George Whitefield Davis

George Whitefield Davis (July 26, 1839 – July 12, 1918) was an engineer and Major General in the United States Army. He also served as a military Governor of Puerto Rico and as the first military Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.

Civil War
Davis, born in the rural town of Thompson, Connecticut, first entered the military during the Civil War, when he joined with the volunteer 11th Connecticut Infantry as a Company Quartermaster Sergeant, the same position that his grandfather served in during the American Revolution. During the course of the war, he fought in several major battles, including Antietam, and worked his way up in rank in the volunteer force to major general.

After the war
Davis joined the Regular Army's 14th U.S. Infantry and worked his way in rank again to major general.

As a captain, Davis was an assistant engineer on the construction project to build the Washington Monument, and was among the featured guests at the dedication ceremony in 1885.

It was Capt. Davis who arranged and perfected all the elevating machinery that carried the stones one after another from the surface of the earth as they went up toward the sky. It was his skill and rare ingenuity that invented the machinery which was so vitally important as a most efficient agent in the rapid and successful prosecution of the work. In the important matter of strengthening and perfecting the foundation of the monument the suggestions and assistance of Capt. Davis were invaluable.

Davis was vice-president of the construction company that was to build the Nicaragua Canal and chairman of the international board of consulting engineers on the Panama Canal. In 1895, he filled on opening on the Antietam Battlefield Board that helped oversee the preservation and monumentation of that historic place, culminating in the establishment of the Antietam National Battlefield.

During the period of May 1898 until Mar 1899, Davis commanded the 2nd Division of the Second Corps of the US Army at Camp Alger Virginia, Thoroughfare Gap Virginia, Camp Meade Pennsylvania, and Camp Fornance South Carolina.

Later work
Davis was a chairman of the central committee of the American Red Cross from 1907 to 1915.

Notes and references

 * Mellander, Gustavo A.(1971) The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Daville,Ill.:Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.
 * Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1-56328-155-4. OCLC 42970390.
 * FUNERAL OF GEN. DAVIS. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Jul 15, 1918. pg. 5, 1 pgs