RICHARD WAINWRIGHT
WAINWRIGHT, RICHARD, naval officer, is the son of the distinguished naval officer, Captain Richard Wainwright, who was prominent during the Civil war. Admiral Farragut, under whom the elder Wainwright served, commended his gallantry and heroic action especially during the siege of New Orleans and in the taking of the Vicksburg batteries. He was in command of the flagship Hartford, and was ordered to attack Fort Jackson. The Confederates set afloat a number of firerafts, by which the rigging of the Hartford was ignited, but her captain with consummate skill and energy succeeded in beating off the fireraft and the ram Manassas as well. While still commander of the Hartford, he met with an untimely end near New Orleans, August 10, 1862. His most marked characteristics were executive ability and heroism. His son has inherited these qualities; and no doubt the stirring scenes of the Civil war, and the noble part taken by his father in some of the most notable battles of that war, made a deep impression on his mind as a boy. It was also his mother's wish that he should follow the profession to which his father had given his life. He counts among his ancestors the distinguished names of Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Dallas and Colonel R. D. Wainwright, United States Medical college. His mother's maiden name was Sallie Franklin Bache.
He was born in Washington, District of Columbia, December 17, 1849. His education was pursued in private schools in that city. He was moderately strong while young and books were the chief interest of his earlier years. After the necessary preparation, he was appointed to the naval academy, Annapolis, Maryland, and was graduated from that institution in 1868. Later in life he took a course of law at the Columbian university law school, graduating in 1884; and he has received the degree of LL.D. from that university. As midshipman, after graduation from the naval academy, he was ordered to the Jamestown in connection with the Pacific fleet; was promoted ensign April 19, 1869, and was then attached to the hydrographic office at Washington, District of Columbia. The
