Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis (USN)

Wikipedia

Charles Henry Davis (January 16, 1807 – February 18, 1877) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, serving primarily during the American Civil War, and with the United States Coast Survey.

Early life and career

Davis was born in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] He was commissioned as a Midshipman on August 12, 1823. Between 1827 and 1828, he served on board the frigate United States, in the Pacific. In 1829, he was promoted to Passed Midshipman. From 1830 to 1833, he served on the sloop Ontario. In 1834, he was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to the Vincennes. In 1840 to 1841, he served on board the ship Independence.

From 1846 to 1849, he worked in the United States Coast Survey on board the Nantucket, where he discovered a previously unknown shoal that had caused shipwrecks off the coast of New York. During his service to the Survey, he was also responsible for researching tides and currents and acted as an inspector on a number of naval shipyards.

In 1854, he was promoted to Commander and given the command of the St. Mary's. In 1859, while commanding the St. Mary's, Davis was ordered to go to Baker Island to obtain samples of guano, becoming perhaps the first American to set foot there since it was annexed by the United States in 1857. The guano was necessary as fertilizer. Commodore William Mervine had previously been sent, but he did not land and believed the island to be inaccessible. (From evidence that was later found on the island, it had been visited prior to 1857 by whalers.)

Civil War service

In the American Civil War, Davis was appointed to Blockade Strategy Board in June 1861. On 15 November 1861, he was promoted to Captain. He was made Acting Flag Officer, in command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla. A day after he took command, the flotilla fought a short battle with Confederate ships on the Mississippi River at Plum Point Bend on May 10, 1862. Caught unready for battle, two of the Union ships were badly damaged and had to be run into shoal water to keep from sinking. The Confederate vessels escaped with only minor damage. On June 6, his ships fought in the Battle of Memphis, which resulted in the sinking or capture of seven of the eight Confederate ships, compared with damage to only one of the Union vessels. In July, he cooperated with Flag Officer David G. Farragut in an attack on Vicksburg, Mississippi, but they were forced to withdraw. In August, he proceeded up the Yazoo River and successfully seized Confederate supplies and munitions there. After this excursion, he was made Chief of the Bureau of Navigation and returned to Washington, D.C..

On February 7, 1863, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

Post-war service

From 1865 to 1867, he was the Superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory. In 1867, he was given command of the South Atlantic Squadron and was given the Guerriere as his flagship. In 1869, he returned home and served both on the Lighthouse Board as well as in the Naval Observatory. Davis died in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Personal life

He married Harriette Blake Mills, the daughter of U.S. Senator Elijah Hunt Mills. One of their children, Anna Cabot Mills Davis, married U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

His son, Commander Charles H. Davis, Jr., served as Chief Intelligence Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence from September 1889 to August 1892.

Namesake

Several ships of the United States Navy are also named in his honor: the torpedo boat USS Davis (TB-12) and the destroyers USS Davis (DD-65) and USS Davis (DD-395).

A species of sea anemone native to the coasts of New England and Nova Scotia, the Rhodactis davisii, is named for Davis.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 19 2019, 7:25:24 UTC

Civil War Union Rear Admiral. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was appointed midshipman in 1824, but because of his intelligence and an education that included 2 years at Harvard he qualified for a lieutenancy after only 3 years. He later completed his degree at Harvard, and for much of his naval career devoted himself to scientific work important to the navy. On July 11, 1849, he became Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac Office. In 1854 he received a promotion to Commander. Having left his duties at the NAC on November 23, 1856, he was now head of the Bureau of Detail in Washington D.C., when the Civil War began, helping to plan and organize the South Atlantic Blockade and the expeditions against Hatteras Inlet and Port Royal. During the latter expedition, he served as chief of staff and fleet officer to Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, contributing much to the successful attack of November 7, 1861. Though he officially replaced Andrew H. Foote as flag officer of the Mississippi flotilla on June 17, 1862, he had been in command since Foote's departure in May. On June 6 his flotilla, along with the rams of Colonel Charles Ellet, destroyed or captured all but 1 vessel of the Confederate River Defense Fleet during the Battle of Memphis, resulting in the surrender of the city to him. Joining Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's force before Vicksburg, he took a cautious approach to the Confederate ram Arkansas, which had passed through the Union fleet and reached the city. Farragut wanted a more aggressive flag officer, as did Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. In fact, Welles regarded him as "more of a scholar than a sailor." On October 1, 1862, Commodore David D. Porter was promoted to head a reorganized Mississippi Squadron. Assigned once again to Washington D.C., he resumed his scientific studies. In February 1863 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and in that same year he became one of the founders of the National Academy of Sciences. He also was the author of the works: The Coast Survey of the United States and Narrative of the North Pole Expedition of the USS Polaris. On April 28, 1865, he became Superintendent of the Naval Observatory serving until May 15, 1867, and in his last duty serving in the position again from February 23, 1874, until his death. In February 1911, he was honored with a statue at Vicksburg.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 19 2019, 7:28:13 UTC