Civil War Confederate Navy Seaman of the submarine H.L. Hunley on an attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to be from Mobile, possibly were employees in the machine shop as well. On October 15, 1863, the H.L. Hunley began to sink while performing a routine diving exercise. She disappeared beneath the water in a normal fashion. After scanning the surface for what seemed like hours, it slowly became clear that the H.L. Hunley and her full crew of eight were lost including Captain Horace L. Hunley. Although Hunley was in charge of the sub's operations, he was not part of her crew. It is not known why he was at the helm when the submarine sank for the second time. A few days after the sinking, the submarine was raised. On November 8, 1863 the Captain and namesake of the history-making submarine, Horace L. Hunley was buried at Magnolia Cemetery. The very next day, November 9, the other seven crewmembers were also buried at Magnolia, all with full military honors.

Charles L Sprague