George H. Perkins

Commodore George Hamilton Perkins (October 20, 1836 – October 29, 1899) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Biography Born in Contoocook, New Hampshire, in the northern part of Hopkinton to the Honorable Hamilton Eliot Perkins, George was appointed as acting midshipman in October 1851 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with the class of 1856. Early career During the rest of that decade Midshipman Perkins served on at sea on the sloop of war Cyane, the storeship Release and the steamer Sumpter. He attained the ranks of master in 1859 and lieutenant in February 1861, on the eve of the Civil War. Perkins spent the conflict's first several months in the Sumpter, operating on anti-slavery patrols. In early 1862 he was assigned as executive officer to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron (WGBS) Unadilla-class gunboat under its commanding officer Lieutenant N.B. (Napoleon Bonaparte) Harrison in which he performed distinguished service during the 1862 campaigns to capture New Orleans and the lower Mississippi River.