Thomas F. Harney

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Laurie for sending the following:

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Several days ago, there was a discussion about the Russian Navy wintering on both coasts of the U.S. in 1863, and I mentioned a death of one of the sailors whose body was never returned to Russia. He is buried in the Annapolis National Cemetery. One of our forum members, Rock Toews, is from that city and well-versed in Civil War history. I contacted him to see if he had further information. Here's his reply and a photo of Demidoff's gravestone. One question: Why would he have had a Greek Orthodox funeral when there is a Russian Orthodox liturgy -- maybe a lack of a Russian Orthodox priest in Annapolis?



Hi Laurie,

I have looked into this before and been unable to find anything on the diplomatic ramifications. I would love to know the source you are remembering. There has to be some mention of the incident in the diplomatic records of Russia or the U.S. You are correct that Nikolai Demidoff (or Demidov) is the only foreign national in ANC. It was early 1864 that the Russian ships Almaz and Variag were in Annapolis harbor, and young Demidov was killed on February 4th--one year earlier to the day than Lincoln's return through Annapolis from the Hampton Roads Conference. It happened in a tavern, the owner of which, William T. League, being the one who shot Demidov. Interestingly, future composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a midshipmen aboard the same ship as Demidov--the Almaz. There was an elaborate Greek Orthodox funeral for Demidov in the [then] Naval Academy chapel, and a procession all the way to the cemetery a bit over a mile away. This is described in some detail in the February 13, 1864 of the Crutch. I have somewhere read about government dignitaries coming from Washington for the services, but don't have that at hand just now. Eduard de Stoeckel was the Russian ambassador, and it was also he and Seward who three years later negotiated the sale of Alaska to the U.S. I once wrote an imagined account of the Demidov episode, from the point of view of Rimsky-Korsakov, that speculated on a connection between the Russian sailor's death and the perceived inflated price Seward paid for Alaska.

Best regards,

Rock