Richard Lucian Page was born on December 20, 1807, in Clarke County, Virginia, United States. He was the son of William Byrd and Anne Lee Page. His father, a farmer and planter, was of the Page family of Virginia which descended from John Page, an immigrant from England in early colonial days.
Richard Lucian Page attended the common-schools of Clarke County and Alexandria, Virginia.
Richard Lucian Page chose the Navy for a career, became a midshipman in 1824, and did his first cruising onboard the John Adams with Admiral Porter in the West Indies. In 1825 he was transferred to the Brandywine to convey General Lafayette to France. He became a passed midshipman in 1830, was promoted to lieutenant in 1834, and to the commander in 1855, which grade he held at the outbreak of the Civil War. During this period he did sea duty in nearly every part of the globe and served three tours on ordnance duty and one as an executive officer at the Norfolk navy yard. His more important assignments at sea were as executive officer and commander of the Independence, the flagship of Commodore Shubrick, during the Mexican War, as commander of the Perry from 1852 to 1854, and as commander of the Germantown from 1857 to 1859.
Resigning from the Federal service when Virginia seceded, Page became an aide on the staff of Governor John Letcher of Virginia and was assigned to duty in connection with the organization of a state navy. He supervised the construction of fortifications at the mouth of the James River and on the Nansemond River and Pagan Creek. On June 10, 1861, he was commissioned commander in the Confederate States Navy and was assigned to duty as ordnance officer at the Norfolk navy yard. While on this duty he volunteered to assist in firing an eleven-inch gun at Sewell's Point against Federal vessels. He was soon promoted to captain and assigned the task of establishing an ordnance and construction depot at Charlotte, North Carolina, which he operated for about two years. He was with Commodore Tattnall on board the Savannah at the naval battle off Port Royal.
In 1864 Richard Lucian Page was commissioned brigadier-general in the provisional army and placed in command of the outer defenses of Mobile Bay with headquarters at Fort Morgan, Alabama. He gallantly defended his fort against the combined sea and land attack of Admiral Farragut and General Granger, but after a terrific bombardment which made breaches in the walls of the fort and disabled most of his cannon and set fire to the citadel, he was compelled on August 23, 1864, to capitulate. He was held as a prisoner of war until September 1865. After the war, he settled at Norfolk, Virginia, and took an active interest in the affairs of the community. He served from 1875 to 1883 as superintendent of public schools.
In 1841 Richard Lucian Page married Alexina, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Calvert Taylor of Norfolk, Virginia. They had four children.
1775-1858
1846-1921
1853-1882
1850-1918
1861-1943
1819-1902
1798-1849
1800-1872
1800-1876
1802-1872
1803-1826
1811-1834
