CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. States naval service August, 1823. 835, he was atwo years later, ty on the coast t for some years n appropriation 1 harbor, and at officers was apas selected as a ged for three or 1 found special cal Almanac, at Mary's, then atw duties, while I to save from Walker. That to the wall at his followers— mmander Davis is men, landing until February, the Almanac. ployed. But he abash, as FleetLodore Du Pont. s service. nan, which had ving arrived at CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. R EAR-ADMIRAL C. H. DAVIS entered the United States naval service from his native State of Massachusetts, on the twelfth of August, 1823. He was made a lieutenant on the third of March, 1831. In 1835, he was attached to the sloop-of war Vincennes, then in the Pacific; and two years later, we find him assigned to the razee Independence, on special duty. His next appointment was as chief of a hydrographic party on the coast survey. He remained in this position from 1842 to 1849, but for some years later, was more or less connected with this service. In 1851, an appropriation was made by the Government for the improvement of Charleston harbor, and at the request of South-Carolina, a commission of navy and army officers was ap pointed to superintend the work in hand. Lieutenant Davis was selected as a member of the commission, in which duty he was actively engaged for three or four years. On the twelfth of June, 1854, he was made a commander, and found special duty, for the two following years, as Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, at Cambridge, Mass. In 1857, he was placed in command of the sloop-of-war St. Mary's, then attached to the Pacific squadron. Soon after entering upon his new duties, while stationed on the Nicaragua coast, Commander Davis interposed to save from Central American vengeance the notorious fillibuster William Walker. That worthy, after several years of desultory contest, had been driven to the wall at Rivas, and was there compelled to surrender, with the remnant of his followerssome two hundred in number on the first of May, 1857. Commander Davis successfully interposed and brought off Walker, with sixteen of his men, landing him at Panama unharmed. Commander Davis remained in command of the St. Mary's until February, 1859, when he was relieved, and resumed the superintendence of the Almanac. The outbreak of the rebellion found him thus peacefully employed. But he immediately resumed active service, being appointed to the Wabash, as FleetCaptain of the South-Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Commodore Du Pont. His experience and skill were soon brought into requisition in this service. The coöperating land forces, under General T. W. Sherman, which had cleared from Hampton Roads on the twenty-ninth of October, having arrived at the rendezvous off Hilton Head, S. C., the bombardment of the rebel forts at that point was begun and carried to a glorious termination on the seventh of November-Davis's vessel, the flag-ship Wabash, taking the lead in that series of stormy circlings, whose iron hail struck terror to the rebel cause. But, before the commencement of the bombardment, the genius of Captain Davis had been called into important service. All the buoys and other indications of the harbor channel having been removed by the rebels, Captain Davis was selected, in connection with Mr. Boutelle, to re-mark the channel, while the fleet lay at anchor outside. The experience and ability of Captain Davis speedily accomplished this difficult duty. It was in the morning when he began, and by three o'clock P.M., the channel had been found, duly marked, and a clear passage opened for the fleet. When at last our battle-torn standard floated above the strong earthworks of Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard, Captain Davis must have contemplated with peculiar satisfaction the extent of the rich prize-the solid bastions, the long coast-guns, etc.-to whose capture his own services had so strikingly contributed. Shortly after the reduction of these strongholds, Captain Davis was commissioned by his superior to undertake, not exactly the reduction, but the nullification, of a still more formidable rebel port. In order to increase the efficiency of the blockade by placing obstructions in the channel-ways leading to the harbor of Charleston, S. C., the most important of the rebel ports, a fleet of some twenty or thirty old whalers and other vessels was purchased and heavily laden with stone, the intention being to sink them at the entrance of the harbor, which it was hoped would effectually keep blockade-runners at a distance. The plan was matured. The vessels were purchased, laden, and the first detachment arrived off Charleston Harbor on the twentieth of December, 1861. As it was considered necessary that the submersion of the "stone fleet," as it was called, should be conducted by one thoroughly acquainted with the intricacies of the harbor channel, and endowed with that ability and skill which should warrant a successful performance of the enterprise, Captain Davis was selected as one perfectly quali fied for its superintendence. Happily he had, but a few years before, as already stated, been employed on special duty of a scientific nature, at that very harbor; and singularly enough-retributively, we might almost say he had been thus engaged at the desire of the authorities of Charleston itself. It may not be altogether well to rejoice at the misfortunes of our enemies, but it does afford a certain complacency at times to see the devil burn himself with his own brimstone. With what different emotions did the Charleston "chivalry" behold approaching their harbor the Yankee sailor whom they had honored in by-gone days! Quitting the Wabash, Captain Davis hoisted his pennant on the Cahawba steamship, and sailed from Port Royal on the seventeenth of December. In two days he arrived off Charleston, and immediately proceeded to place the "stone fleet" in proper position. The channel-buoy had been removed by the rebels, so that a considerable amount of sounding was necessary to determine the position of the channel. This was accordingly done on the following day. The members of the "stone fleet" were then towed to their proper positions. Each vessel was provided with a plug below the water-line, the withdrawal of which would speedily cause her to sink. On the morning of the twentieth of December, every thing was in readiness for the burial. The vessels were already defunct, but the obsequies, if imposing, were brief. The plugs were drawn out, the brine rushed in, and one by one the old hulks crazily settled to slumber in the dock-yard of Davy Jones. At halfpast ten o'clock in the morning, the last one disappeared, and the funeral was over. A good view of the last hours of the stone fleet was obtained from the deck of the Cahawba, which lay just off the bar; and a correspondent of the NewYork Tribune gives a description of the ceremony, in probably a fitter spirit than the above. He says: "It was rather melancholy to see old craft, that had weathered so many storms, stripped of their sails, and towed in, one by one, to be sunk. From the position in which the Cahawba lay, there was hardly an opening between the ships. An impassable line of wrecks was drawn for an eighth of a mile between the points indicated. All but two or three were careened. Some were on their beam-ends, some were down by the head, others by the stern, and masts, spars, and rigging of the thickly crowded ships were mingled and tangled in the greatest confusion." They did not long remain so. Boats were sent to cut away the masts, clear away the sails and gear that floated about, so that nothing might be left of any use to the rebels. For two hours prior to the final sinking of the ships, there was a continual crash of falling masts. Some of the vessels died hard, settling down very slowly. "And," observes the writer already quoted, "it was difficult to believe they were not afloat, and might yet sail away from their dreary fate. I think no one ever before saw the masts of fifteen ships cut away in the morning. When they were gone, the desolation was almost complete. The picture was more utterly ruinous and forlorn than can be conceived." Having accomplished his mission, Captain Davis returned to Port Royal. On the twenty-sixth of January, 1862, he took command of an expedition whose object was a reconnoissance up the Savannah River. He sailed in the Ottawa, accompanied by light-draught steamers and gunboats. A portion of the expedition, under Captain Davis, proceeded by way of the Wilmington Narrows, on the south side of the river, while his second in command, Captain C. R. P. Rodgers, pursued another channel. They entered the river at opposite sides, but were |