Charles Manigault Morris (May 7, 1820 – March 22, 1895) was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. Morris was a descendant of several of the most prominent Northern and Southern families in colonial America.
Early life
Morris was born in Adams Run, South Carolina, on May 7, 1820. He was the youngest son of Col. Lewis Morris (1785–1863) of New York and his wife Elizabeth (née Manigault) Morris (1785–1822) of South Carolina, who married in 1807. Among his siblings was Gabriella Manigault Morris (wife of John Mease Butler and sister-in-law of Pierce Mease Butler), Margaret Ann Morris (wife of John Berkley Grimball), Henry Manigault Morris (who married M. Georgia Edwards), and Richard Lewis Morris (who married Anne Elizabeth Dunwoodie). His maternal grandparents were architect Gabriel Manigault (a son of Peter Manigault, the wealthiest person in British North America in 1770) and Margaret (née Izard) Manigault (a daughter of Continental Congressman and U.S. Senator from South Carolina Ralph Izard). He was also distant cousin of Confederate General Arthur Middleton Manigault, and a great-nephew of Arthur Middleton. In March, he was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy. From 1861 to 1863, Morris served on the Savannah, Georgia Station where he married his second wife.
After John Newland Maffitt became ill at Brest, France, Morris took over in January 1864 as commander of the CSS Florida. During the remainder of the American Civil War, he served abroad as an agent of the Confederate States government.
Later life
Following the war, Morris and his family settled in England. After the War, his wife took an interest in the education of President Jefferson Davis' daughter, Margaret "Maggie" Davis at the convent in France. In 1880, he returned to the United States and lived the rest of his life in Baltimore, Maryland.