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Contact Info
Home Town Washington D.C.
Last Address Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery
Date of Passing May 30, 1926
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Last Known Activity:
Richard Graham Davenport
Commodore, United States Navy
Recalled to active duty during WWI as Rear Admiral
Born in District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., on January 11, 1849, the son of Captain Henry Kollock and Jennie Brent Graham Davenport, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from the State of Georgia on September 29, 1864 and graduted in 1869.
He served as an instructor of torpedoes-electricity, Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island, 1875 and 1881; Ordnance Instructor, Washington, D.C. Navy Yard in the winter of 1880-81; attended courses of lectures in international law and naval science, Naval War College, Newport, in the terms of 1887 and 1902.
He married Serena Hale Gilman on November 20, 1884.
He was originally commissioned an Ensign, July 12, 1870, and advanced through the grades, retiring after more than 42 years of service on June 30, 1907 as Commodore, while in command of the First Class Battleship USS Georgia. While on shore duty, he served as an aide to the Rear Admiral representing the Navy Department at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1875-76; temporary duty as the Chicago Exposition in 1893; served as a member of the Board of Civil Service Examiners for Nautical Experts; was President of the Permanent General Courts Martial and also as Navigation and Equipment Officer and senior member of the Board of Inspection, Labor Board and Wage Administration, Navy yard, Washington, D.C., May 1902 to August 1906; also a member of the US Navy Examining and Retiring Board, 1906; Assistant to the Chief, Bureau of Navigation, in charge of a detail of officers, 1897-98; and, from time to time, in charge of various divisions of the US Navy Hydrographic Office.
Afloat, he served as Midshipman and as Watch and Division Officer, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Pacific, Asiatic, Training and European Squadrons; as aide on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the Asiatic Squadron; Flag Lieutenant to Commodore J. C. Watson during the Spanish-American War (1898-99); second in command of the fleet blockading on the coast of Cuba; later Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Squadron. Attached to and on the USS Oregon off Santiago, Cuba, when the Spanish General in command surrendered. As a Lieutenant Commander in command of USS Fishhawk, investigated the radius of dispersion of star fish in the waters of Narragansett Bay and, in 1898-99, with a party of scientists aboard, made a biological survey of waters around Puerto Rico; as a Commander, 1900-02, commanded the USS Training Ship Essex and as a Captain, commanded the Battleship USS Georgia at the opening of the Jamestown Exposition, 1907.
Awarded the West India Campaign Medal, War With Spain Medal, and the Sampson Medal, with bars, for naval engagements in the Spanish-American War. During World War I, he was on active duty at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, January 26, 1918-June 1, 1919, as Senior Member of the Permanent Board of Investigations.
He died on May 30, 1926 and was buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery among other family members.
Other Comments:
The Society of the Sons of the Revolution in the District of Columbia
Richard Graham DAVENPORT -- Elected February 19, 1891.
Commodore, U.S. Navy (Retired). 1441 Hopkins Street, Washington, D.C.
Great-grandson of Richard GRAHAM (1738-1796); Member of Committee of Safety and Observation of Prince William County, Virginia, and Commissioner of Revenue for the support of the Revolution.
Great-great-grandson of George BRENT (1730-1779); Member, Committee of Safety and Observation, Stafford County, Virginia.
Great-great-grandson of Charles JONES (1705-1797); Commissioner of Revenue for Support of the War, and first Judge of Montgomery County, Maryland, 1777.
Great-great-grandson of Samuel LOVE (Senior) (1718-1785); Member, Committee of Safety and Observation of Charles County, Maryland; also member, Maryland Convention, 1774.
General Society of the War of 1812
Elected 1891.
DAVENPORT, RICHARD GRAHAM,
Lieutenant U. S. Navy, Navy Department, Washington, D. C.
Grandson of Isaiah Davenport, Private in Captain James Hunter's Company, First Regiment, Georgia Militia; 1815.
Grandson of George Graham, Captain of Fairfax County Company of Cavalry, Second Regiment, Virginia Militia; 1814.
Great-grandson of James Watson, Private in Captain Richard S. Briscoe's Company of Cavalry, First Regiment, (Colonel George Magruder, Commanding), District of Columbia Militia; 1813-14.
Spanish-American War
From Month/Year
April / 1898
To Month/Year
August / 1898
Description The Spanish–American War (Spanish: Guerra hispano-estadounidense or Guerra hispano-americana; Filipino: Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano) was a conflict fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. American acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.
Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish rule. The U.S. later backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. In the late 1890s, US public opinion was agitated by anti-Spanish propaganda led by newspaper publishers such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst which used yellow journalism to call for war. The business community across the United States had just recovered from a deep depression, and feared that a war would reverse the gains. They lobbied vigorously against going to war.
The US Navy battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana harbor; political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the administration of Republican President William McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid.[9] Spain promised time and time again that it would reform, but never delivered. The United States sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding that it surrender control of Cuba. First Madrid declared war, and Washington then followed suit.
The main issue was Cuban independence; the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. US naval power proved decisive, allowing expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already facing nationwide Cuban insurgent attacks and further wasted by yellow fever. Numerically superior Cuban, Philippine, and US forces obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila despite the good performance of some Spanish infantry units and fierce fighting for positions such as San Juan Hill. Madrid sued for peace with two obsolete Spanish squadrons sunk in Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay and a third, more modern fleet recalled home to protect the Spanish coasts.
The result was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, negotiated on terms favorable to the US which allowed it temporary control of Cuba and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine islands. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($575,760,000 today) to Spain by the US to cover infrastructure owned by Spain.
The defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche, and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic revaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98.[ The United States gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of expansionism. It was one of only five US wars (against a total of eleven sovereign states) to have been formally declared by Congress.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1898
To Month/Year
August / 1898
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Awarded the West India Campaign Medal, War With Spain Medal, and the Sampson Medal, with bars, for naval engagements in the Spanish-American War. During World War I, he was on active duty at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, January 26, 1918-June 1, 1919, as Senior Member of the Permanent Board of Investigations.
