Oakwood Cemetery, Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas

Commander Isaac Newton Brown
(May 27, 1817 - Sept 1, 1889)

A Native of Kentucky, Brown moved to Tennessee as a young man and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17, A veteran of the Mexican War, Brown Circumnavigated the globe several times during his 27 years in the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of the war between the states, Brown resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy and enlisted in the Confederate States Navy as a lieutenant.

During his four years of service in the C.S.N., Brown completed construction fo the C.S.S. Arkansas, and in one of the most daring exploits in naval history on July 15, 1862, sailed through the U.S. Navy fleet (17 ships of war plus mortar boats) on the Mississippi river in the defense of Vicksburg.  Brown, being wounded twice, was promoted to commander for his bravery.

Brown later commanded the C.S.S. Charleston and is credited with the invention of an underwater "torpedo" that sank the U.S.S. Cairo on December 12, 1862.

Commander was among the first 9 men and is one of only a few confederate naval personnel to receive the Confederate Medal of Honor.

Brown and his second wife Jeanie Valliant Autry moved to Corsicana, Texas in 1883 to Join his stepson and family where he loved until his death in 1889.