Uriah Levy: From Cabin Boy to Commodore

Uriah Phillips Levy had no intention of becoming a shopkeeper like his father. That’s why the ten-year-old secretly signed up as a cabin boy and ran away to sea. During his apprenticeship he faced French pirates, was shipwrecked, and taken aboard a British man-of-war. The captain was so impressed with him that he offered Uriah a British commission. Levy politely refused explaining that his loyalty was to his country. (Later when Emperor Dom Pedro asked Levy to captain a new sixty-gun frigate in the Imperial Brazilian Navy, he replied, “I would rather serve as a cabin boy in the United States Navy than hold the rank of Admiral in any other service in the world.”)

While serving on the Argus during the War of 1812, Levy was captured and spent sixteen months as a prisoner of war. When he returned home, Uriah continued his service in the navy. His fiery temper against anti-Semitic bias resulted in a duel, six courts-martial, and three dismissals from the service. His patriotism led him to defend President Andrew Jackson and to become the only American to donate a full-size statue (President Thomas Jefferson) to the United States government. Uriah purchased Jefferson’s run-down estate to preserve it. This would remain in the Levy family far longer than the Jefferson family. (His mother, Rachel Phillips Levy, is buried at Monticello.)

After witnessing flogging, Levy fought to oppose the corporal punishment. When the Commission of Fifteen determined him unfit for active duty, he fought back. His trial and his fifty-three Christian and Jewish witnesses put anti-Semitism in the forefront. Once returned to active duty, Uriah Levy became the first Jewish flag officer in U.S. Navy.