American naval officer and explorer.
He became famous in 1926 for being the first, with his pilot Floyd
Bennett, to fly over the North Pole (a feat that was refuted in
the 1990s). Later he turned his attention to Antarctica, leading
five expeditions between 1929 and 1956 and establishing a base
for scientific discovery at Little America.
Richard Lucian Page, born in Clarke
County, Va., on 2 December 1807, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman
in 1824; was promoted to lieutenant in 1834; and to commander
in 1855. Sea duty, included assignments as executive officer and
commanding officer of Independence during the Mexican War, commanding
officer of the brig Perry on the African Station 1852-54, and
commanding officer of the sloop-of-war Germantown on the East
Indies Station 1857-60. He also served three tours of duty ashore
as an ordnance officer and one tour as executive officer at the
Norfolk Navy Yard. With the secession of Virginia, Page, then
assigned to the Norfolk Navy Yard, resigned from the U.S. Navy
and, after joining the staff of Governor Letcher of Virginia,
began organizing a State navy and constructing fortifications
along rivers of the Tidewater area. Commissioned Commander in
the Confederate Navy in 1861, he served as ordnance officer at
the Norfolk Navy Yard and at Charlotte, N.C. In 1864 he was commissioned
Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army and placed in charge
of the outer defenses of Mobile Bay. There, he defended Fort Morgan
until that fort fell to Union forces under Farragut and Granger
on 23 August 1864. Page, a prisoner for the remainder of the Civil
War, returned to Norfolk after his release and, from 1875 to 1883,
served as superintendent of public schools. Brigadier General
Page died at Blueridge Summit, Pa., on 9 August 1901.
