Ambrose Light (ship) Ambrose Light (ship) Ambrose Light was a brigantine, operated by Colombian rebels. It was captured by USS "Alliance" as a suspected pirate vessel in 1885. The accusation of piracy was rejected by a court of law. On April 24, Commander Lewis Clark, of the South Atlantic Squadron, was sailing to Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, when the lookouts aboard "Alliance" sighted the one-gun "Ambrose Light". It was flying a strange flag featuring a red cross over a white background so the Americans assumed the vessel was a pirate ship. A chase began and the Americans were preparing to
Port Washington Light the previous light; however it is known that a fourth order lens was installed in 1870. This lens, at above the water, gave the light a range of . The 1859 building housed one keeper and his family. An office was on the first floor and a watch room on the second. Charles Lewis Sr. was the keeper from 1874 to 1880, when he died. His wife took over briefly, then his son Charles Lewis Jr. maintained Port Washington's lights for many years. With the dredging and enlargement of the harbor in the late 1800s, the Port Washington Breakwater Light