John Newland Maffitt was born at sea on 22 February 1819. Entering the United States Navy as a Midshipman in February 1832, he reached the rank of Lieutenant in 1843. In May 1861, with the coming of the Civil War, Maffitt resigned his commission and became a First Lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy. In 1862 he became the first commanding officer of the cruiser CSS Florida, taking her through a difficult outfitting period and an extremely successful commerce raiding cruise. Promoted to the rank of Commander in May 1863, ill health forced him to relinquish command of Florida later in that year. In 1864-65, Commander Maffitt commanded blockade runners and the ironclad Albemarle.

Following the defeat of the Confederacy, Maffitt served as a merchant ship captain, and, in 1870, commanded a warship for Cuban revolutionaries. He died in Wilmington, North Carolina, on 15 May 1886.