Hiram Paulding (December 11, 1797 – October 20, 1878) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, who served from the War of 1812 until after the Civil War. Naval career The son of John Paulding, Paulding was born in Cortlandt, New York. He was appointed Midshipman on September 1, 1811. During the War of 1812, he served on Lakes Ontario and Champlain, commanding the second division from during the Battle of Lake Champlain. After the war he served in , off the Algerian coast, and in , the brig , and . On his return from service in Macedonian with the Pacific Squadron (1818–1821), he spent a year's leave at Capt. Alden Partridge’s Military Academy (later Norwich University), Norwich, Vermont. In the ensuing years of the decade he served in on the West Indies station, and in on the Pacific station. While serving on the Paulding was chosen to carry Commodore Hull's dispatches from Callao, Peru, to the mountain headquarters of General Simon Bolivar in the Andes; Paulding's journey of 1,500 miles on horseback was later recorded in his book, Bolivar in His War Camp. The following year he volunteered to serve under John "Roaring Jack" Percival in the as that vessel pursued mutineers of the whaler Globe, then returned to United States. In 1830 he rejoined Constellation to serve as 1st Lieutenant, as she cruised the Mediterranean for two years, and in 1834 assumed command of the schooner for another Mediterranean tour. Appointed to command the sloop-of-war in 1838, he made a cruise in the West Indies and in 1841 became Executive Officer of the New York Navy Yard. In 1844, Paulding was promoted to captain, and in 1845 he assumed command of for a three-year East Indian cruise and took command of that station with the departure of Commodore James Biddle for the United States. Between 1848 and 1852 he commanded in the Baltic, North, and Mediterranean Seas, then assumed command of the Washington Navy Yard. Promoted to commodore, Paulding took command of the Home Squadron followed aboard the flagship . The squadron was instrumental in foiling the expedition against Nicaragua underway by the American William Walker, who had dreamed of uniting the nations of Central America into a vast military empire led by himself. Through insurrection, Walker became president of Nicaragua in 1856 when Costa Rica declared war to him. After his surrender to an