Background
George Whitefield Davis was born on July 26, 1839 in Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut, United States; the son of George and Elizabeth (Grow) Davis, whose ancestors were early settlers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
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(Report of the Board of Consulting Engineers for the Panam...)
Report of the Board of Consulting Engineers for the Panama Canal by George Whitefield Davis. This book is a reproduction of the original book published in 1906 and may have some imperfections such as marks or hand-written notes.
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George Whitefield Davis was born on July 26, 1839 in Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut, United States; the son of George and Elizabeth (Grow) Davis, whose ancestors were early settlers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
He attended district school in his native village and an academy in a neighboring town.
In 1860 Davis secured a place as tutor in the family of a Georgian, but the outbreak of the war cut short this employment. In September 1861 he made his escape to the North. His long and difficult journey was interrupted by his arrest in Atlanta, and in its last stages was through the theatre of active operations in Kentucky.
Enlisting in the 11th Connecticut Infantry, November 27, 1861, he accompanied his regiment on the North Carolina expedition and after its first engagement, at New Berne, was appointed first lieutenant, April 5, 1862.
The regiment was with the Army of the Potomac at South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, and was then sent to southeastern Virginia, where it eventually became a part of the Army of the James and participated with it in the final campaign against Richmond.
As captain and major, Davis then served as a quartermaster in the XXV Army Corps, which was stationed in Texas in preparation for possible war in Mexico against Maximilian and the French.
He was mustered out of the volunteer service, April 20, 1866, and appointed a captain of infantry in the regular army, January 22, 1867.
He served for some years with his regiment in the Southwest, was in charge of building operations at Fort Douglas, Utah, and San Antonio, Texas, and was then selected as assistant engineer on the construction of the Washington Monument.
After the completion of this work he was aide to General Sheridan and later an instructor at the service school at Fort Leavenworth.
He became lieutenant-colonel on April 26, 1898, and on May 4 he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers.
He organized and commanded a division of the II Corps, stationed at Camp Alger, Virginia, and then commanded the department of Pinar del Rio, in Cuba, until recalled to serve on the court of inquiry convened to investigate General Miles’s allegations as to the quality of the beef furnished to the troops in the field. He thus played a part in the “embalmed beef” controversy.
From April 1899 until December 1900 he held the military governorship of Porto Rico. He was promoted colonel in the regular army in October 1899, retaining his brigadier-generalcy of volunteers until appointed brigadier-general in the regular army, February 2, 1901.
From Porto Rico he was sent to the Philippines, where he served as provost-marshal general in Manila for a short time, as commander of the department of Mindanao for fourteen months, and, after his appointment as major-general in July 1902, as commander of the entire Philippine division. He was retired from active service on July 26, 1903, and returned to the United States.
Davis was also designated as governor of the Canal Zone, where he organized the new government before retiring from office in 1905. He served as chairman of the board of engineers convened to recommend the type of canal to be constructed, his vote being cast in favor of a sea-level canal.
In 1904 President Roosevelt appointed him a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission, according to an intention which he had confidentially expressed shortly before Davis’s retirement.
His opinion was shared by all the foreign members of the board, but by a minority of the Americans. He resided in Washington for the remainder of his life, but twice went on special diplomatic missions to Guatemala.
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(Report of the Board of Consulting Engineers for the Panam...)
On April 30, 1870 Davis married Maria Carmen, daughter of Alexander J. Atocha.