Hiram Paulding was a rear admiral in the United States Navy who served during the War of 1812 and during the Civil War. Paulding, John Paulding's son, was born in Cortlandt, New York. On September 1, 1811, he was appointed as a midshipman. During the War of 1812, he served on Lakes Ontario and Champlain, leading the second division from Ticonderoga at the Battle of Lake Champlain. Following the war, he served on Constellation off the Algerian coast, as well as Independence, the brig Prometheus, and the Macedonian. In the following years of the decade, he worked in Sea Gull on the West Indies station and in the United States on the Pacific Station. While serving in the United States, Paulding was picked to transport Commodore Hull's dispatches from Callao, Peru, to General Simon Bolivar's mountain headquarters in the Andes; Paulding's 1,500-mile horseback ride was later documented in his book, Bolivar in His War Camp. The next year, he volunteered to service on the Dolphin under John "Roaring Jack" Percival wh
