Reigart Bolivar Lowry
| Reigert Bolivar Lowry | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 14, 1826 La Guaira, Venezuela |
| Died | November 25, 1880 (aged 54) New York City |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1840–1880 |
| Rank | Commodore |
| Commands held |
|
| Battles/wars | |
Commodore Reigert Bolivar Lowry (July 14, 1826 – November 25, 1880) was an officer of the United States Navy.
Lowry was born La Guaira, Venezuela, the son of the U.S. Consul Robert K. Lowry. He was appointed a midshipman on January 21, 1840, (or on January 31), and was promoted to passed midshipman on July 11, 1846. He then served in the Mexican War, and later also took part in Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan in the mid-1850s.
Lowry was promoted to Master on March 1, 1855, and then to lieutenant on September 14 the same year.
At the very start of the Civil War, Lowry was serving aboard the sloop Pawnee, moored in the Potomac River, off Alexandria, Virginia. Early on May 24, 1861, as a force of federal troops from Washington D.C. approached by land and by gunboat, the captain of Pawnee, Stephen C. Rowan, acting without orders, dispatched Lieutenant Lowry to find the Confederate commander Colonel George H. Terrett and to demand his surrender. Terrett, aware of the hopelessness of his position, promptly ordered his troops to abandon the town, leaving it in Union hands. The only casualty was Elmer E. Ellsworth, Colonel of the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, who after taking down a Confederate flag flying over the Marshall House Inn, was shot by the owner James W. Jackson.
Lowry commanded the army transport steamship George Peabody, landing troops during the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries in August 1861. He then commanded the gunboat Underwriter from October 1861 until February 1862, and as part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, took part in operations off North Carolina, in November sinking three blockships at the entrance to Ocracoke Inlet, and then in February 1862 capturing enemy fortifications on Roanoke Island, and then taking part in the subsequent capture of Elizabeth City.
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