Francis Munroe Ramsay, born in the District of Columbia 5 April 1835, was appointed Midshipman 5 October 1850. After training in Preble and in St. Lawrence, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1856. He subsequently served in Falmouth with the Brazil Squadron; in Merrimac on the Pacific Station; on ordnance duty at the Washington Navy Yard; and in Saratoga on the African Station. On 23 March 1863, he assumed command of Choctaw, for duty in the Mississippi Squadron. In that gunboat, he participated in Yazoo River operations during April and May. Then on 7 June, he supported a Union garrison at Milliken's Bend, La., in holding off some 4,000 Confederate troops. Moving on to Vicksburg, he commanded a battery of heavy guns mounted on scows in exposed positions before the city, 19 June-4 July. After the capture of the river stronghold, he was given command of the 3d Division, Mississippi Squadron. During February and March 1864, he led expeditions up the Black and Ouachita Rivers and from mid-March to early May participated in Rear Admiral Porter's expedition up the Red River. On 28 September, he was transferred to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in command of Unadilla. He participated in amphibious assaults on Fort Fisher 24 December 1864 and on 13 January 1865, and in subsequent attacks against Fort Anderson and other forts along the Cape Fear River. In April, he assisted in removing torpedoes (mines) from the James River and was present at the capture of Richmond. After the Civil War, Ramsay served in many and varied positions afloat - as Fleet Captain, South Atlantic Squadron and as commanding officer of Guerriere, Ossipee, Lancaster, and Trenton. Ashore, he served at the Naval Academy, at Newport, in London as naval attaché, and at Boston and New York as commandant of the Navy Yards. In 1889 he became Chief of the Bureau of Navigation and remained in that post until his retirement 5 April 1897. He was promoted to rear admiral on 5 April 1894, and died in Washington, D.C., 19 July 1914
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