Samuel Livingston Breese

Samuel Livingston Breese (August 6, 1794 – December 17, 1870) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. His active-duty career included service in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, and the American Civil War.

Early life and career
He was born in Utica, New York, the son of Arthur Breese and Catherine Livingston, and brother to Senator Sidney Breese of Illinois. He attended Union College as part of the Class of 1813, but did not graduate. Breese was appointed midshipman in the United States Navy on September 10, 1810. During the War of 1812, he served under Commodore Thomas McDonough at the Battle of Lake Champlain, and for gallant conduct at Plattsburgh received a sword and a vote of thanks from the United States Congress.

He was commissioned as Lieutenant on April 28, 1816, Commander in December, 1835, and Captain on September 8, 1841. He was attached to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1836, and to the naval rendezvous at Baltimore in 1841.

Breese was twice married, and had no children from either marriage. In about 1825, Breese married his first wife, Frances Hogan Stout (1806 – January 8, 1853), the daughter of Jacob Stout and Fanny Carpender. Widowed, he remarried on June 21, 1855, to his second wife, Emma Lovett (March 9, 1819–July 30, 1892), daughter of Thomas Sydney Lovett and Louisa Doubleday. She survived him.

He served in the Mediterranean against the pirates of Algiers from 1826 to 1827, and was in the Levant during the war between Turkey and Greece. He commanded the frigate USS Cumberland (1842) of the Mediterranean squadron in 1845, and was in the Atlantic Ocean commanding the USS Albany (1846) during the Mexican-American War in 1846 and 1847 where he took part in the capture of Tuxpan, Tabasco, and Vera Cruz. For a short time, he was Military Governor of Tuxpan.

In 1848 he performed special duty on the lakes, and from 1853 until 1855, commanded the Norfolk Navy Yard. From 1856 until 1859 he was commander of the Mediterranean Squadron, and from 1859 until 1861 served as commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Flag rank and retirement
On 16 July 1862, he was commissioned a Commodore and placed on the retired list, and on 3 September 1862, was one of the thirteen Commodores first selected to fill the list of Rear Admirals, when that rank was introduced into the United States Navy in 1862. Placed on the retired list, he was appointed lighthouse inspector in the same year. He was made Port Admiral at Philadelphia in 1869.

Last years
Rear Admiral Breese died in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aged 76, and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Utica, New York.