Jesse Duncan Elliott
Captain, U.S. Navy

Jesse Duncan Elliott was born on 14 July 1782 in Hagerstown, MD.

Elliott joined the U.S. Navy in 1804 and served in the Barbary War. In 1807 he was on board USS Chesapeake when James Barron was forced to allow a search by England's HMS Leopard. He then oversaw construction of a Lake Erie fleet and at the start of the War of 1812, transferred to Lake Ontario as Commander of USS Madison.

In July 1813, Elliott participated in the Battle of York, afterwards returning to Lake Erie as Oliver Hazard Perry's second-in-command on board USS Niagara. During the Battle of Lake Erie in September, Perry commended Elliott for his actions in command of the Niagara, and he was promoted to Command of the Fleet. However, Perry suspected that he had held the Niagara out of the battle's early stages, which ignited a feud when it became known.

He commanded USS Ontario during the Second Barbary War and was promoted to Captain, then the U.S. Navy's highest rank. In 1820, Elliott was Barron's second in the duel that resulted in Stephen Decatur's death. In 1825, he took command of USS Cyane, and from 1829-32 commanded the West Indies Squadron. In 1833, Elliott took command of Boston's Navy Yard, and in 1835 took charge of the Mediterranean Squadron, where he was accused of misconduct and suspended, probably because of the feud and duel controversies.

In 1843 he was appointed commander of Philadelphia's Navy Yard, where he served until his death.

Personal

Elliott was a Dickinson College Trustee and the father of Civil War General Washington Lafayette Elliott.

Death and Burial

Captain Jesse Duncan Elliott died on 10 December 1845. He is buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA.