ANDREW B. CUMMINGS, LCDR, USN

Andrew Cummings '53

Date of birth: June 22, 1830

Age: 32

"Photograph from a Carte de Visite by Augustus Morand, Brooklyn, New York, circa 1862. Courtesy of Dr. Walter B. LaBerge, Under Secretary of the Army, 1978. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph."

Loss

Andrew died of wounds on March 18, 1863 sustained on March 14, 1863 when his ship (the steam sloop Richmond) attempted to pass the batteries at Vicksburg, Michigan.

Other Information

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Andrew Boyd Cummings was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 22 June 1830. He was appointed a Midshipman in the Navy in April 1847 and subsequently served at the U.S. Naval Academy and at sea on the frigate Brandywine, ship of the line Ohio and the sloops of war Saratoga and Marion. In 1853-1855, as a Passed Midshipman, Cummings was assigned to the steamer Fulton. Simultaneously promoted to the ranks of Master and Lieutenant in September 1855, his next shipboard service was on the sloop of war Dale in the African Squadron. In 1859 Lieutenant Cummings joined the steam sloop Richmond, remaining in her during her 1860-1861 Mediterranean deployment.
After Richmond returned to the United States in mid-1861 she, with Cummings as her First Lieutenant and Executive Officer, undertook active service against the Confederacy in the Gulf of Mexico, most notably the April 1862 capture of New Orleans and subsequent operations up the Mississippi River. Specifically commended for his performance, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in July 1862. Andrew Boyd Cummings was gravely wounded during Richmond's 14 March 1863 attempt to pass the batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi and died four days later.

He is listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. Andrew is buried in Pennsylvania.

Career

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 7 April, 1847. Passed Midshipman, 10 June, 1853. Master, 15 September, 1855. Lieutenant, 16 September, 1855. Lieutenant Commander, 16 July, 1862. Died 18 March, 1863.

Namesake

USS Cummings (Destroyer No. 44) and USS Cummings (DD 365) were named for Andrew; the ships were both sponsored by his niece.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.