George Dixon

Quick Facts

Significance:

Commander of the Hunley, the first successful submarine

Place Of Death:

Sullivan's Island, SC

Date Of Death:

February 17, 1864

Place Of Burial:

Charleston, SC

Cemetery Name:

Magnolia Cemetery

George Dixon was a first lieutenant in the Confederate army who, in February of 1864, commanded the crew of the CSS Hunley, the ill-fated submarine used by Confederates to sink the Union blockade ship, USS Housatonic, in Charleston Harbor. While little is known about Dixon's life prior to the Civil War, military records suggest that he was born in either South Carolina or Kentucky and was approximately 24 years old at the start of the war.

Prior to the war, Dixon served as a steamboat captain on the Mississippi River and spent a great deal of time in New Orleans, where courted and was betrothed to his sweetheart, Queenie Bennett. Following the sinking of the Housatonic, the Hunley and its entire crew, unable to make it back to shore, perished when the sub sank.