Edmund Ross Colhoun (6 May 1821 – 17 February 1897) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy who served during the Mexican War and the American Civil War, in which he was commended for his participation in the bombardment and capture of Fort Fisher. Naval career Service from 1839 to 1853 Colhoun was born at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on 6 May 1821 and was appointed a midshipman on 1 April 1839. He was attached to the sloop-of-war in the Brazil Squadron from 1839 to 1841, then to the frigate in the Mediterranean Squadron and Brazil Squadron from 1842 to 1844. He then attended the Philadelphia Naval School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1845 and, after completing his studies, was promoted to passed midshipman on 2 July 1845. Colhoun next served aboard the frigate from 1846 to 1847, seeing action in the Mexican War, first under Commodore David Conner in the first attack on Alvarado, Mexico, and then under Commodore Matthew C. Perry at Tabasco, Mexico. From 1850 to 1851, Colhoun served aboard a receiving ship at Philadelphia, then aboard the frigate in the Pacific Squadron from 1851 to 1853, being promoted to master on 6 January 1853. He resigned from the Navy on 27 June 1853. Service from 1861 to 1883 With the onset of the American Civil War in April 1861, Colhoun returned to U.S. Navy service, becoming an acting lieutenant on 24 September 1861. From 1861 to 1862 he was commanding officer first of the steam tugboat , then of the steamer , both operating as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. In command of Hunchback, he saw combat at the Battle of Roanoke Island on 7–8 February 1862, the Battle of New Bern on 14 March 1862, and in an engagement on the Blackwater River south of Franklin, Virginia, on 3 October 1862 during the joint expedition against Franklin. Promoted to commander on 17 November 1862, Colhoun took command of the steamer in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1863. Later that year, he became commanding officer of the monitor in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and led Weehawken in various actions against Confederate forts – among them Fort Sumter, Fort Wagner, and Fort Beauregard – between 10 July and 15 September 1863. He next commanded the monitor from 1864 to 1865, engaging Howlett's Battery on