Rear Admiral John Cumming Howell, USN (1819–1892)

Some men are born into the shadow of greatness and spend their lives stepping out of it. John Cumming Howell was born into it and kept walking, straight through four decades of naval service, a civil war, and the command of two fleets, until the shadow was entirely his own.

He was the grandson of Governor Richard Howell and the son of a war hero. He became an admiral, an acting secretary of the navy, and one of the most decorated officers of his generation. And yet, like his grandfather, he remains largely forgotten.