CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. 317 



that calmness in dan;i;er, which, to my knowledge for thirty years, has 

 been a conspicuous trait in his character." 



In May, 1862, Davis (now captain) was appointed flag-officer of 

 the Mississippi flotilla off Fort Pillow ; and, one or two days after 

 assuming command, he with seven vessels beat off a squadron of eight 

 iron-clads which had steamed up the river and attacked him. The 

 action was a spirited one, and lasted nearly an hour. Three of the 

 hostile gunboats were disabled, but avoided capture by taking refuge 

 under the guns of the fort. On the 5th of June Fort Pillow was 

 abandoned by the Confederates, and on the sixth Davis fell in with 

 their ironclads and rams, opposite Memphis. A rimning flght ensued, 

 resulting in the capture or destruction of all the Confederate vessels 

 but one, and the surrender of IMeraphis. Davis then joined Farragut, 

 and was engaged in various opei-ations near Vicksburg, and in the 

 Yazoo River. 



In this year, the Bureau of Navigation was established, and Davis 

 was appointed its first chief. In 186"}, he received tlie thanks of Con- 

 gress, — a distinction which entitled him to ten years of active service 

 beyond the regular time of retirement, — and was promoted to the rank 

 of rear-admiral. Two years later, he became superintendent of the 

 Naval Observatory at Washington. In 186G, in compliance with a 

 resolution of the Senate, he prepared a valuable '' Ueport on Inter- 

 oceanic Railroads and Canals," which was revised and reprinted in 

 1870, and furnished by the Navy Department to Captain Selfridge for 

 his instruction in making his surveys. In 1867, he was again ordered 

 to sea, in command of the South Atlantic Squadron cruising in South 

 American waters. 



In 1868, while Admiral Davis was in command of this squadron, he 

 became the object of a bitter personal attack, in consequence of his 

 not acceding to the views of the United States Ministers in Paraguay 

 and Brazil as to his proper action in relation to the troubles then agi- 

 tating the former country. Into matters of controversy this is not the 

 place to enter; but our notice would be incomplete without a brief 

 recital of the facts of the case. A state of war existed in Paracruay, 

 then subject to the dictatorship of Lopez ; and our minister, deeming his 

 position insecure, withdrew from the country, leaving behind him two 

 citizens of the United States, who were arrested and imprisoned, at the 

 moment of his departure, on the charge of conspiracy against the Para- 

 guayan government. Admiral Davis was accused of delay in demanding 

 the release of these prisoners, and of accepting their surrender, when it 

 ■was made, after a parley with Lopez and under conditious. In fact, the 



