DAVIS
DAVIS
DAVIS, Charles Henry, naval officer, was
born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 16, lyOT; son of
Daniel Davis (1763-1835). U.S. attorney for Maine,
1796-1801, solicitor-general of Massachusetts,
1800-32, and author of " Criminal Justice " (1828)
and " Precedents of Indictment " (1831) ; and
descended from Dolor
Davis of Cambridge,
1630, and Barnstable,
1638. Charles entered
Harvard in the class
of 1825, and left col-
lege to become mid-
shipman in the U.S.
navy Aug. 12, 1823,
making his first cruise
on board the U.S. frig-
ate United States in
the Pacific, 1827-28.
With his promotion
to the rank of passed
midshipman, received
in Mai'ch, 1829, were
orders to join the
Ontario of the Mediterranean squadron. In March,
1831, he was made lieutenant and was on board
the Vincennes of the Pacific squadron, 1833-35,
and in the Independence of the Brazil squadron,
1837-41. He then served on the U.S. coast
survey, 1842-49. While engaged in the survey
of the waters between Massachusetts and Long
Island, forming the gate to Long Island sound,
1846-49, he discovered the *' New South " and
several minor slioals before unmarked, and his
services in behalf of coastwise navigation was
specially acknowledged by marine insurance
companies and merchants and boards of trade
in Boston and New York. He was the founder
of the American Exthemeris and Nautical Almanac
and superintended its publication, 1849-56, and
again 1859-61. He commanded the St. Mary's of
the Pacific squadron, 1856-59. He was a member
of the naval board in* 1861, having in charge the
inspection of the southern Atlantic ports and
coast with a view to offensive operations against
the seceding states, and he was made captain and
chief of staff of the Port Eoyal expedition of
1861. He succeeded Commodore Foote as flag-
officer of the Mississippi flotilla, May 9. 1862, and
on May 10 fought the naval battle of Fort
Pillow, forcing eight well-eqviipped Confederate
iron-clads to seek the protection of the guns of
the fort. On June 5, upon the evacuation
of Fort Pillow, he again engaged the fleet in
front of Memphis and succeeded in capturing or
sinking seven of the eight iron-clads, the Van
Darn alone escaping. He tlien received the sur-
render of Memphis and joined with the victorious
flotilla the fleet of Farragut, operating against
Vicksburg. In July, 1862, he was commissioned
commodore and ordered to Washington as chief
of the bureau of navigation, but did not leave
the Mississippi until November. His commission
as rear-admiral was given to him Feb. 7. 1863, and
he received with it the thanks of congress for
the victories of Fort Pillow and Memphis. He
was appointed superintendent of the naval
observatory, Washington, in 1865, and 1867-69
commanded the South Atlantic squadron. He
returned to Washington as a member of the light-
house board, next was commandant of the Nor-
folk navy yard, and in 1874 returned to the naval
observatory as superintendent, retaining the
position up to the time of his death. He was
elected a fellow of the American academy
of arts and sciences and a member of the Ameri-
can philosophical society and was one of the
incorporators of the National academy of sciences.
He received from Harvard the degrees of A.B.
and A.M. in 1841, and that of LL.D. in 1868. He
published : The Law of Deposit at the Flood Tide :
Its Geological Action and Office (1852) ; Memoir Upon
the Geological Action of Tidal and Other Currents of
the Ocean (1849) ; translated Gauss's Theoria Motus
Corporum Ca'lestiicm (1858) ; and was a constant
contributor to scientific publications and rcA^iews.
He died in Washington. D.C., Feb. 18, 1877.
DAVIS, Charles Henry, naval officer, was born in Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 28, 1845; son of Rear- Admiral Cliarles Henry and Harriette Blake (Mills) Davis; and grandson of the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, U.S. senator from Massachusetts. He was graduated from the U.S. naval academy at Newport, R.I., in 1864, and served in the Med- iterranean squadron, 1864-67, being promoted ensign Nov. 1, 1866, and master, Dec. 1, 1866. He was on board the Guerriere and Portsmouth of tlie South Atlantic squadron, 1867-70, and in the Pacific squadron, 1872-74. He was made lieuten- ant March 12, 1868, and lieutenant-commander, June 30, 1869. He was married in March, 1875, to Louisa, daughter of John Van Pelt Quacken- bush, M.D., of Albany, N.Y. He was engaged in astronomical and geodetical work, first at the naval observatory and subsequently in the north Atlantic ocean, on the eastern coast of South America, 1877-79, in China, Japan and India. 1881-82, and on the western coast of South and Central America, 1883-84. He was pro- moted commander Oct. 30, 1885, and commanded the training ship Saratoga, and the cruising training squadron, 1886-88; the Quinnebaug in the Mediterranean, 1888-89; was chief intelli- gence officer, navy department, 1889-92; com- manded the Montgomery, 1894-96; and represented the President of the United States in the recep- tion accorded the Infanta Eulalia of Spain as guest of the nation in May and June, 1893. He
