Photographic History of the United States Navy
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NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy |
DESTROYER ARCHIVE |
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| 90k | William R. Hoel was born in Ohio on 7 March 1825. A steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, he joined the Navy in October 1861 and played a very important role on the Western Rivers during the rest of the Civil War. Wounded in action on board the ironclad gunboat Cincinnati during the battle of Fort Henry on 6 February 1862, he recovered in time to pilot USS Carondelet past the Confederate fortress on Island Number Ten some two months later. In May 1862, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Hoel took command of the Cincinnati while she was under salvage and repair. In October of that year he became Commanding Officer of sister gunboat Pittsburg, taking her through operations in the vicinity of Vicksburg, Mississippi. On 29 April 1863, he courageously used his ship to protect the flagship Benton when that vessel was endangered by enemy fire during the bombardment of Grand Gulf, Mississippi. In March-July 1865, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Commander Hoel commanded the ram Vindicator. He left the Navy in December 1865. | NHC | |
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