37. An Exceptional Rise in the US Navy
Uriah Levy joined the Navy as a cabin boy in 1806, and fought in the War of 1812. His ship, the USS Argus, raided British shipping in the English Channel and captured 20 vessels before it was itself captured in 1813. Levy and his crewmates spent the rest of the war imprisoned in Britain. Upon his release, he fought in the Second Barbary War (1815).
Few who started off as cabin boys rose high in the US Navy, but Levy was an exception, and exceptional. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1817, became a sailing master – a US Navy rank in those days between lieutenant and captain – in 1837, and made captain in 1844.