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ca 1827-1829
INSCRIPTION: MALTA (in ink underneath image); MARKS: #7 (in upper left corner on reverse)
WATERCOLOR DRAWING,COLORED, MALTA, VALLETTA, MEDITERRANEAN SEA, HARBOR, SKYLINE, 19TH CENTURY, MARINE, USS WARREN, UNITED STATES NAVY, MEDITERRANEAN, FORT, FORTRESS, VALETTA,
SHORT DESCRIPTION: Watercolor drawing by Joseph Partridge titled "Malta." The image shows the town of Valletta in Malta from the water looking from the sea. At the extreme right is round Fort Tigné. Moving to the left a large ship sails from Marsamxett Harbor. Fort Manoel can be seen beind the vessel. At the center is the massive Fort St. Elmo and the town of Valletta. To the left is the entrance to the Grand Harbor guarded by Fort St. Angelo. The outer walls of Fort Ricasoli sit in the foreground of the town at the extreme left. NOTES: Joseph Partridge was born in England in 1792. In 1817 he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia where he taught water color drawing. He moved to Boston in 1820 and then to Providence, Rhode Island where he again advertised for students who wished to learn watercolor drawing. By 1824 Partridge was living in abject poverty and was forced to move his small family to Taunton, Massachusetts where he again advertised for art students. On August 26, 1825 at the age of 33 Partridge enlisted at Charlestown, Massachusetts for five years as a Private in the US Marine Corps. His occupation on his enlistment papers was “anatomical painter.” Following his enlistment Partridge reported to the Charlestown Navy Yard and remained there until January 1, 1827 when he was assigned to the USS Warren. Partridge served aboard the ship for three years and it was during this time that he produced his greatest body of work—watercolors depicting places visited in the Mediterranean and one of the USS Warren. Several images by Partridge were engraved by Francis Kearny “from an original drawing done under the direction of an officer of the US Navy.” One of the three notes that the image was originally drawn by “J. Partridge.” As all of the images were done at the same time under the same circumstances it leaves little doubt that Partridge was the artist of all of the images. Another artwork supporting this supposition is an engraving by Kearny titled “Napoli de Romania” which bears the inscription “from an original drawing, done under the direction of an office of the US Navy, 1827” is based on the Partridge watercolor of the same name that is signed and dated 1827. Kearny was the brother of Lawrence Kearny, commanding officer of the USS Warren. Partridge detached from the Warren on March 10, 1830 and reported aboard the USS Lexington the following day. The Lexington was also on the Mediterranean Station. He detached from the Lexington on April 14th and two days later appears aboard the USS Java (Mediterranean Station). Following his detachment on June 8 he reported back to the USS Warren three days later at Port Mahon. The ship returned to the United States that summer and Partridge was honorably discharged from the US Marine Corps at Gosport, Virginia on October 18, 1830 with the rank of sergeant. Partridge appears to have died at some point between his discharge and 1833. VESSEL INFORMATION: VESSEL NAME: USS Warren VESSEL TYPE: SLOOP OF WAR BUILD DATE: 1825-1827 BUILDER: BOSTON NAVY YARD COMMISSIONED: January 14, 1827 DIMENSIONS: 127’ length, 33-9” depth, 697 tons VESSEL HISTORY: The USS Warren was a second-class 697-ton sloop-of-war built at the Boston Navy Yard between 1825 and 1827 and was commissioned at her builders on 14 January 1827, Master Commandant Lawrence Kearny in command. The ship was decommissioned on May 24, 1859 and sold on January 1, 1863. USS Warren sailed for the Mediterranean on February 22, 1827 tasked with protecting American merchantmen from Greek-flagged pirates. To protect American vessels the US Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron established a regular convoy system from Malta to Smyrna. Warren sailed with a convoy of American vessels on September 25, 1827 but separated from them some 200 miles west of Kythira to begin hunting pirates. Her first captures occurred on October 4th, with a small "piratical boat" crewed by five and a brig "peerced (sic) for 16 guns." Warren cruised between Cape Matapan and Carabusa for the next three weeks, only occasionally contacting the outward-bound American merchantmen. On October 25th while off Milos, Kearny learned of recent pirate attacks on the American ships Cheru and Rob Roy. That same day, Warren chased a 10-gun pirate brig ashore at the island of Kimolos; but the pirates escaped into the nearby hills. Warren's men cut away the vessels masts and stripped them of their sails, leaving the rigging submerged in the waters offshore. Three days later, Warren came across Cherub and took possession of her. That evening, the brig Lexington arrived and assumed protective guard over Cherub while Warren continued to hunt for pirate vessels. The next day, between Tinos and Mykonos, Warren discovered the Austrian brig Silence" robbed of everything." Warren towed Silence to Syros and left her in care of USS Lexington. Cruising around the island of Mykonos, Warren captured a large tratta "capable of rowing 40 oars," before she put into Mykonos harbor on November 1st. The following day, Kearny and his men recovered sails and some property taken from Cherub and two cases of opium taken from the brig Rob Roy, as well as the sails and rigging from Silence. The local inhabitants turned over four men accused of being pirates while a landing party of Warren men picked up a fifth man in the mountains. Kearny and his men also took possession of a boat belonging to pirates living at Mykonos and later burned it. The ship returned to Syros on November 7th and Kearny restored the goods to Cherub and the sails and rigging from the Austrian ship. Cherub, escorted by Lexington, set sail for Smyrna. That evening, Warren put to sea, bound for the island of Andros. Kearny organized a boat expedition led by Lieutenant William L. Hudson to circle Andros Island. Near the south end of the town of Andros, the captured one small "piratical craft" and burned another. The American sailors also blew up a house believed to have been owned by a pirate and raised and took possession of a boat which had been sunk by pirates to avoid detection by the Americans. Rob Roy's master later identified the boat as the craft that had attacked his vessel. Warren remained in the vicinity of Andros and Gioura until November 14. The people of Andros again cooperated and produced a pirate boat which contained a 12-pounder carronade and some tools from Cherub. Four days later, Warren entered the port at Milos and stayed there until late November. On the 27th of that month, the American brig Sarah and Esther and six other vessels arrived. Three days later, that convoy sailed for Smyrna under Warren's protection. They arrived at their destination, without incident, on 6 December. Warren remained in the western Mediterranean guarding American commerce for the next two years. Captain Kearny left the vessel in late June 1829 while the ship was at Port Mahon. Warren arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on August 30, 1830 and was decommissioned for repairs, on September10th. Warren was recommissioned on September 2, 1831, for service on the Brazil Station. After two years in the South Atlantic, Warren headed northward and reached Philadelphia, on October 31,1833. Warren then made three successive tours in the West Indies, protecting American commerce in deployments that began in 1836 with the West Indies Squadron and with the Home Squadron in 1839, and 1841. On October 19, 1843, Warren sailed for service with the Pacific Squadron and remained on the western coast for the remainder of her naval career. Warren was sold at Panama on January 1,1863. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: SEE “Joseph Partridge, painter” by Arthur B. and Sybil B. Kern. Published in The Magazine Antiques, September 1984, pages 582-589.
INSCRIPTION: CASTLE OF ST. ELMO, MALTA (ink title under image); MARKS: By Joseph Partridge USS WARREN 9/24/1823 (in pencil on mount, in another hand)
WASH DRAWING, CASTLE OF ST. ELMO, VALETTA, MALTA, FORT, HARBOR, LIGHTHOUSE, MARINE, USS WARREN, UNITED STATES NAVY, MEDITERRANEAN, FORT SAINT ELMO, FORTRESS, MALTA, VALLETTA,
SHORT DESCRIPTION: Watercolor drawing by Joseph Partridge titled "Castle of St. Elmo, Malta". The black and white image shows the Fort St. Elmo at the entrance of Malta's Grand Harbor as seen from the water. The watercolor has been mounted. NOTES: The handwritten inscription and date on the drawing's mount was written over after it was received at the Museum. As the USS Warren was commissioned in 1827 and immediately headed to the Mediterranean the date on this image was most likely 9/24/1828 not 9/24/1823. NOTES: Joseph Partridge was born in England in 1792. In 1817 he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia where he taught water color drawing. He moved to Boston in 1820 and then to Providence, Rhode Island where he again advertised for students who wished to learn watercolor drawing. By 1824 Partridge was living in abject poverty and was forced to move his small family to Taunton, Massachusetts where he again advertised for art students. On August 26, 1825 at the age of 33 Partridge enlisted at Charlestown, Massachusetts for five years as a Private in the US Marine Corps. His occupation on his enlistment papers was “anatomical painter.” Following his enlistment Partridge reported to the Charlestown Navy Yard and remained there until January 1, 1827 when he was assigned to the USS Warren. Partridge served aboard the ship for three years and it was during this time that he produced his greatest body of work—watercolors depicting places visited in the Mediterranean and one of the USS Warren. Several images by Partridge were engraved by Francis Kearny “from an original drawing done under the direction of an officer of the US Navy.” One of the three notes that the image was originally drawn by “J. Partridge.” As all of the images were done at the same time under the same circumstances it leaves little doubt that Partridge was the artist of all of the images. Another artwork supporting this supposition is an engraving by Kearny titled “Napoli de Romania” which bears the inscription “from an original drawing, done under the direction of an office of the US Navy, 1827” is based on the Partridge watercolor of the same name that is signed and dated 1827. Kearny was the brother of Lawrence Kearny, commanding officer of the USS Warren. Partridge detached from the Warren on March 10, 1830 and reported aboard the USS Lexington the following day. The Lexington was also on the Mediterranean Station. He detached from the Lexington on April 14th and two days later appears aboard the USS Java (Mediterranean Station). Following his detachment on June 8 he reported back to the USS Warren three days later at Port Mahon. The ship returned to the United States that summer and Partridge was honorably discharged from the US Marine Corps at Gosport, Virginia on October 18, 1830 with the rank of sergeant. Partridge appears to have died at some point between his discharge and 1833. VESSEL INFORMATION: VESSEL NAME: USS Warren VESSEL TYPE: SLOOP OF WAR BUILD DATE: 1825-1827 BUILDER: BOSTON NAVY YARD COMMISSIONED: January 14, 1827 DIMENSIONS: 127’ length, 33-9” depth, 697 tons VESSEL HISTORY: The USS Warren was a second-class 697-ton sloop-of-war built at the Boston Navy Yard between 1825 and 1827 and was commissioned at her builders on 14 January 1827, Master Commandant Lawrence Kearny in command. The ship was decommissioned on May 24, 1859 and sold on January 1, 1863. USS Warren sailed for the Mediterranean on February 22, 1827 tasked with protecting American merchantmen from Greek-flagged pirates. To protect American vessels the US Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron established a regular convoy system from Malta to Smyrna. Warren sailed with a convoy of American vessels on September 25, 1827 but separated from them some 200 miles west of Kythira to begin hunting pirates. Her first captures occurred on October 4th, with a small "piratical boat" crewed by five and a brig "peerced (sic) for 16 guns." Warren cruised between Cape Matapan and Carabusa for the next three weeks, only occasionally contacting the outward-bound American merchantmen. On October 25th while off Milos, Kearny learned of recent pirate attacks on the American ships Cheru and Rob Roy. That same day, Warren chased a 10-gun pirate brig ashore at the island of Kimolos; but the pirates escaped into the nearby hills. Warren's men cut away the vessels masts and stripped them of their sails, leaving the rigging submerged in the waters offshore. Three days later, Warren came across Cherub and took possession of her. That evening, the brig Lexington arrived and assumed protective guard over Cherub while Warren continued to hunt for pirate vessels. The next day, between Tinos and Mykonos, Warren discovered the Austrian brig Silence" robbed of everything." Warren towed Silence to Syros and left her in care of USS Lexington. Cruising around the island of Mykonos, Warren captured a large tratta "capable of rowing 40 oars," before she put into Mykonos harbor on November 1st. The following day, Kearny and his men recovered sails and some property taken from Cherub and two cases of opium taken from the brig Rob Roy, as well as the sails and rigging from Silence. The local inhabitants turned over four men accused of being pirates while a landing party of Warren men picked up a fifth man in the mountains. Kearny and his men also took possession of a boat belonging to pirates living at Mykonos and later burned it. The ship returned to Syros on November 7th and Kearny restored the goods to Cherub and the sails and rigging from the Austrian ship. Cherub, escorted by Lexington, set sail for Smyrna. That evening, Warren put to sea, bound for the island of Andros. Kearny organized a boat expedition led by Lieutenant William L. Hudson to circle Andros Island. Near the south end of the town of Andros, the captured one small "piratical craft" and burned another. The American sailors also blew up a house believed to have been owned by a pirate and raised and took possession of a boat which had been sunk by pirates to avoid detection by the Americans. Rob Roy's master later identified the boat as the craft that had attacked his vessel. Warren remained in the vicinity of Andros and Gioura until November 14. The people of Andros again cooperated and produced a pirate boat which contained a 12-pounder carronade and some tools from Cherub. Four days later, Warren entered the port at Milos and stayed there until late November. On the 27th of that month, the American brig Sarah and Esther and six other vessels arrived. Three days later, that convoy sailed for Smyrna under Warren's protection. They arrived at their destination, without incident, on 6 December. Warren remained in the western Mediterranean guarding American commerce for the next two years. Captain Kearny left the vessel in late June 1829 while the ship was at Port Mahon. Warren arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on August 30, 1830 and was decommissioned for repairs, on September10th. Warren was recommissioned on September 2, 1831, for service on the Brazil Station. After two years in the South Atlantic, Warren headed northward and reached Philadelphia, on October 31,1833. Warren then made three successive tours in the West Indies, protecting American commerce in deployments that began in 1836 with the West Indies Squadron and with the Home Squadron in 1839, and 1841. On October 19, 1843, Warren sailed for service with the Pacific Squadron and remained on the western coast for the remainder of her naval career. Warren was sold at Panama on January 1,1863. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: SEE “Joseph Partridge, painter” by Arthur B. and Sybil B. Kern. Published in The Magazine Antiques, September 1984, pages 582-589.
Vignette, Head and shoulder portrait, in uniform. Edwin Vose Sumner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Edwin Vose Sumner Edwin Vose Sumner (January 30, 1797 – March 21, 1863) was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War.[1] His nicknames "Bull" or "Bull Head" came both from his great booming voice and a legend that a musket ball once bounced off his head. Sumner fought in the Black Hawk War, with distinction in the Mexican-American War, on the Western frontier, and in the Eastern Theater for the first half of the Civil War. He led the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac through the Peninsula Campaign, the Seven Days Battles, the Maryland Campaign, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. Early life and careerSumner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Elisha Sumner and Nancy Vose Sumner. His early schooling was in Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts.[2] In 1819, after losing interest in a mercantile career in Troy, New York, he entered the United States Army as a second lieutenant in the 2nd US Infantry Regiment on March 3, 1819. He was promoted to first lieutenant on January 25, 1825. Sumner's military appointment was facilitated by Samuel Appleton Storrow, Judge Advocate Major on the staff of General Jacob Jennings Brown of the Northern department. (Storrow had previously served as a mentor to Sumner in Boston.) In recognition of their long-standing friendship, Sumner would later name one of his sons Samuel Storrow Sumner.[3] He married Hannah Wickersham Foster (1804–1880) on March 31, 1822. They had six children together: Nancy, Margaret Foster, Sarah Montgomery, Mary Heron, Edwin Vose Jr., and Samuel Storrow Sumner. His son Samuel was a general during the Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion, and the Philippine-American War. Sumner's daughter, Mary Heron, married General Armistead L. Long in 1860. Sumner later served in the Black Hawk War and in various Indian campaigns. On March 4, 1833, he was promoted to the rank of captain and assigned to command B Company, the U.S. Dragoon Regiment (later First US Dragoons), immediately upon its creation by Congress. In 1838, he commanded the cavalry instructional establishment at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania. He was assigned to Ft. Atkinson, Iowa Territory, from 1842 until 1845. He was the fort's commander during most of that period. He was promoted to major of the 2nd Dragoons on June 30, 1846. During the Mexican-American War, Sumner was brevetted for bravery at the Battle of Cerro Gordo (to lieutenant colonel). It was here that he gained the nickname "Bull Head" because of a story about a musket ball that bounced off his head during the battle. At the Molino del Rey he received the brevet rank of colonel. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 1st US Dragoons on July 23, 1848. He served as the military governor of the New Mexico Territory from 1851–53, and was promoted to colonel of the 1st U.S. Cavalry on March 3, 1855. In 1856 Sumner commanded Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and became involved in the crisis known as Bleeding Kansas. In 1857, as commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment (1855), he led a punitive expedition against the Cheyenne.[4] and in 1858 he commanded the Department of the West. Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott assigned Sumner as the senior officer to accompany President-elect Abraham Lincoln from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C., in March 1861.[5] Civil War serviceIn February 1861, Brig. Gen. David E. Twiggs was dismissed from the Army for treason by outgoing U.S. President James Buchanan, and on March 12, 1861, Sumner was nominated by the newly inaugurated Lincoln to replace Twiggs as one of only three brigadier generals in the regular army, with date of rank March 16.[6] Sumner was thus the first new Union general created by the secession crisis. He was then sent to replace Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, then in command of the Department of the Pacific in California, and thus took no part in the 1861 campaigns of the war. When Sumner left for California, his son-in-law Armistead Lindsay Long resigned his commission and enlisted with the Confederate Army eventually becoming Robert E. Lee's military secretary and an artillery brigadier general. In November 1861, Sumner was brought back east to command a division, and on May 5, 1862 he was promoted to major general in the Union Army.[7] When Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan began organizing the Army of the Potomac in March, Sumner was given command of one of its new corps. McClellan had not originally formed corps within the Army; Sumner was selected as one of four corps commanders by President Lincoln, based on his seniority. The II Corps, commanded during the war by Sumner, Darius N. Couch, Winfield Scott Hancock, and Andrew A. Humphreys, had the deserved reputation of being the one of best in the Eastern Theater. Sumner, who was the oldest of the generals in the Army of the Potomac, led his corps throughout the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. McClellan originally formed a poor opinion of Sumner during the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862. During McClellan's absence, Sumner directed the inconclusive battle, which failed to impede the Confederate withdrawal up the Peninsula, and McClellan wrote to his wife, "Sumner had proved that he was even a greater fool than I had supposed & had come within an ace of having us defeated."[8] At the Battle of Seven Pines, however, Sumner's initiative in sending reinforcing troops across the dangerously rain-swollen Chickahominy River prevented a Union disaster. He received the brevet of major general in the regular army for his gallantry at Seven Pines. Despite this honor, during the Union retreat of the Seven Days, McClellan expressed reluctance to name a second in command during his absences, knowing that Sumner was the most senior corps commander. Sumner was wounded in the arm and hand at the Battle of Glendale. Despite his old-fashioned ideas on discipline and respect for commanding officers, the II Corps troops generally had a positive opinion of him. In the fall of 1862, at the Battle of Antietam, Sumner was the center of controversy. A morning attack he ordered Brig. Gen. John Sedgwick's division to launch into the West Woods was devastated by a Confederates counterattack; Sedgwick's men were forced to retreat in great disorder to their starting point with over 2,200 casualties. Sumner has been condemned by most historians for his "reckless" attack, his lack of coordination with the other corps commanders, accompanying Sedgwick's division personally and losing control of his other attacking division, failing to perform adequate reconnaissance prior to launching his attack, and selecting an unusual line of battle formation that was so effectively flanked by the Confederate counterattack. Historian M.V. Armstrong's recent scholarship, however, has determined that Sumner did perform appropriate reconnaissance and his decision to attack where he did was justified by the information available to him.[9] When Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside succeeded to the command of the Army of the Potomac, he grouped the corps in "grand divisions" and appointed Sumner to command the right grand division. In this capacity, the old cavalry soldier took part in the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg, in which the II Corps suffered heavy casualties in frontal assaults against fortified Marye's Heights. Soon afterward, on Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's appointment to command the army, Sumner was relieved at his own request, apparently disillusioned with the quarreling in the army and also thoroughly exhausted. He was reassigned to a new command in Missouri effective in the spring. Before that, Sumner went to his daughter's home in Syracuse, New York to rest. While there, he suffered a heart attack and died on March 21. GraveSumner is buried in Section 8, Lot 1 of Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse. Part of the Teall family plot, the gravesite has some structural problems and issues of disrepair. The Onondaga County Civil War Round Table is currently raising funds to repair the grave and the general area. See also Biography portal United States Army portal American Civil War portal List of American Civil War generals Notes1.^ Warner, p. 489. 2.^ "Sumner, Edwin Vose". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. 3.^ The Sumner–Storrow relationship is discussed in unpublished 19th century correspondence of the Storrow family (copies of which are held by descendants). The Storrow–Brown relationship is described in Morris. 4.^ Bertbrong, pp. 133-40; Grinnell, pp. 111-21. 5.^ Dupuy, p. 719. 6.^ Eicher, pp. 716-17. The two other line-officer brigadier generals in the regular army as of March 1861 were John Wool and William S. Harney; Joseph E. Johnston, Quartermaster General of the Army, resigned on April 22 to join the Confederate States Army. 7.^ Eicher, p. 519. 8.^ Armstrong, p. xvi. 9.^ Armstrong, pp. 39-55. [edit] ReferencesArmstrong, Marion V. Disaster in the West Woods: General Edwin V. Sumner and the II Corps at Antietam. Sharpsburg, MD: Western Maryland Interpretive Association, 2002. Bertbrong, Donald J. The Southern Cheyenne. The civilization of the American Indian series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979. OCLC 254915143. Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 978-0-06-270015-5. Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. Grinnell, George Bird. The Fighting Cheyenne. The civilization of the American Indian series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956. ISBN 978-0-8061-0347-1. First published 1915 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Morris, John D. Sword of the Border: Major General Jacob Jennings Brown, 1775-1828. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-87338-659-0. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sumner, Edwin Vose". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Library biographies Territorial Kansas Online biographical sketch
INSCRIPTION: FIRE IN SMYRNA, EVENING OF 26TH OF AUGUST, 1828 (in ink under image); MARKS: #5 (in upper left corner on reverse)
WATERCOLOR DRAWING, SMYRNA, ASIA MINOR, SKYLINE, HARBOR, FORT, FRIGATE, FIRE, IZMIR, MARINE, USS WARREN, UNITED STATES NAVY, MEDITERRANEAN, IZMIR, TURKEY, CONFLAGRATION, MOSQUE, MINARET, KADIFEKALE CASTLE, AEGEAN SEA,
SHORT DESCRIPTION: Black and white watercolor drawing attributed to Joseph Partridge titled "Fire in Smyrna, Evening of the 26th of August, 1828." The watercolor has been rended in black and white with only the masts of the vessels in the foreground highligted in a different color. The image shows a large domed building at the center with a large fire behind it. Minarets nearby might indicate the domed building is a mosque. The densly packed town spreads out to either side of the domed building. A large grove of cypress trees stand behind the area on fire. Behind the city sits a monochrome rendering of Mount Pagos topped by Kadifekale castle. NOTES: Joseph Partridge was born in England in 1792. In 1817 he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia where he taught water color drawing. He moved to Boston in 1820 and then to Providence, Rhode Island where he again advertised for students who wished to learn watercolor drawing. By 1824 Partridge was living in abject poverty and was forced to move his small family to Taunton, Massachusetts where he again advertised for art students. On August 26, 1825 at the age of 33 Partridge enlisted at Charlestown, Massachusetts for five years as a Private in the US Marine Corps. His occupation on his enlistment papers was “anatomical painter.” Following his enlistment Partridge reported to the Charlestown Navy Yard and remained there until January 1, 1827 when he was assigned to the USS Warren. Partridge served aboard the ship for three years and it was during this time that he produced his greatest body of work—watercolors depicting places visited in the Mediterranean and one of the USS Warren. Several images by Partridge were engraved by Francis Kearny “from an original drawing done under the direction of an officer of the US Navy.” One of the three notes that the image was originally drawn by “J. Partridge.” As all of the images were done at the same time under the same circumstances it leaves little doubt that Partridge was the artist of all of the images. Another artwork supporting this supposition is an engraving by Kearny titled “Napoli de Romania” which bears the inscription “from an original drawing, done under the direction of an office of the US Navy, 1827” is based on the Partridge watercolor of the same name that is signed and dated 1827. Kearny was the brother of Lawrence Kearny, commanding officer of the USS Warren. Partridge detached from the Warren on March 10, 1830 and reported aboard the USS Lexington the following day. The Lexington was also on the Mediterranean Station. He detached from the Lexington on April 14th and two days later appears aboard the USS Java (Mediterranean Station). Following his detachment on June 8 he reported back to the USS Warren three days later at Port Mahon. The ship returned to the United States that summer and Partridge was honorably discharged from the US Marine Corps at Gosport, Virginia on October 18, 1830 with the rank of sergeant. Partridge appears to have died at some point between his discharge and 1833. VESSEL INFORMATION: VESSEL NAME: USS Warren VESSEL TYPE: SLOOP OF WAR BUILD DATE: 1825-1827 BUILDER: BOSTON NAVY YARD COMMISSIONED: January 14, 1827 DIMENSIONS: 127’ length, 33-9” depth, 697 tons VESSEL HISTORY: The USS Warren was a second-class 697-ton sloop-of-war built at the Boston Navy Yard between 1825 and 1827 and was commissioned at her builders on 14 January 1827, Master Commandant Lawrence Kearny in command. The ship was decommissioned on May 24, 1859 and sold on January 1, 1863. USS Warren sailed for the Mediterranean on February 22, 1827 tasked with protecting American merchantmen from Greek-flagged pirates. To protect American vessels the US Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron established a regular convoy system from Malta to Smyrna. Warren sailed with a convoy of American vessels on September 25, 1827 but separated from them some 200 miles west of Kythira to begin hunting pirates. Her first captures occurred on October 4th, with a small "piratical boat" crewed by five and a brig "peerced (sic) for 16 guns." Warren cruised between Cape Matapan and Carabusa for the next three weeks, only occasionally contacting the outward-bound American merchantmen. On October 25th while off Milos, Kearny learned of recent pirate attacks on the American ships Cheru and Rob Roy. That same day, Warren chased a 10-gun pirate brig ashore at the island of Kimolos; but the pirates escaped into the nearby hills. Warren's men cut away the vessels masts and stripped them of their sails, leaving the rigging submerged in the waters offshore. Three days later, Warren came across Cherub and took possession of her. That evening, the brig Lexington arrived and assumed protective guard over Cherub while Warren continued to hunt for pirate vessels. The next day, between Tinos and Mykonos, Warren discovered the Austrian brig Silence" robbed of everything." Warren towed Silence to Syros and left her in care of USS Lexington. Cruising around the island of Mykonos, Warren captured a large tratta "capable of rowing 40 oars," before she put into Mykonos harbor on November 1st. The following day, Kearny and his men recovered sails and some property taken from Cherub and two cases of opium taken from the brig Rob Roy, as well as the sails and rigging from Silence. The local inhabitants turned over four men accused of being pirates while a landing party of Warren men picked up a fifth man in the mountains. Kearny and his men also took possession of a boat belonging to pirates living at Mykonos and later burned it. The ship returned to Syros on November 7th and Kearny restored the goods to Cherub and the sails and rigging from the Austrian ship. Cherub, escorted by Lexington, set sail for Smyrna. That evening, Warren put to sea, bound for the island of Andros. Kearny organized a boat expedition led by Lieutenant William L. Hudson to circle Andros Island. Near the south end of the town of Andros, the captured one small "piratical craft" and burned another. The American sailors also blew up a house believed to have been owned by a pirate and raised and took possession of a boat which had been sunk by pirates to avoid detection by the Americans. Rob Roy's master later identified the boat as the craft that had attacked his vessel. Warren remained in the vicinity of Andros and Gioura until November 14. The people of Andros again cooperated and produced a pirate boat which contained a 12-pounder carronade and some tools from Cherub. Four days later, Warren entered the port at Milos and stayed there until late November. On the 27th of that month, the American brig Sarah and Esther and six other vessels arrived. Three days later, that convoy sailed for Smyrna under Warren's protection. They arrived at their destination, without incident, on 6 December. Warren remained in the western Mediterranean guarding American commerce for the next two years. Captain Kearny left the vessel in late June 1829 while the ship was at Port Mahon. Warren arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on August 30, 1830 and was decommissioned for repairs, on September10th. Warren was recommissioned on September 2, 1831, for service on the Brazil Station. After two years in the South Atlantic, Warren headed northward and reached Philadelphia, on October 31,1833. Warren then made three successive tours in the West Indies, protecting American commerce in deployments that began in 1836 with the West Indies Squadron and with the Home Squadron in 1839, and 1841. On October 19, 1843, Warren sailed for service with the Pacific Squadron and remained on the western coast for the remainder of her naval career. Warren was sold at Panama on January 1,1863. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: SEE “Joseph Partridge, painter” by Arthur B. and Sybil B. Kern. Published in The Magazine Antiques, September 1984, pages 582-589.
