICHARD SOUTHERLAND SALE

BIRTH:  1795

DEATH:  22 February 1815 (aged 19-20)

BURIAL:  St. Peter's Church Graveyard, Bermuda.

Midshipman Richard Dale who was the last victim of the War of 1812.

Midshipman Richard Southerland Dale was the oldest son of Commodore Richard Dale from  Philadelphia, who was 20 years old when he lost his leg after his ship, the President engaged a British warship in the 1815 war between Britain and the United States.

His father fought in the American Revolution and was second in command of the USS Bon Homme Richard in its famous fight against the HMS Serapis.  That ship's commander, of course, was none other than John Paul Jones.

--Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale: The Last American Death in the War of 1812

From Bermuda Historic stories:  A last casualty of the War of 1812 by Dr. Edward Cecil Harris.

On Christmas Eve 1814, the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812, but that news took several months to reach the North America.   At sea on Jan. 15, 1815, off New York City the British vessel HMS Endymion captured the USS President.

One of the Americans, however, Midshipman Richard Dale Jr., was severely wounded and had his leg amputated.  He died at Bermuda a month later and was buried at St. Peter's Church in St. George's.

In 1932, a young Bermudian, Scarritt Adams, serving in the U.S. Navy,  came upon Richard Dale's inscribed gravestone and decided that his passing should be commemorated by the United States and Bermuda.

Thus began the "Midshipman Dale Ceremony."

--Brock-Perry

Remembering the Last American Casualty

From the Feb. 24, 2014, Bermuda Royal Gazette.

The final American casualty of the War of 1812 (perhaps even the final casualty on all sides) was remembered in a ceremony on St. George's. The annual Midshipman Dale Ceremony was held on Saturday to mark the 199th anniversary of his death.

Richard Sutherland Dale was a midshipman on the frigate USS President which was captured in January 1815. He was wounded and cared for by the people of St. George's while a prisoner. He died Feb. 22, 1815, five days after the United States ratified the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war.

His father was Commodore Richard Dale who later visited St. George's to express his gratitude for the kindness and care shown an enemy.

The first ceremony took place in 1932.

--Brock-Perry