Capt. James Iredell Waddell
1824 - 1886 (61 years)
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Name James Iredell Waddell [1, 2, 3, 4] Prefix Capt. Birth 13 Jul 1824 Pittsboro, Chatham Co., North Carolina 
Gender Male 
Census1860 Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Census1870 Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Census1880 Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Military Service The Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer USS Waddell (DDG-24) was named for him. He wrote memoirs of his duty with the C.S.S. Shenandoah which have been published.
According to the Navy HIstorical Center and the Wikipedia:
"James Iredell Waddell was born in Pittsboro, North Carolina, on 13 July 1824 and joined the Navy as a Midshipman in September 1841. His nearly two decades in the U.S. Navy included early service in USS Pennsylvania, Mexican War operations off Vera Cruz aboard USS Somers, a tour off South America in USS Germantown, an assignment as a Naval Academy instructor, eastern Pacific duty in USS Saginaw and a cruise with the East Indies Squadron with USS John Adams. Lieutenant Waddell resigned his commission while returning home in the latter ship late in 1861 and was dismissed from the U.S. Navy in January 1862.
"In March 1862, Waddell was appointed a Lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy. Sent to New Orleans, he was assigned to the incomplete ironclad Mississippi until her destruction in late April. The next month, while serving as an artillery officer ashore, he participated in the battle between Confederate shore batteries and Federal ironclads at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia. He had more shore battery service at Charleston, South Carolina, during the rest of 1862 and into 1863. Sent abroad in March 1863, First Lieutenant Waddell was stationed in England awaiting the availability of a seagoing position.
"That opportunity finally arrived in October 1864 at sea in the central Atlantic, where he converted the English steamer Sea King to the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah. As her Commanding Officer, Waddell made a long and productive cruise through the south Atlantic, across the Indian Ocean and into the north Pacific. In the Arctic waters there, he devastated the United States flag whaling fleet during June 1865. However, by then the Civil War had been effectively over for more than two months and, when he received confirmation of this fact in early August, Waddell disarmed his ship and took her back to England.
"Waddell did not return to the United States until 1875, when he became captain of the commercial steamer City of San Francisco. He later was in charge of the State of Maryland's oyster regulation force. James Iredell Waddell died at Annapolis, Maryland, on 15 March 1886."
Waddell wrote memoirs which have been edited in C.S.S. Shenandoah: The Memoirs of Lieutenant Commanding James I. Waddell, ed. James D. Horan (rpt. Naval Institute Press, 1966). See also Lynn Schooler, The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War (Ecco, 2005); and Tom Chaffin, Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah (Hill and Wang, 2006).Obituary An obituary notice appeared in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, in the section on the "Monthly Record of Current Events," vol. LXXIII (June to November 1886), page 158:
"March 16.--in Annapolis, Maryland, Captain James J. [sic] Waddell, Commander of the Confederate ship Shenandoah during the civil war."Death 15 Mar 1886 Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Notes - I'm sure that he is related to his wife's brother James' wife Sarah Waddell, as both are from North Carolina, but they were born in different counties there (she was born in Orange Co.).
Person ID I719 Last Modified 28 Feb 2023
Spouse / Partner Anne Sellman Iglehart
b. Abt 1824, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland
d. 1891 (Age 67 years)Children 1 
. A. H. Waddell
b. Abt 1859, Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., MarylandFamily ID F528 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 27 Apr 2025
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Event Map 
Birth - 13 Jul 1824 - Pittsboro, Chatham Co., North Carolina 
Census - 1860 - Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Census - 1870 - Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Census - 1880 - Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland Death - 15 Mar 1886 - Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co., Maryland = Link to Google Earth Pin Legend 
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Photos Cmdr. James Iredell Waddell
Documents 
John Thomson Mason, "The Last of the Confederate Cruisers"
An essay about Lt. James Waddell and his captaincy of the Confederate raider "Shenandoah" during the Civil War.
Histories 
The Civil War - Maryland and Washington, D.C. This page includes family members on this site from Maryland and Washington, D.C.
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Reference Pitard, D. "Capt. James Iredell Waddell". Genealogy at Pitard.net. https://ancestors.pitard.net/getperson.php?personID=I719&tree=1sttree (accessed April 29, 2025).
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