William Banks Caperton

William Banks Caperton's career ran from Spring Hill to the Caribbean, where modern historians judge it more harshly than the marker does. As an admiral he commanded the naval forces that intervened in Haiti in 1915-16 and the forces that suppressed the 1916 revolution in Santo Domingo, and in 1915 he led the Vera Cruz naval forces. Historians have criticized his role in the occupation of Haiti. He later served as a witness before a Senate committee investigating the occupation, and commanded the Pacific Fleet from 1916 to 1919.

What the plaque says

William Banks Caperton Born June 30, 1855, in a house which stood here, he graduated from the Naval Academy, 1875. Served in USS Brooklyn, War with Spain. As commander, Cruiser Squadron, Atlantic Fleet, conducted Vera Cruz landing, 1915, & occupations of Haiti & Santo Domingo, 1915-16. Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, 1916. In 1917-18, his diplomatic & naval operations in the South Atlantic preserved the integrity of that area for the Allies. He died Dec. 21, 1941.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Carnton — 11 mi
  The McGavock farm in Franklin, worked by 44 enslaved people in 1860, that became the largest field hospital of the Battle of Franklin.
• The Mink Slide and East 8th Street — 11 mi
  Columbia's Black business and church district south of the courthouse square, where on the night of February 25, 1946 a white mob gathered and Black veterans stood guard.
• James K. Polk Home and Museum — 11 mi
  The 1816 brick house in Columbia where Polk practiced law and campaigned for the legislature, now a museum that also tells of the people the Polk family enslaved.
• Henry Horton State Park — 17 mi
  A Duck River park on Governor Henry Horton's former farm in Marshall County, with a mill ruin from 1845, kayak floats and the grave of a governor the House declined to impeach.

More markers nearby

• Ewell Farm — steps away
• Confederate Attacks at Spring Hill — 1.1 mi
• Star Pointer — 1.2 mi
• Rippavilla Plantation — 2.0 mi