Hispanics in The United States Navy - American Revolution and The War of 1812

American Revolution and The War of 1812

The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was disbanded shortly thereafter. The United States Constitution provided the legal basis for a seaborne military force by giving Congress the power "to provide and maintain a navy." Attacks against American shipping by Barbary Coast corsairs spurred Congress to employ this power by passing the Naval Act of 1794 ordering the construction and manning of six frigates.

Lieutenant Jorge Farragut Mesquida, (1755–1817) was a Spanish–Catalan by descent and a Minorquin by birth. He immigrated to the American colonies and participated in the American Revolution as a lieutenant in the South Carolina Navy. During the Revolution, he fought the British at Savannah, Georgia and in 1780 was captured during the battle of Charleston, South Carolina. He was released in a prisoner exchange and volunteered in the militia which fought at the Battle of Cowpens and Wilmington, North Carolina. Farragut Mesquida married Elizabeth Shine and had two sons, one of them was David Farragut.

Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy (1792–1862), a Sephardic Jew whose ancestors were from Portugal, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the great-great-grandson of Dr. Samuel Nunez, the leader of the first Jewish colonists who helped found Savannah, Georgia. Levy was assigned sailing master on the USS Argus, which interdicted English ships in the English Channel during the War of 1812. The ship confiscated more than twenty vessels, but was captured in 1813 and Levy and rest of the crew were taken prisoner until the end of the war.

Upon his return to the United States, Levy served as the sailing master on the 74-gun ship USS Franklin and in 1817 was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. He was promoted to the rank of master commandant in 1837, and the rank of captain in 1844. In 1855, Levy was given the courtesy title of commodore, in recognition of his superior abilities, making him one of the Navy's highest-ranking officers and the first Sephardic Jew of Hispanic descent to reach the rank, which at the time was the highest rank in the U.S. Navy.