LOW-JOHN

SCOTTISH  MAN  BECAME  PROMINENT

OFFICER  IN  CONFEDERATE  NAVY

John Low was born in Tulloch, Aberdeen, Scotland, on January 24, 1836.  Both of his parents died soon after his birth and he was raised by relatives in Liverpool, England.  Having gained a good education on reaching the age of sixteen, he joined the British Merchant Service, a move that would see him remain associated with seafaring for his entire life.  Four years later John immigrated to America in 1856 and settled in Savannah, Georgia, where he worked for several maritime organizations.  By the outbreak of hostilities between the States, he was the proud owner of his own merchant supply business.

Low was quick to answer the call for men at arms.  He enlisted as a private with the Georgia Hussars on January 19, 1861, but later resigned from the cavalry unit when the opportunity arose to take up an appointment in the new, Confederate States Navy (CSN).  In view of his experience John was assigned the rank of Acting Master. Shortly afterwards John was sent to Liverpool to assist purchasing agents in England acquire ships and ordinance necessary for the conduct of the war.

From Liverpool, John Low was sent to Greenock, the naval hub of his native Scotland where he assisted in purchasing FINGAL, the first vessel purchased outright for the Confederacy.  Newly promoted, Lieutenant John Low returned to Liverpool in March 1862 and assisted in provisioning a ship and then commanded it on a secret mission to Nassau in the Bahamas where it became the newly commissioned CSS FLORIDA.

By July 1862, Low was again back in Liverpool and on August 5, sailed with several other officers for the Azores aboard the BAHAMA.  Upon arrival at Terciera, Azores, John Low was immediately appointed as 4th Lieutenant on the newly commissioned CSS ALABAMA.   

Ten months passed during which ALABAMA, a screw sloop-of-war commerce raider, wreaked havoc among the shipping lanes used by Federal merchant ships.  Low`s skill and strong, personal attributes became apparent to his superiors and on June 20, 1863, the ALABAMA captured the American bark CONRAD enroute to New York with a cargo of wool and animal skins for tanning.  As a vessel designed for speed, the prize ship was commissioned CSS TUSCALOOSA and she was armed with two 12-pounders and a large supply of small arms.  John Low was given command of the Confederate Navy’s newest ship with instructions to patrol the African coast as far as the Cape of Good Hope.  Commander Low and fifteen other crewmen duly set sail the following day.

Commander Low had difficulty in finding U.S. merchantmen until, off the coast at Cape Town, Low stopped and seized the American owned vessel SANTEE.  Subsequently, the TUSCALOOSA dropped anchor in Simon`s Bay, South Africa, on December 26, 1863, where she was seized by the British authorities who refused to accept that she was a fully commissioned Confederate cruiser.  Low left TUSCALOOSA at Simon`s Bay, and sailed back to Liverpool where he spent 1864 overseeing the construction of four new Confederate ships.  However, only one of these four vessels ever put to sea.  CSS AJAX was designed as a light-draft gunboat destined for the river fleet of the Mississippi.  With John Low as Commander, she sailed for the U.S. and arrived at St. George, Bermuda, on May 4, 1865.  Local British officials there served writs preventing Low and the AJAX any onward departure until they received confirmation the Confederacy had fallen.  With no option other than to return to England, Low sailed AJAX back to Liverpool, where he surrendered her on June 9, 1865.  With no amnesty for Confederate Naval officers who had served outside the borders of the United States, Low sent for his son who was with relatives in Savanah and settled once again in Liverpool.

Mary Elizabeth, John Low's first wife heard of the sinking of the CSS ALABAMA and left her two year old son with a relative before running the blockade herself and sailing to Liverpool.  Endeavoring to find out what had happened to her husband who was not mentioned in any casualty listing, she discovered Low had not informed her of his appointment as Commander of CSS TUSCALOOSA and was not aboard ALABAMA at the time she fought USS KEARSARGE and was sunk off the coast of France.  When his wife finally arrived in Liverpool, she found John there alive and well.  Sadly their happy reunion was short-lived as she died at Liverpool on November 20, 1864, and was buried in Toxteth Park cemetery. 

Following the end of the Civil War, John Low lived permanently in Liverpool, prospered in several business ventures and passed away on September 6, 1906, after a short illness.  He is buried in Newton-Le-Willows, not far from Liverpool.

Submited by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)