Rear Admiral George Henry Cooper (27 July 1821 – 17 November 1891) was an officer in the United States Navy. During his long naval career, he served on the African Slave Trade Patrol, and fought in the Second Seminole War, the Mexican War, the American Civil War, and the Korean Expedition, and rose to command of the North Atlantic Squadron.
Early life
Cooper was born in New York City on 27 July 1821.
Naval career
Second Seminole War
Cooper entered U.S. Navy service as an acting midshipman in January 1836 and was assigned to the sloop-of-war , which was fitting out at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. He sailed for the West Indies aboard Concord in March 1836, and after she was assigned to the fleet operating off Florida in the Second Seminole War, he saw constant service in boat expeditions against the Seminoles in cooperation with United States Army forces. Appointed midshipman on 14 August 1837, Cooper remained aboard Concord until the end of her cruise in November 1838.
1839–1843
In February 1839, Cooper was ordered to the frigate in the Pacific Squadron, remaining aboard her until 1841. He then was a watch officer aboard the schooner until the spring of 1842, when he transferred to the sloop-of-war . He detached from St. Louis when she arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, in September 1842 and then attended the Philadelphia Naval School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until 1843. Upon completing his studies, he was promoted to passed midshipman on 23 or 29 June 1843 (sources vary).
African Slave Trade Patrol
Coopers next assignment was to the frigate , the flagship of the Africa Squadron, engaged in the African Slave Trade Patrol, serving aboard her as an acting master. He later transferred to the sloop-of-war , also in the Africa Squadron, and returned to the United States aboard her in December 1844. He then performed a short tour of duty at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, in the spring of 1845.
Mexican War
In 1846, Cooper was assigned to the schooner of the Home Squadron, and in March of that year Flirt reported for duty under U.S. Army Brigadier General (later major general) Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War. Cooper commanded a detachment of men at Port Isabel, Texas, in operations related to the Siege of Fort Texas of early May 1846, and remained with Taylor's force until the capture of Monterrey, Mexico, in September 1846. Flirt then was reassigned to Commodore David Conner's squadron off Veracruz, Mexico, and aboard her Cooper took part in the First Battle of Tabasco in October 1846, an attack on Alvarado, attacks on Tuxpan, and the Second Battle of Tabasco in June 1847. After the American capture of Mexico City in September 1847, Flirt detached from Conner's squadron and returned to the United States.
East India Squadron
Cooper next served aboard the receiving ship at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 1847 to 1848, then at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, from 1849 to 1850, and he was promoted to master on 11 October 1850. In November 1850 he reported for duty aboard the new sidewheel steam frigate , then fitting out at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York. She was commissioned on 24 December 1850 and assigned to the East India Squadron. Promoted to lieutenant on 8 May 1851, Cooper was aboard Susquehanna when she became the flagship of Commodore Matthew C. Perry in 1852, visited Japan in 1853 and 1854 while Perry forced Japan to sign a trade treaty, and operated off the coast of China. His Susquehanna tour finally came to a close when the ship concluded her cruise at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in March 1855 after a voyage from China via the Indian Ocean and Cape of Good Hope.
Cooper next had duty in Norfolk again, first at the naval rendezvous there in 1856 and then on ordnance duty in 1857. He then was aboard the steam frigate , flagship of the Home Squadron, from 1859 to 1860. He began a tour at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, on 1 August 1860, serving there through 1861.