1861, he was transferred to command the steamer and surveyed and buoyed Hatteras Inlet in preparation for Union incursions into the inlets and rivers, along with other coastal inlets. His ship engaged the Confederate gunboat in Hatteras Inlet on 14 November 1861, and skirmished with gunboats in Pamlico Sound. He engaged the Yorktown and Gloucester Point batteries, sunk two Confederate vessels, and prevented Confederate forces from destroying White House Bridge during April and May 1862. Phelps was promoted to lieutenant commander in July 1862 and was charged with surveying and charting coastal waters for blockades and navigational purposes. He commanded the sloop during the successful attack on Fort Fisher, which had been protecting blockade runners' vital access to the Confederate port at Wilmington, North Carolina until it was captured by the Union on 15 January 1865. This was the last supply route open to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the Battle of West Point on April 16, 1865, in West Point, Georgia, he prevented a large force of Confederate forces from joining with their main army. In 1865, he was commissioned commander, promoted to captain in 1871, to commodore in 1879, and rear admiral in 1884, and retired in 1885. Personal life On January 25, 1848, Phelps was married to Margaret Riché Levy (1830–1901) in Lake Drummond, North Carolina. Together, they were the parents of one son and two daughters: Thomas Stowell Phelps, Jr. (1848–1915), who also attained the rank of Rear Admiral. Margaret Jane Phelps (1854–1946), who married Rear Admiral James Dexter Adams in 1873. Edmonia Taylor Phelps (1858–1909), who married Theodorus B. M. Mason, the founder and first head of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Phelps died in the Naval Hospital in New York City on 10 January 1901. Mother, father and son are buried in adjacent plots in Arlington National Cemetery (Section 1 grave 504). Honors and legacy The destroyer was named for him. References External links 1822 births 1901 deaths United States Navy admirals History of Seattle People from Buckfield, Maine Burials at Arlington National Cemetery