Reginald F. Nicholson

Reginald F. Nicholson
Captain (later Rear Admiral) Reginald F. Nicholson as commanding officer of the battleship USS Nebraska, sometime between 1907 and 1909.
Nickname(s)	"Reggie"; "Edgy Reggie"
Born	(1852-12-15)15 December 1852 Washington, D.C.
Died	19 December 1939(1939-12-19) (aged 87) Bethesda, Maryland
Buried at	Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1864; 1873–1914; 1917–1919
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	USS Rowan (TB-8) USS Farragut (TB-11) USS Tacoma (CL-20) USS Nebraska (BB-14) Yangtze Patrol United States Asiatic Fleet
Battles/wars	American Civil War Union Blockade Spanish–American War Battle of Santiago de Cuba World War I

Rear Admiral Reginald Fairfax Nicholson (15 December 1852 – 19 December 1939) was an officer in the United States Navy. He fought in the American Civil War and Spanish–American War, was Commander-in-Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet, and came out of retirement during World War I to serve as the first U.S. naval attaché to Ecuador and Peru. He retired as the last active-duty U.S. Navy officer to have served in the American Civil War.

Nicholson was born in Washington, D.C., on 15 December 1852, the son of U.S. Navy Commodore Somerville Nicholson (1822–1905) and the former Hannah Maria Jones (1837–1897). His first U.S. Navy service came in 1864, when at the age of 12 he left school to enlist in the Navy as an orderly for his father, who was the commanding officer of the steamer USS State of Georgia, then operating as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. While Nicholson was aboard State of Georgia, the ship blockaded Wilmington, North Carolina, and fought engagements with Confederate fortifications guarding the city. After 30 days, Nicholson left the ship and returned to school.