Naval History and Heritage Command

Commander William A. Webb, Confederate States Navy

William A. Webb, a native of Virginia, became a U.S. Navy Midshipman in 1838 and achieved the rank of Lieutenant in 1854. He resigned his commission in May 1861 and entered the Confederate Navy in June as a First Lieutenant. After brief service at Fernandina, Florida, he was assigned to the Richmond Station during 1861-62. During the March 1862 battles in Hampton Roads, he commanded the armed tug Teaser. Later in the year, and into 1863, he was stationed at Charleston, South Carolina.

Webb was promoted to Commander in April 1863, and placed in charge of naval forces afloat in the Savannah, Georgia, area. He was in command of the ironclad Atlanta when she was captured on 17 June 1863, and spent more than a year as a prisoner of war. Exchanged in October 1864, he later served as Commanding Officer of CSS Richmond, on Virginia's James River.

This page features our only picture of Commander William A. Webb, CSN.