Hunter Davidson
Photograph of a man, seated, in a suit and wearing a bow-tie
Portrait circa 1866
Born(1826-09-20)September 20, 1826
Georgetown, Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedFebruary 16, 1913(1913-02-16) (aged 86)
Paraguay, South America
Resting placeMunicipal Cemetery Pirayú
Paraguay, South America
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUnited States Naval Academy
OccupationNaval officer
Military career
AllegianceUnited States of America
Confederate States of America
Argentina
Service/branch United States Navy
 Confederate States Navy
 Argentine Navy
Years of service1847–1861 (USN)
1861–1865 (CSN)
1876–1884 (ARA)
Rank Commander (USN)
Commander (CSN)

Hunter Davidson (September 20, 1826 – February 16, 1913) was an American engineer, inventor, and naval officer, first serving the United States and then joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War.[1][2][3] He later served as the first commander of the Maryland Oyster Police Force during the height of the Oyster Wars.[4][5][6][7][8]

Early life and family

Davidson was born in Georgetown in 1826. He was the son of William B. Davidson, an artillery officer in the United States Army, and Elizabeth Chapman Hunter.[9] Davidson was twice married and had seven children. His older brother was Union Army brigadier general John Wynn Davidson.[10] In 1847, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy.[1][11]

Military service

United States Navy

After graduating from the Naval Academy, Davidson was stationed aboard the USS Portsmouth during the Mexican–American War.[9] During the 1850s, Davidson was stationed on the USS Dale as part of the Africa Squadron and Atlantic Anti-Slavery Operations of the United States to suppress the slave trade.[12][11] In the 1850s, Davidson was also assigned duty for several years with the Coast Survey, a predecessor of what became the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.[11]

Davidson was promoted to lieutenant in 1855, and was granted two patents for a lifeboat-lifting device. In 1856, Davidson was one of the officers selected to return the exploration vessel HMS Resolute to Queen Victoria and the Royal Navy.[10]

Davidson was an instructor at the Naval Academy from 1858 to 1861 prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.[11]

American Civil War (Confederate Navy)

Davidson was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.[13][14][15] He was stationed on the CSS Virginia as a gunnery officer during the Battle of Hampton Roads of 1862.[1] In June and July 1862, Davidson was commander of the CSS Teaser, used by the Confederate Naval Submarine Battery Service to plant and service "torpedoes" (Naval mines) in the James River.[16]

Davidson later served as commander of the Submarine Battery Service, also referred to as the "Torpedo Bureau," a branch of the Confederate Secret Service.[17] He was credited for his work in operationalizing the electric detonation of mines.[18][11][19][20]

Later life

After his service for the Confederacy, Davidson was ineligible for further military service in the United States after the Civil War had ended.[11] In 1865 he briefly served as a merchant officer in the United Kingdom.[1]

Maryland Oyster Navy

In 1868 during the early period of the Oyster Wars in Maryland, Davidson was unanimously appointed as the first commander of the Maryland Oyster Police Force, which was nicknamed as the "Oyster Navy."[9][21] Davidson acquired a 12-pounder Dahlgren howitzer for the force's first steamer, Leila, for use in the gun battles between the police force and the illegal oyster dredgers.[22][23]

The organization was tasked with enforcing the state's oyster-harvesting laws and served as the predecessor of the modern Maryland Natural Resources Police.[4][24][13] In 1870, as part of his role, Davidson delivered a report to the Maryland General Assembly which made recommendations regarding oyster management issues, protecting oyster habitats, and regulating the harvesting of oysters in the state.[13][8]

In 1871, Davidson thwarted an assassination plot against him by a pirating oysterman named Gus Rice.[25][21] Davidson served in the role until 1872.[13][7]

South America

After leaving his post with the Oyster Navy, Davidson relocated to South America where he founded and was the first chief of the Argentine Navy’s Torpedo Division.[1][7] In the role, he conducted the first detailed hydrographic surveys of Argentine waterways, including the Bahia Blanca Estuary and Iguazu River.[11][7] In 1874, he designed a 620-ton steamer, Fulminante, for the country's Minister of War (and previous Vice President), Adolfo Alsina.[9] He retired to Paraguay in 1885.[11]

Death and burial

Davidson died on February 16, 1913 in Paraguay, South America at the age of 86.[11][9][7]

Works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Davidson, Hunter". public1.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  2. ↑ Wolters, Timothy S. (2008). "Electric Torpedoes in the Confederacy: Reconciling Conflicting Histories". The Journal of Military History. 72 (3): 755–783. doi:10.1353/jmh.0.0050. ISSN 1543-7795.
  3. ↑ Waters, W. Davis (1989). ""Deception Is the Art of War": Gabriel J. Rains, Torpedo Specialist of the Confederacy". The North Carolina Historical Review. 66 (1): 29–60. ISSN 0029-2494. JSTOR 23520746.
  4. 1 2 Kimmel, Ross M. (Winter 2008). "Oyster Wars: The Historic Fight For the Bay's Riches" (PDF). The Maryland Natural Resource. Maryland Department of Natural Resources: 4–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Oyster Wars Cannon at the Annapolis Maritime Museum". www.visitannapolis.org. February 21, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  6. ↑ Moyer, Ellen (November 7, 2019). "The Once & Future King of The Bay". What's Up? Media. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Blasting His Way into the History Books: Assessing the Role of Cdr. Hunter Davidson". Emerging Civil War. April 25, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Davidson, Hunter (1870). Report Upon the Oyster Resources of Maryland, to the General Assembly. W. Thompson of R., printer.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Mountford, Kent (September 1, 2011). "Oyster Police howitzer goes from piracy to publicity campaign". Bay Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Post, ECW Guest (April 25, 2022). "Blasting His Way into the History Books: Assessing the Role of Cdr. Hunter Davidson". Emerging Civil War. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Hunter Davidson: Maryland Oyster Police Force". The Southern Maryland Chronicle. March 30, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Hunter Davidson to William McBlair regarding the capture of the slaveship "Bremen" – American History 1493–1945 – Adam Matthew Digital". www.americanhistory.amdigital.co.uk. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "History — Natural Resources Police". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  14. ↑ Rains, Gabriel J.; Michie, Peter S. (January 10, 2014). Confederate Torpedoes: Two Illustrated 19th Century Works with New Appendices and Photographs. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8545-1.
  15. ↑ McKenna, Joseph (March 8, 2010). British Ships in the Confederate Navy. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5827-1.
  16. ↑ Coski (1996), John M. Capital Navy: The Men, Ships and Operations of the James River Squadron, Campbell, CA: Savas Woodbury Publishers. ISBN 1-882810-03-1.
  17. ↑ Beers, Henry Putney (1986). The Confederacy: A Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America. National Archives and Records Administration. ISBN 978-0-911333-18-3.
  18. ↑ Confederate States of America. Secret Service. "CSA Secret Service Account Book [Manuscript]." Chicago Historical Society. 1861–1865. http://www.chsmedia.org (accessed January 31, 2013). An account book of secret service expenditures with entries dated 1861–1874, plus a few apparently unrelated 1886 personal account entries by someone using the old volume. The volume has been mutilated extensively with only a few pages remaining.
  19. ↑ Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers, and Speeches. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 1923. ISBN 978-0-404-02000-2.
  20. ↑ Still, William N. Jr. (1965). "Infernal Machines: The Story of Confederate Submarine and Mine Warfare (review)". Civil War History. 11 (3): 306–308. doi:10.1353/cwh.1965.0082. ISSN 1533-6271.
  21. 1 2 Wennersten, John (2007). The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-0-615-18250-6.
  22. ↑ "Oyster Wars Cannon Historical Sources". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  23. ↑ Shapiro, Marc. "American Legion Sells Historic Cannon to Department of Natural Resources" (PDF). Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  24. ↑ "An Evolving Force: Natural Resources Police Celebrates 150th Anniversary". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. March 30, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Oyster Wars". The National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
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