SERVED IN UNITED STATES & CONFEDERATE NAVY
William Beverley Sinclair was born on January 22, 1818, in Norfolk, Virginia, the son of Commodore Arthur Sinclair II, USN, who had a distinguished service in the Navy from November 1798 until February 1831. William Sinclair was descended from a long line of men who served their country as his grandfather was reported to be General Richard Kennon the first Provisional Governor of Louisiana. William Sinclair, following in his father’s footsteps, joined the U.S. Navy as an Assistant Surgeon in 1838. He was promoted to the rank of Surgeon in 1852 and in 1861 when the South seceded, Surgeon Sinclair submitted his resignation from the U.S. Navy and joined the Confederate States Navy (CSN).
Little has been recorded concerning the service of William Sinclair in the CSN. However, it is apparent that during the Civil War he became a prisoner of the North as historical records contain the following document:
“I, William B. Sinclair, Surgeon, Confederate States Navy, a prisoner of war, do hereby give my solemn parole of honor not to take part in hostilities against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and that I will not do anything directly or indirectly to the detriment or disparagement of the authority of the United States, until properly exchanged as aforesaid.”
/s/ William B. Sinclair
Historical records reflect that his son, William Beverley Sinclair Jr., who was born in 1845, followed his father into the Confederate States Navy at the age 16 in December 1861 as a Midshipman. Unfortunately, on July 10, 1864, Midshipman Sinclair was in a boat that capsized while transferring material from a seized ship to CSS FLORIDA to which he was assigned. Midshipman Sinclair drowned and his body was not recovered.
William Beverley Sinclair survived the Civil War, following which he made his home in Baltimore, Maryland, where he died on September 27, 1895. He was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia.
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)
